The Religious and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices among Practitioners across Five Helping Professions

Religions

Holly K. Oxhandler¹  Edward C. Polson¹  Kelsey M. Moffatt¹  W. Andrew Achenbaum² 

[1] Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University, One Bear Place 97320, Waco, TX 76798, USA;Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, 3511 Cullen Blvd, Room 110HA, Houston, TX 77204, USA;

关键词: religion;    spirituality;    beliefs;    clinical practice;    counseling;    marriage and family therapy;    nursing;    social work;    psychology;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rel8110237

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Helping professionals’ religious and spiritual beliefs and practices have been reported as important components in the consideration of clients’ religion/spirituality (RS) in mental and behavioral health treatment. However, no study to date has simultaneously examined and compared five helping professions’ RS beliefs and practices, including psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and marriage and family therapists. The current study is a secondary analysis of 536 licensed helping professionals in Texas to answer the following questions: (1) What levels of intrinsic religiosity and frequency of religious activities exist across these five professions, and how do they compare?; (2) To what extent do these five professions consider themselves religious or spiritual, and how do they compare?; and (3) What are the religious beliefs and practices across these five professions, and how do they compare? Results indicated significant differences across the five professions with regards to their religious affiliation, frequently used RS practices and activities, degree to which each profession self-identifies as spiritual, as well as intrinsic religiosity. A general comparison between helping professionals’ responses with the general population’s RS is also discussed. Implications based on these findings, as well as recommendations for future studies are included, particularly given the recent movement toward transdisciplinary clinical practice.

【 授权许可】

Unknown