This book examines personal and professional understandings of religion in psychotherapy and advocates for integrity, competency, and cultural pluralism in clinical practice. A major feature of this book is that it confirms the massive proliferation of religion-oriented approaches to counseling and therapy in recent years. It attributes this rise to opportunism and exaggerated individualism among therapists and to the frequent failures of professional associations, clinical preparation programs, and other influences. In response to these influences, it identifies the need for guiding principles for integrating religion into therapy, discusses the religious issues that clients bring to therapy, and advocates for major changes in clinical practice, with emphasis on integrity and competence. Building on a large volume of research and using evidence-based conclusions, it clarifies how these two major features of contemporary life can be integrated with integrity and competence. The author maintains that religion should be a feature of the practice of counseling and therapy, so long as it addresses the clinically relevant needs of clients. However, it also explores how the religion of counselors and therapists often expresses the needs of counselors and therapists, instead of addressing the needs of their clients. In the context of these questions and discussion of contentious challenges, this book provides guidelines for relating religion with clinical practice and recommends needed actions by clinical preparation programs, professional associations, individual therapists, state legislatures, licensing boards, social service agencies, and corporations. All of this stands on the conspicuous need for professional accountability in the delivery of mental health care.

Does my life have any deeper meaning? Does God really care about me? How can I find and follow my moral compass? What do I do when my faith is shaken to the core? Spiritual trials, doubts, or conflicts are often intertwined with mental health concerns, yet many psychotherapists feel ill equipped to discuss questions of faith. From pioneers in the psychology of religion and spirituality, this book combines state-of-the-art research, clinical insights, and vivid case illustrations. It guides clinicians to understand spiritual struggles as critical crossroads in life that can lead to brokenness and decline--or to greater wholeness and growth. Clinicians learn sensitive, culturally responsive ways to assess different types of spiritual struggles and help clients use them as springboards to change.

In this book, experts in the field discuss how spiritual and religious issues can be successfully integrated into counseling in a manner that is respectful of client beliefs and practices. Designed as an introductory text for counselors-in-training and clinicians, it describes the knowledge base and skills necessary to effectively engage clients in an exploration of their spiritual and religious lives to further the therapeutic process. Through an examination of the 2009 ASERVIC Competencies for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling and the use of evidence-based tools and techniques, this book will guide you in providing services to clients presenting with these deeply sensitive and personal issues. Numerous strategies for clinical application are offered throughout the book, and new chapters on mindfulness, ritual, 12-step spirituality, prayer, and feminine spirituality enhance application to practice. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here: https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78161 *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

From a leading researcher and practitioner, this volume provides an innovative framework for understanding the role of spirituality in people's lives and its relevance to the work done in psychotherapy. It offers fresh, practical ideas for creating a spiritual dialogue with clients, assessing spirituality as a part of their problems and solutions, and helping them draw on spiritual resources in times of stress. Written from a nonsectarian perspective, the book encompasses both traditional and nontraditional forms of spirituality. It is grounded in current findings from psychotherapy research and the psychology of religion, and includes a wealth of evocative case material.

The American Association of Christian Counselors and Tyndale House Publishers are committed to ministering to the spiritual needs of people. This book is part of the professional series that offers counselors the latest techniques, theory, and general information that is vital to their work. While many books have tried to integrate theology and psychology, this book takes another step and explores the importance of the spiritual disciplines in psychotherapy, helping counselors to integrate the biblical principles of forgiveness, redemption, restitution, prayer, and worship into their counseling techniques. Since its first publication in 1996, this book has quickly become a contemporary classic—a go-to handbook for integrating what we know is true from the disciplines of theology and psychology and how that impacts your daily walk with God. This book will help you integrate spiritual disciplines—such as prayer, Scripture reading, confession—into your own life and into counseling others. Mark R. McMinn, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at Wheaton College Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinois, where he directs and teaches in the Doctor of Psychology program. A diplomate in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, McMinn has thirteen years of postdoctoral experience in counseling, psychotherapy, and psychological testing. McMinn is the author of Making the Best of Stress: How Life's Hassles Can Form the Fruit of the Spirit; The Jekyll/Hyde Syndrome: Controlling Inner Conflict through Authentic Living; Cognitive Therapy Techniques in Christian Counseling; and Christians in the Crossfire (written with James D. Foster). He and his wife, Lisa, have three daughters.

