Religion in clinical practice: Implicit and explicit integration.

Abstract

has provided a historical perspective on religion and clinical psychology in America, pointing out an interest in religion and clinical practice that was evident many years ago. She also noted that a magazine called The Common Boundary (between spirituality and psychotherapy), which came out of a seminar on "Integrating Spirituality and Psychotherapy" organized in 1981, had 5,000 subscribers by 1992 (Simpkinson, 1992). Demetrios, Simpkinson, and Bennet ( 1991) recently published The Common Boundary Graduate Education Guide which has information on programs ranging from more traditional ones in Judeo-Christian clinical psychology and pastoral counseling, to those on shamanic counseling, holistic healing, intuition training, psychosynthesis, spiritual direction and formation, and transpersonal therapies (see also Journal of Transpersonal Psychology). These observations point to the renewed attention that religious issues have received within the psychological community.Although religion still seems to play a somewhat minimal role in the lives of most psychologists (Jones, 1994), there has been some change in the past decade or so. Surveys conducted by Bergin and Jensen (1990), as well as by Shafranske and Malony (1990), have indicated that professional therapists, including clinical psychologists, appear to be personally more religious or spiritually oriented today, but religion is still not as significant to them as it is to the general population. Shafranske and Malony found that 71% of the clinical psychologists they surveyed were affiliated with an organized religion, with 4 1 % attending religious services regularly. However, about 85% of them indicated that they had little or no training in the area of psychology and religion. It is not surprising, therefore, that 68% of them felt it was inappropriate for a psychologist to pray with a client, and 55% said it was inappropriate to use religious scripture or texts in therapy.Bergin and Jensen (1990) concluded that a majority of the general population would probably prefer an approach to psychotherapy and counseling that is at least sensitive, if not sympathetic, to a spiritual perspective.The importance of religion for many clients was noted, and they emphasized the need for "a careful reeducation of therapists whose conceptual/ clinical frameworks have room only for secular and naturalistic constructs" Worthington ( 1991) has pointed out that psychotherapists will have to deal with religious issues in psychotherapy much more in the next 30 years, partly because religious people have become more vocal about their religious beliefs and practices in recent years, and many have demanded explicitly religious therapists or counselors from their own distinctive re-(P. 7).

How do Psychiatric Staffs Approach Religiosity/Spirituality in Clinical Practice? Differing Perceptions among Psychiatric Staff Members and Clinical Chaplains

“…The question remains how they can adequately deal with these issues and needs of their patients. There are various ideas on how to adequately integrate religiosity/spirituality into therapeutic settings, such as implicit and explicit integration, or spiritual care [43][44][45][46]. A first step, as frequently emphasized, may be a religious/spiritual assessment or to take a religious/spiritual history, which usually takes 2-5 min [47].…”

Interventions that Apply Scripture in Psychotherapy

“…Quiet and non-overt strategies, such as praying for George outside of sessions and perhaps quietly during sessions, complement this approach. Tan (1996a) describes these interventions as types of implicit integration. Other aspects of implicit integration include the personal spiritual life and development of the counselor.…”

How and why Muslim counsellors integrate spiritual and religious elements implicitly into counselling practices in Malaysia: A qualitative exploration

“…Implicit integration denotes obscured and implied approaches, whereas explicit integration refers to an approach that is used more clearly, organised and openly in dealing with spiritual and religious issues in counselling. Several instances of spiritual sources and religious practices are praying, worshipping (e.g., du'a and salah) and reading religious books (Tan, 1996). Nonetheless, the context of this study is focused on the discussion of implicit integration practiced by counsellors in dealing with spiritual and religious issues during the counselling session.…”

“…According to Tan (1996), counsellors who practice implicit strategies are still regarded as those who are religious by showing respect for clients while maintaining values and beliefs, including certitude in their own religion. Implicit integration practices commonly involve the incorporation of spirituality and religiosity upheld by the counsellor.…”