The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Counselor Education: A National Survey

Abstract

A national survey of counselor education programs indicated that a minority of programs include religious and spiritual issues. Survey respondents, however, who are predominantly program heads, generally consider these issues important in counseling.

Spiritual and Religious Competencies: A National Survey of CACREP‐Accredited Programs

“…Despite the increased openness to addressing spiritual and religious issues in counseling, these topics seem to receive modest to mixed treatment in counselor training (Kelly, 1994). In his study, Kelly (1994) found that of 341 accredited and nonaccredited counselor education programs, only 25% reported that religion and spirituality were included as a course component.…”

“…In his study, Kelly (1994) found that of 341 accredited and nonaccredited counselor education programs, only 25% reported that religion and spirituality were included as a course component. In Pate and High's (1995) study of CACREP-accredited counselor training programs, 60% of the respondents reported attention given to clients' religious belief and practices in the Social and Cultural Foundations core area.…”

“…The purpose of the present study was to extend the Young et al (1998) study with counselor educators in CACREP-accredited programs. Although previous researchers (Kelly, 1994(Kelly, ,1997Pate & High, 1995) have surveyed counselor education programs regarding the inclusion of spiritual and religious issues in counseling, none have used the competencies established at the Summit on Spirituality as a template for the research. Three research questions were addressed.…”

Spiritual and Religious Considerations of Michigan Counseling Association Members

“…One potential problem with using standard defi nitions of these constructs is that those counselors claiming religiousness may not see religion and spirituality as distinct (Richards & Bergin, 1997), while others may feel aligned with the concept of spirituality and reject institutionally based forms of religious belief (Kelly, 1994). This would be an important caveat to research on the role of these concepts in the therapeutic process.…”

“…What constitutes a person's religious or spiritual beliefs can also be understood using the language of personal values (Grimm, 1994;Kelly, 1994;Patterson, 1989). However, the connection between discussions of counselor values and spiritual and religious beliefs has rarely been made explicit.…”