The Ethics of Prayer in Counseling
A clients religious and spiritual beliefs are often a big part of who they are, and how they identify to the world around them. Religious and spiritual beliefs may be part of a client 's struggles, and can often be part of the presenting problem, identified upon intake. "When Clients indicate they are concerned about any of their religious beliefs or spiritual concerns or practices, the therapist needs to be capable of working at this level" (Corey, Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2015, p. 85). Spirituality has been increasingly recognized as important in counseling, however ethical concerns are often raised when considering using prayer in counseling (Weld & Eriksen, 2007). Ethical issues brought up for discussion …show more content…
Paramount to the helping relationship is building trust with a client, and safeguarding the trust which is built by having the responsibility and respect, to do no harm to them. Properly assessing a client at intake is crucial to understand a client 's unique religious and spiritual understanding and beliefs. Although a client may indicate a certain belief or religious affiliation, their understanding of said belief, may not match your understanding, or may be the result of a value system they adopted from their parents, or their environment. It may be, the religious or spiritual values a client may profess at first glance, are a source of internal conflict, having been a result of concepts they never understood. In this case, involving prayer in counseling, would be a continuation of a practice that the client hasn 't really adopted into their own value system. In order to avoid this, it is crucial to be thorough when assessing a client, asking appropriate questions, which will help separate their value system from what may be the values they echo from outside their own internal perspective. Exploring a clients own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (ACA, 2015, Section A.4b), before making a decision to include prayer, or even …show more content…
Counselors are ethically bound "seek training in areas in which they are at risk of imposing their values onto clients, especially when the counselor 's values are inconsistent with the client 's goals or are discriminatory in nature" (ACA 2015, Section A.4.b). Counselors need to work within clients ' religious belief systems, so they don 't impose their own beliefs and attitudes about prayer onto their clients. Practically this means that extreme caution should be used when clients and counselors have drastically different views on religion on prayer. A client who is a strong believer shouldn 't face the value imposition of a counselor who doesn 't have strong religious values, and may not see the benefits of using prayer in therapy. In turn, a therapist with strong religious beliefs shouldn 't impose their values onto a client with differing or non-existent religious/spiritual values. Prayer, especially in-session prayer, should only be used, if it is consistent with the values of both the therapist and the client, and only if they are both in
A clients religious and spiritual beliefs are often a big part of who they are, and how they identify to the world around them. Religious and spiritual beliefs may be part of a client 's struggles, and can often be part of the presenting problem, identified upon intake. "When Clients indicate they are concerned about any of their religious beliefs or spiritual concerns or practices, the therapist needs to be capable of working at this level" (Corey, Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2015, p. 85). Spirituality has been increasingly recognized as important in counseling, however ethical concerns are often raised when considering using prayer in counseling (Weld & Eriksen, 2007). Ethical issues brought up for discussion …show more content…
Paramount to the helping relationship is building trust with a client, and safeguarding the trust which is built by having the responsibility and respect, to do no harm to them. Properly assessing a client at intake is crucial to understand a client 's unique religious and spiritual understanding and beliefs. Although a client may indicate a certain belief or religious affiliation, their understanding of said belief, may not match your understanding, or may be the result of a value system they adopted from their parents, or their environment. It may be, the religious or spiritual values a client may profess at first glance, are a source of internal conflict, having been a result of concepts they never understood. In this case, involving prayer in counseling, would be a continuation of a practice that the client hasn 't really adopted into their own value system. In order to avoid this, it is crucial to be thorough when assessing a client, asking appropriate questions, which will help separate their value system from what may be the values they echo from outside their own internal perspective. Exploring a clients own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (ACA, 2015, Section A.4b), before making a decision to include prayer, or even …show more content…
Counselors are ethically bound "seek training in areas in which they are at risk of imposing their values onto clients, especially when the counselor 's values are inconsistent with the client 's goals or are discriminatory in nature" (ACA 2015, Section A.4.b). Counselors need to work within clients ' religious belief systems, so they don 't impose their own beliefs and attitudes about prayer onto their clients. Practically this means that extreme caution should be used when clients and counselors have drastically different views on religion on prayer. A client who is a strong believer shouldn 't face the value imposition of a counselor who doesn 't have strong religious values, and may not see the benefits of using prayer in therapy. In turn, a therapist with strong religious beliefs shouldn 't impose their values onto a client with differing or non-existent religious/spiritual values. Prayer, especially in-session prayer, should only be used, if it is consistent with the values of both the therapist and the client, and only if they are both in