Counselors and psychotherapists are increasingly expected to provide services that are spiritually competent. Those counseling individuals and families where medical concerns are a focus would do well to consider the implications of spiritual competence in their work. The article defines spiritual competence, describes spiritual competencies, and provides a clinical illustration.
AtenJ.LeachM. (Eds.), Spirituality and the therapeutic process: A comprehensive resource from intake to termination. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
2.
CashwellC.WattsR. (2010). The new ASERVIC competencies for addressing spiritual and religious issues in counseling. Counseling and Values, 55, 2–5.
3.
CashwellC.YoungJ. S. (2011). Integrating spiritual and religion into counseling: A guide to competent practice, 2nd ed.Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
4.
GailT.KristjanssonE.CharbonneauR.FlorackP. (2009). A longitudinal study of the role of spirituality in response to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 174–180.
5.
HegelM.MooreC.CollinsE.KearingS.GillockK.RiggsR.AhlesT. (2006). Distress, psychiatric syndromes, and impairment of function in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Cancer, 107, 2924–2931.
6.
HodgeD.BushfieldS. (2007). Developing spiritual competence in practice. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 15, 101–127.
7.
JesseD. E.ReedP. G. (2004). Effects of spirituality and psychosocial well-being on health risk behaviors in Appalachian pregnant women. Journal of Obstetric Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, 33, 739–747.
8.
LukoffD.LuF. (1999). Cultural competence includes religious and spiritual issues in clinical practice. Psychiatric Annals, 29, 469–472.
9.
MillerG. (1999). The development of the spiritual focus in counseling and counselor education. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77, 498–501.
10.
ReedP. G. (1987). Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospitalized adults. Research in Nursing and Health, 10, 335–344.
11.
RobertsonL. (2008). The spiritual competency scale: A comparison to the ASERVIC spiritual competencies. Available from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. (AAT3341000).
12.
RobertsonL.YoungJ. S. (2011). The revised ASERVIC spiritual competencies. In CashwellC.YoungJ. (Eds.), Integrating spiritual and religion into counseling: A guide to competent practice (pp. 25–42). 2nd ed.Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
13.
SperryL. (2010). Breast cancer, depression, culture, and marital conflict. The Family Journal, 18, 62–65.
14.
SperryL. (2011). Culturally, clinically, and ethically competence practice with individual and families dealing with medical conditions. The Family Journal, 19, 212–216.
15.
SperryL. (2012). Spiritual dimension in counseling and psychotherapy, 2nd ed.New York, NY: Routledge.
