Spirituality and Religion in Counseling: Ethical Integration
Most clients bring a spiritual or religious life into the room, and most clinicians were trained to leave it there untouched. This 2-CE course gives licensed counselors a working method for assessing spirituality and religion (FICA, HOPE, the spiritual genogram, Pargament's religious coping framework, and the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale), recognizing when faith is protective and when it is harmful (religious trauma, high-control groups, moral injury, scrupulosity), and integrating spiritually sensitive interventions with evidence. The second half confronts the ethics of values head-on: ACA A.4.b, A.11.b, and C.5, the Ward and Keeton decisions, LGBTQ+ clients of faith, prayer in session, clergy collaboration, and the documentation and supervision practices that keep the work defensible.
2
CE Hours
4
Modules
18
Quiz Questions
3
Est. Minutes
What you'll learn
- Differentiate spirituality from religion and summarize the research on their relationship to mental health, including the conditions under which religious involvement is protective and the conditions under which it is harmful.
- Apply the ASERVIC Competencies for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling and the diversity provisions of the ACA Code of Ethics to case material.
- Conduct an implicit and explicit spiritual assessment using FICA, HOPE, the spiritual genogram, and Pargament's religious coping framework, and distinguish positive religious coping from negative religious coping, spiritual struggle, and scrupulosity.
- Recognize the clinical presentations of religious trauma, high-control group involvement, deconstruction, and moral injury, and formulate an appropriate treatment stance for each.
- Explain the ethical and legal distinction between values-based referral and competence-based referral under ACA A.4.b, A.11.b, and C.5, with reference to Ward v. Wilbanks and Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley.
- Select evidence-supported spiritually integrated interventions, set boundaries around prayer and clergy collaboration, and document and consult appropriately when a values conflict arises.
Who it's for
Licensed mental health professionals (LPCs, LCSWs, LMFTs, NCCs, psychiatric NPs).
Approval & credit
CounselorReady is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP #7760). This course awards 2 NBCC-approved CE hours; a certificate is issued on completion. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CounselorReady is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.