Spiritual Competencies for Therapists

I provide mentorship and consultation in Spiritual Competencies for mental health providers. This work encourages curiosity and preparedness in exploring naturally occurring spiritual issues, strengths, and processes in psychotherapy.

Mainstream psychology education generally overlooks the language and frameworks of spiritual development, leaving most therapists feeling poorly equipped to handle spiritual transformation, emergence, or emergencies in therapy - yet his skillset is a vital part of multicultural competence. There is substantial literature on the interplay between spiritual life and mental health (it’s not all good nor bad, there’s a lot of grey area!)*. Additionally, our contemporary materialist paradigm views the physical and natural world as inert, and communication with the unseen world as “benign at best, pathological at worst.” This does not create space for diverse cosmologies and nuanced cultural realities which honor relationships with the natural and unseen world*.

Pew forum research indicates Americans are increasing likely to identify as “spiritual but not religious.” 72% of Americans believe in heaven and the afterlife*, which challenges the concept of a singular consensus reality. Clients also report that therapist openness greatly impacts their willingness to bring up spirituality in therapy*. Becoming equipped with essential language and frameworks can empower mental health professionals to ethically and compassionately engage with spiritual issues impacting mental health and wellbeing. As therapists become more spiritually curious, competent, and humble, we discover with our clients, and for ourselves, more potent pathways to healing and re-enchantment in our contemporary world.

1. McClintock, C. H., Lau, E., & Miller, L. (2016). Phenotypic dimensions of spirituality: Implications for mental health in China, India, and the United States. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1600.

2. Lau, E., McClintock, C., Graziosi, M., Nakkana, A., Garcia, A., & Miller, L. (2020). Content Analysis of Spiritual Life in Contemporary USA, India, and China. Religions, 11(6), 286.

3. https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/

4. Harris, K. A., Randolph, B. E., & Gordon, T. D. (2016). What do clients want? Assessing spiritual needs in counseling: A literature review. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 3(4), 250–275.