Article Summary Spirituality And Psychological Counseling (Article Sample)

Article summary
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The authors in the article provide a discussion that is based on religion, spirituality and psychological counseling. In the America, research has indicated that many people are inclined to the spiritual way of life acknowledging the presence of God. It is vital to link psychotherapy to religion and spirituality because human beings are also affected by spiritual issues which need to be addressed and dealt with by psychological counselors. Many associations in the America like the American Counseling Association consider religion and spirituality to be part of the components that make up human diversity. However, research has indicated that the relationship between family and marriage counseling and spirituality and religion has not been clearly and well emphasized on by many people as expected. Many scholars have given different definitions of religion and spirituality and the main difference is that religion is public, behavioral, external, ritualistic and denominational while spirituality tends to be private, universal, affective, internal and spontaneous.
Clinical integration is a word that has been applied to imply the linking together of psychotherapy and spirituality and religion emphasizing on people’s values and beliefs. The authors assert that over years, it has been difficult for psychotherapists to fully achieve clinical integration because they are majorly trained in the areas of psychology and counseling but not on matters of religion and spirituality. Clinical integration is even more difficult to be achieved because different people have different religious and spiritual beliefs some of which are conflicting among the individuals. Another obstacle is that people have developed a belief that spiritual and religious issues cannot be well addressed by clinicians but by religious leaders in church settings. It is also believed that spirituality and religion are far away from health and therefore can be well handled when incorporated with pathology. Many clinicians fail to achieve clinical integration because they have a feeling that their beliefs are most likely to conflict with those of their clients and hinder counseling. They also lack the required confidence by believing that they are not well versed with matters relating to spirituality and religion. As much as clinicians strive to achieve clinical integration, it may turn out to be disastrous because some matters like divorce and sexuality may instill fear in the clients and make them feel guilty of their deeds hence failing to achieve effective counseling which is the core objective of psychotherapists.
One of the positive impacts of clinical integration is that clients are likely to gain effectiveness in psychology and physical health relieving themselves from anxiety and depression and improving sexual functioning. It is also known that clients can gain relief by virtue of believing that God exists and he is there to solve our problems. The faith they gain In God is enough to free them from depression and make them live happy lives. Research has shown that religiously sensitive psychotherapy is very effective especially for spiritual and religious clients. The fact that many people in America uphold religious and spiritual doctrines is an indicator that clinical integration is very beneficial to them. It has also been revealed that religion is a very vital aspect of the human life and it goes in line with culture and, therefore, neglecting it is as well as abandoning one’s culture.
The authors have include the issue of ethics when it comes to clinical integration in the article by asserting that ethics are vital and must be upheld at every session of counseling. However, they sample out that clinicians are confronted with several challenges regarding to ethics. Therapist-religious associate and therapist-religious leader are dual dealings that should be avoided by counselors because they are likely to influence their work. The clinician may counsel a client using the religious perspectives and doctrines and end up missing the point in counseling. Another good practice is that the clinician should not disregard the advice given to the clients by their religious leaders because these clients may feel undermined and even suffer from more emotional problems. The clinicians should learn to appreciate the religions from which their clients come from in order to achieve the intended goal in counseling. It is also vital for counselors not to influence clients to adopt their religious beliefs and abandon theirs. Making judgments about them concerning their acts like sexual sin and abortion is not advised.
The article provides that strategies that clinicians should adopt to achieve clinical integration and one of them is that the clinician should first find out about the spiritual background...