This book seeks to define, redefine and identify indigenous and traditional healing in the context of North American and Western European health care, particularly in counseling psychology and psychotherapy.

This book is for mental health practitioners who want to enhance their clients' psychological wellbeing using therapeutic tools drawn from spiritual and religious thought. What can a non-religious therapist do when a client directly requests help with a problem involving spiritual matters? How can a therapist who is engaged in a religious tradition frame strategies such as discerning vocation, participating in spiritual or religious rituals, and forgiving in ways that are acceptable to secular clients?Thomas Plante answers these questions and more by presenting thirteen tools to improve psychological and spiritual health that can be integrated into secular or religious-oriented practice. ""Spiritual Practices in Psychotherapy"" first reviews history, philosophy, and research behind and evidence for integrating tools such as meditation, learning from spiritual models, and becoming part of something larger than oneself into therapy practice. Dr. Plante makes a case for integrating spiritual and religious tools in therapy as part of ethical practice, and as a way to add value to services such as assessment, counseling, and consultation with other professionals. A rich and diverse collection of case illustrations shows how to conduct psychotherapy using these tools, and walks readers through real-world examples of how to consult with clergy. Finally, the book offers an agenda for continued research and education and a variety of resources for further study in this area.

Does religion belong in psychotherapy? For anyone in the helping profession, whether as mental health professional or religious leader, this question is bound to arise. Many mental health professionals feel uncomfortable discussing religion. In contrast, many religious leaders feel uncomfortable referring their congregants to professionals who do not know their faith or intent to engage with it. And yet Michelle Pearce, PhD, assistant professor and clinical psychologist at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland, argues that if religion is essential to a client, religion will be a part of psychotherapy, whether it is discussed or not. Clients cannot check their values at the door more than the professionals who treat them. To Pearce, the question isn’t really, “does religion belong?” but rather, “how can mental health professionals help their religious clients engage with and use their faith as a healing resource in psychotherapy?” Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christian Clientswith Depression is the answer to that question, as the book’s purpose is to educate mental health professionals and pastoral counselors about religion’s role in therapy, as well as equip them to discuss religious issues and use evidence-based, religiously-integrated tools with Christian clients experiencing depression. In this book, readers will find the following resources in an easy-to-use format: An overview of the scientific benefits of integrating clients’ religious beliefs and practices in psychotherapy An organizing therapeutic approach for doing Christian CBT Seven tools specific to Christian CBT to treat depression Suggested dialogue for therapists to introduce concepts and tools Skill-building activity worksheets for clients Clinical examples of Christian CBT and the seven tools in action Practitioners will learn the helpful (and sometimes not so beneficial) role a person’s Christian faith can play in psychotherapy. They will be equipped to discuss religious issues and use religiously-integrated tools in their work. At the same time, clergy will learn how Christianity can be integrated into an evidence-based secular mental health treatment for depression, which is sure to increase their comfort level for making referrals to mental health practitioners who provide this form of treatment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christian Clients with Depression is a practical guide for mental health professionals and pastoral counselors who want to learn how to use Christian-specific CBT tools to treat depression in their Christian clients.

To purchase this book with volume 2 of the set (with a 2-volume set savings), The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II: More Homework, Handouts, and Activities for Use in Psychotherapy, see http: //www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=5821 A client's spiritual and religious beliefs can be an effective springboard for productive therapy. How can a therapist sensitively prepare for the task? The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling is the first volume of a comprehensive two-volume resource that provides practical interventions from a wide range of backgrounds and theoretical perspectives. This volume helps prepare clinicians to undertake and initiate the integration of spirituality in therapy with clients and provides easy-to-follow examples. The book provides a helpful starting point to address a broad range of topics and problems.

This thought-provoking guide for mental health professionals and pastoral counselors provides you with a framework to assess and incorporate client-based spirituality into your practice. The author's unique understanding of spirituality and its relationship to mental heath makes the book an ideal educational guide for practitioners striving to understand the impact of faith on their clients' mental health. The insights presented in Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications will leave you better informed about the complexities of spirituality and make it easier for you to integrate them meaningfully into your clinical work.