SPIRITUALITY AND COUNSELING

Spirituality and counseling

Spirituality and counseling

Many Americans consider themselves religious or spiritual, and religious and spiritual traditions are as varied as other forms of diversity. In addition, spirituality is a more examined and discussed topic in the field of counseling as counselors strive for holism through integrating psychological and spiritual concerns into counseling. This myriad of spiritual and religious backgrounds of clients creates a call for inclusion of religious and spiritual content in counseling and counselor training (Shea,2000).

Recently, authors have suggested the usefulness of incorporating spirit Uality into counseling. In addition, the American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice now includes religion as a component of human diversity, and spiritual concerns are included as a V-code in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Furthermore, in 1996, the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC), during what is referred to as the Summit on Spirituality, developed a list of competencies that are necessary for the ethical integration of religion and spirituality into counseling.

Personal spirituality is an important part of the lives of many people. In facing a life-threatening illness, spiritual experience can be a source of strength and courage as well as unease and distress(Sulmasy, 1999). Expert care of those who are seriously ill requires careful attention to physical and psychological pain. Spiritual pain also needs attention. Especially for counselors whose focus is on pain management, some knowledge of the spiritual experience of patients is critical.

Spirituality can overlap with religious belief but is not equivalent. Many people express a conviction that they are spiritual but not religious, presumably meaning that they have a sense of meaning and the transcendent that is not grounded in a formal set of beliefs or religious practices. There are, however, many individuals who are both spiritual and religious and who discover meaning, strength, and support in particular symbols, beliefs, forms of worship, and ritual that they share with their religious community: “The events of a person's life shape a person's spirituality(Bernardin, 1995). Thus, individuals express their spirituality not only in the context of differing faiths and religious practices, but also related to gender, culture, and ethnicity. Spirituality also changes during the course of the person's life. Questions of meaning and causality are different for a healthy young man or woman who is physically strong when compared with a person who is older and beginning to experience decline. ...