Spiritual Interventions in Psychotherapy: A Survey of the Practices and Beliefs of AMCAP Members
Year: 1995
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Three hundred members of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP) were randomly selected and asked about their use of spiritual interventions in their professional work. Two hundred and fifteen (72%) AMCAP members responded to the survey and indicated that they use a wide variety of spiritual interventions. Praying silently for clients, teaching spiritual concepts, encouraging forgiveness, using the religious community as a support, and encouraging clients to pray were used much more frequently than were priesthood blessing by therapists, praying with clients, and asking clients to memorize scriptures. Critical incident case examples provided by the therapists revealed that a wide variety of spiritual interventions were perceived as potentially therapeutic. Clinical guidelines regarding the use of spiritual interventions were offered by the therapists and ethical concerns were raised. Implications for AMCAP members are discussed.
Authors: P. Scott Richards, Richard Potts
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Brigham Young University
OpenAlex ID: W2561137584