1.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Contemporary researchers in medicine Young & Koopsen, 2011; McCormick 2010), nursing (Sawatsky & Petsut, 2005), social work (McKernan, 2005), and counseling and psychotherapy (Walker, Courtois & Aten, 2015; Walker, Gorsuch & Tan, 2004; Johnson, & Hayes, 2003; Fallot, 2001) have studied the contributions religion and spirituality can make to health and mental health. This course, Spirituality as a Resource in Counseling, will identify ways that spirituality can be used intentionally in the counseling process to promote clients’ resilience and mental health, as well as ways that spiritual beliefs can function as a barrier to mental health. Various types of spiritual interventions will be discussed and related to different populations, with particular emphasis on clients recovering from trauma. Students will explore their personal spiritual beliefs and identify ways that these could possibly enhance or impede the counseling process. Spirituality will be explored in the context of cultural diversity and cultural competence, understanding spiritual beliefs as centrally important in the way individuals attribute meaning to their life experiences, including mental health and mental health problems.