Social Work Practitioners' Integration of Clients' Religion and Spirituality in Practice: A Literature Review

Abstract

Emerging research on religion, spirituality, health, and mental health has begun to catch the attention of helping professionals. Some clients are expressing a desire for their health and mental health practitioners to initiate discussion of their religious or spiritual beliefs as they relate to their case. Social workers are the most represented group among personnel providing mental health services, so it is important to understand their attitudes, views, and behaviors regarding integrating clients' religion and spirituality (RS) into practice. Few studies have assessed such an integration; those that are available focus primarily on practitioner characteristics and use of specific helping activities to integrate clients' RS in treatment. This article discusses how RS have been integrated into social work practice and education and reviews instruments used to assess such practices. In addition, the findings from previous studies examining social workers' integration of clients' RS are compared with those of other helping professions. Finally, implications for education and practice are discussed.

The Religious and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices among Practitioners across Five Helping Professions

“…While one in 10 LCSWs or psychologists took a course, two to three times as many APNs (20.8%), LPCs (26.1%) and LMFTs (30.9%) took a course on RS. Not only have helping professions communicated a desire for more training (McNeil et al 2012;Oxhandler and Pargament 2014), but in recognizing the glaring differences between helping professions' RS beliefs and practices compared with the clients they serve, it is imperative such professionals be trained to understand, respect, and ethically integrate clients' RS-including those different from their own. Further, it's worth noting that even if practitioners identify as the same RS affiliation as their clients, that does not mean they hold the same beliefs or engage in the same RS practices.…”

“…Unfortunately, across helping professions, the integration of RS into professional education has been slow to be adopted (Oxhandler and Pargament 2014;Vieten et al 2013). For clinical social workers, though education is the second largest predictor of practitioners' views and integration of clients' RS (Oxhandler et al 2015), one-third of accredited masters in social work programs over the last decade have offered a course on RS and social work (Moffatt and Oxhandler 2017) despite half of practitioners reportedly being prepared to integrate clients' RS (Oxhandler et al 2015).…”

Integration of Religion and Spirituality With Social Work Practice in Disability Issues

“…Few studies, however, have examined the views of social workers and how they integrate their clients' RS into their practices (Oxhandler & Pargament, 2014). Yet, the implications of RS with respect to disability issues have been discussed by researchers and practitioners, particularly in the mental health arena.…”

Ethical Integration of Faith and Practice in Social Work Field Education: A Multi-Year Exploration in One Program

“…The NASW Code of Ethics calls for students to operate within the values of the profession by working with clients of any denomination or religion/faith background and remaining cognizant of personal beliefs and values (National Association of Social Workers 2008; Smith and Teasley 2009;Seitz 2014). The responsibility of application falls on schools to prepare new professionals for ethical work with religious diversity in practice (Oxhandler and Pargament 2014;Seitz 2014;Wagenfeld-Heintz 2009).…”