In the article, Religion and Spirituality Within Counseling/Clinical Psychology
Training Programmes: A Systematic Review by Simon Jafari (2016) was
written to “review primary research literature related to training in religion
and spirituality within accredited training programmes” (Abstract). Within the
article, the author is emphasizing that there is a growing gap between
religious clients with agnostic or atheistic psychological professional.
Therefore, there is a gap that needs to be filled to fit the needs of the
religious clients. d
d d d d d d d d d In order to find the research to fill that gap, the main question
Jafari (2016) had was, is there enough research out there with adequate
information about the training in religion and spirituality within training
programmes?” (Discussion and Implications). When trying to find the data
under the set parameters set for the data, Jafari had to adjust the criteria
because of the lack of research done.
d d d d d d d d d From this, Jafari (2016) found that religion and spirituality is
not being adequately addressed in existing training (Conclusion). The overall
conclusion is that there is a huge need for a framework within training to
address religion and spirituality (Jafari, 2016, Conclusion).
d d d d d d d d d My response to the findings is a mixture between not being
that surprised but disappointed that there has not been much done about
this. At one point within the article, it is pointed out that there is a growth
in the number of professionals that are agnostic or atheist, so why would
there not be an emphasis of training for religious clients. Out of respect for
basic ethics is to not push beliefs onto our clients, so why wouldn’t there
be a training on how to truly be mutual? d As Entwistle (2015) stated, “If we
are to integrate psychology and Christianity, we must develop some
guidelines about how we should proceed” (p. 68). We need more research
about this.
Entwistle, D. N. (2015). Integrative approaches to psychology and christianity:
An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of
integration. Cascade Books.
Jafari, S. (2016). Religion and spirituality within counselling/clinical psychology
training programmes: A systematic review. British Journal of Guidance &
Counselling, 44(3), 257–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2016.1153038
