Religion and spirituality within counselling/clinical psychology training programmes: a systematic review
Abstract
In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to attend to religious and spiritual issues within clinical/counselling psychology. However, there is limited research demonstrating how successfully such content is integrated into existing training programmes. This investigation sought to review primary research literature related to training in religion and spirituality within accredited training programmes. Six studies were identified which met the inclusion criteria of this review and data were extracted for analysis using a thematic analytic technique. Five main themes were generated: training modalities, specialised training, systematic implementation, perception of religion and spirituality, and research support. Findings suggest that religious issues are being neglected within current programmes, although there is evidence that this is being reconciled through increasing levels of training.
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Many mental health professionals do not feel competent to address spiritual or religious issues in treatment and lack the necessary training and resources.
“A systematic review on integrating spirituality and religion into psychotherapy found that many mental health professionals do not feel competent to address spiritual or religious issues in treatment and lack the necessary training and resources.18,19”
From Religiosity & mental health seeking behaviors among U.S. adults (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
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- Authors
- Jafari, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jafari, Simon
- Venue
- British Journal of Guidance & Counselling
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-02-29
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 257-267
- ISSN
- 0306-9885 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-3534
- OpenAlex
- W2290635777
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 0.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education
- Keywords
- religion and spirituality, counseling psychology training, clinical psychology training, professional education, training methods, training implementation, research support
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