Religious psychotherapy which works with religious issues and utilizes spiritual resources (e.g., prayer, Scriptures, referral to religious support groups, etc.) explicitly, has become an important part of contemporary approaches to psychotherapy. Religion is now recognized as a significant dimension of human diversity that needs to be respected and dealt with appropriately in psychotherapy. However, ethical considerations and controversial issues related to the practice of religious psychotherapy remain. They are discussed in this article both in terms of potential pitfalls or dangers, as well as unique resources or positive contributions of religious psychotherapy, which should be practiced in a clinically sensitive, ethically responsible, and professionally competent way.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
American Psychological Association. (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47, 1597–1611.
3.
BallR. A., & GoodyearR. K. (1991). Self-reported professional practices of Christian psychotherapists. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 10, 144–153.
4.
BeckJ. R., & MathewsR. K. (1986). A code of ethics for Christian counselors. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 5(3), 78–84.
5.
BerginA. E., & GarfieldS. L. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
6.
BerginA. E., PayneI. R., & RichardsP. S. (in press). Values in psychotherapy. In ShafranskeE. (Ed.), Religion and the clinical practice of psychology.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
7.
Christian Association for Psychological Studies. (1992). Ethical guidelines for the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.Temecula, CA: Author.
8.
DiBlasioF. A., & BendaB. B. (1991). Practitioners, religion and the use of forgiveness in the clinical setting. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 10, 166–172.
9.
DoughertyS. G., & WorthingtonE. L. (1982). Preferences of conservative and moderate Christians for four Christian counselors’ treatment plans. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 10, 346–354.
10.
EllisA. (1992). My current views on rational-emotive therapy (RET) and religiousness. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 10, 37–40.
11.
EllisA. (1993). The advantages and disadvantages of self-help therapy materials. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24, 335–339.
12.
GassS. C. (1984). Orthodox Christian values related to psychotherapy and mental health. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 12, 230–237.
13.
HawkinsI. L., & BullockS. L. (1994, April). Informed consent and religious values: A neglected area of diversity. Paper presented at the California Psychological Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
14.
JonesS. (1994). A constructive relationship for religion with the science and profession of psychology: Perhaps the boldest model yet. American Psychologist, 49, 184–199.
15.
JonesS. L., WatsonE., & WolframT. (1992). Results of the Rech conference survey on religious faith and professional psychology. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 20, 147–158.
16.
KingR. R.Jr. (1986). Developing a proposed code of ethics for the Christian Association for Psychological Studies. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 5(3), 85–90.
17.
LukoffD., LuF., & TurnerR. (1992). Toward a more culturally sensitive DSM-IV: Psychoreligious and psychospiritual problems. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 673–682.
18.
MalonyH. N. (in press). A case for the inclusion of religious issues in psychotherapy. In ShafranskeE. (Ed.), Religion and the clinical practice of psychology.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
19.
MeichenbaumD., & FitzpatrickD. (1993). A constructivist narrative perspective on stress and coping: Stress inoculation applications. In GoldbergerL., & BreznitzS. (Eds.), Handbook of stress (2nd ed., pp. 706–723). New York: Free Press.
20.
MoonG. W., WillisD. E., BaileyJ. W., & KwasnyJ. C. (1993). Self-reported use of Christian spiritual guidance techniques by Christian psychotherapists, pastoral counselors and spiritual directors. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 12, 24–37.
21.
NelsonA. A., & WilsonW. P. (1984). The ethics of sharing religious faith in psychotherapy. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 12, 15–23.
22.
OhlschlagerG., & MosgofianP. (1994). Is Christian counseling an illegal practice?Christian Counseling Today, 2(1), 50.
23.
PargamentK. I. (1990). God help me: Toward a theoretical framework of coping for the psychology of religion. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 2, 195–224.
24.
PargamentK. I., EnsingD. S., FalgoutK., OlsenH., ReillyB., Van HartsmaK., & WarrenR. (1990). God help me (I): Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes to significant negative life events. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 793–824.
25.
ShafranskeE. (Ed.). (in press). Religion and the clinical practice of psychology.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
26.
TanS. Y. (1990). Explicit integration in Christian counseling. The Christian Journal of Psychology and Counseling, V(2), 7–13.
27.
TanS.Y. (1991a). Lay counseling: Equipping Christians for a helping ministry.Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
28.
TanS. Y. (1991b). Religious values and interventions in lay Christian counseling. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 10(2), 173–182.
29.
TanS. Y. (1992). The Holy Spirit and counseling ministries. The Christian Journal of Psychology and Counseling, VII(3), 8–11.
30.
TanS. Y. (1993, January). Training in professional psychology: Diversity includes religion. Paper presented at the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) Mid-Winter Conference on “Clinical Training in Professional Psychology,” La Jolla, CA.
31.
TanS. Y. (in press). Religion in clinical practice: Implicit and explicit integration. In ShafranskeE. (Ed.), Religion and the clinical practice of psychology.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
32.
TjeltveitA. C. (1986). The ethics of value conversion in psychotherapy: Appropriate and inappropriate therapist influence on client values. Clinical Psychology Review, 6, 515–537.
33.
TjeltveitA. C. (1992). The psychotherapist as Christian ethicist: Theology applied to practice. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 20, 89–98.
34.
WorthingtonE. L.Jr. (1986). Religious counseling: A review of published empirical research. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 421–431.
35.
WorthingtonE. L.Jr. (Ed.). (1993). Psychotherapy and religious values.Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
36.
WorthingtonE. L.Jr., DupontP. D., BerryJ. T., & DuncanL. A. (1988). Christian therapists’ and clients’ perceptions of religious psychotherapy in private and agency settings. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 16, 282–293.
37.
WorthingtonE. L.Jr., & GascoyneS. R. (1985). Preferences of Christians and non-Christians for five Christian counselors’ treatment plans: A partial replication and extension. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 13, 29–41.
38.
WorthingtonE. L.Jr., & ScottG. G. (1983). Goal selection for counseling with potentially religious clients by professional and student counselors in explicitly Christian or secular settings. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 11, 318–328.
39.
WyattS. D., & JohnsonR. W. (1990). The influence of counselors’ values on clients’ perceptions of the counselor. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18, 158–165.
40.
YounggrenJ. N. (1993). Ethical issues in religious psychotherapy. Register Report, 19(4), 1, 7–8.
