Religious-issues group therapy

The long-standing success of a Spiritual Beliefs and Values Group supports the potential value of discussing spiritual issues and challenges the assumption that religious concerns voiced by people with serious mental illness should be considered pathological.     

Clients' pretreatment counseling expectations as predictors of the working alliance.

Because research suggests that counseling expectations are malleable and that alliance ratings predict clinical outcomes, the relationship between this pretreatment client characteristic (expectations) and the quality of the alliance early in treatment deserves further attention. This study examined the relationships between 57 clients' pretreatment role expectations and 3rd-session client-rated alliance in a naturalistic setting. Prior to intake, clients completed the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1982), and clients completed the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form Revised (R. L. Hatcher & J. A. Gillaspy, 2006) following the 3rd therapy session. Results indicate that clients' expectations for personal commitment predicted the task, bond, and goal dimensions of the alliance. Expectations for facilitative conditions and counselor expertise did not predict clients' perceptions of the alliance. Clinical implications and research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spirituality and religion in group counseling: A literature review with practice guidelines.

There has been increased discussion of the need to attend to clients' spirituality and religion as a part of the counseling process, but much of the literature to date has focused on individual counseling. How do the research and resulting practice implications apply to group counseling? This article provides a rationale for attending to spirituality and religion in counseling, explores the opportunities and barriers in attending to spirituality and religion in group counseling, and reviews the literature on the growing number of group interventions with a spiritual or religious focus. The article ends with specific guidelines for when and how to incorporate spirituality and religion into group counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion and psychotherapy--ethics, civil liberties, and clinical savvy: a critique

R. J. Cohen and F. J. Smith (1976) reported the diagnosis and treatment of an obsessional woman with a Christian Science background. They argued that her religious beliefs caused the onset of her obsessive symptomatology. In invited comments, P. London (1976) and S. L. Halleck (1976) addressed the validity of this etiological inference and took up the difficult ethical issue of whether a psychotherapist should disabuse clients of religious ideation when the latter seems to perpetuate dysfunctional behavior. The present comment critiques the original Cohen and Smith study as well as the 2 invited responses. The necessity of recognizing the wider implications of decisions to alter clients' religious beliefs is addressed, with special reference to civil liberties. The clinical implications of casually stripping persons even of "bizarre" religious orientations—orientations that may be otherwise functional—are also highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does vocational overshadowing even exist? A test of the robustness of the vocational overshadowing bias.

Vocational overshadowing (P. M. Spengler, D. L. Blustein, & D. C. Strohmer, 1990 ) is a hypothesized underemphasis of clients' career concerns when more interesting, prestigious, or economically rewarding "personal" problems coexist. This study tested the robustness of the vocational overshadowing bias by using an expanded array of case material, by including practicing counseling psychologists (n?=?125) and clinical psychologists (n?=?121), and by assessing the moderating effects of clinician information processing and attitudinal characteristics. Clinical psychologists were more likely than counseling psychologists to underemphasize vocational concerns combined with severe noncareer problems. More complex thinking about career counseling and higher preference for working with career problems were associated with greater attention to clients' career concerns. However, no clear evidence was found for the vocational overshadowing bias by either equal or less severe noncareer problems. Implications of these findings for career counseling and clinical judgment research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Multidimensional Look at Religious Involvement and Psychological Well-Being Among Urban Elderly African Americans.

Although the importance of religion in the lives of older African Americans is well documented, this is the 1st study to examine the relations between religious involvement and psychological well-being among a sample comprised exclusively of older African Americans. Eighty-six participants completed multidimensional measures of religious involvement (J. S. Levin, R. J. Taylor & L. M. Chatters, 1995) and well-being (C. D. Ryff & M. J. Essex, 1992). Results indicated that several dimensions of religious involvement (Organizational, Nonorganizational, and Subjective) were associated with several dimensions of psychological well-being (Positive Relations with Others, Self-Acceptance, Environmental Mastery, Purpose in Life, and Personal Growth). Recommendations for future research and implications for counseling are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological care for persons of diverse religions: A collaborative continuum.

The purpose of this paper is to describe to psychologists and other clinicians a continuum of mental health care for persons of diverse religions. The continuum delineates boundaries between clinical care provided by mental health professionals and religious care provided by clergy, as well as describes pathways of collaboration across these boundaries. A prevention science based model of Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) is offered to guide this collaboration. The model describes a continuum that moves from the care already present in religious communities, through professional clinical care provided in response to dysfunction and returns persons to their own spiritual communities. One challenge for clinicians is that in addition to a wide diversity of beliefs and practices across religions, there is great ethnic diversity within religions. These diversities are reflected in varied correlations with mental health outcomes. Therefore, we recommend that clinicians assess religious beliefs and their cultural variations when designing religious inclusive psychotherapy specific to the client. There are ethical concerns as to the place of religion in clinical care. The “Resolution on Religious, Religion-Based and/or Religion-Derived Prejudice” adopted by the American Psychological Association has stated that it is not the role of professional psychologists to be spiritual guides. Through spiritual assessment of clients and strategic collaboration with religious leaders via COPE, mental health professionals can focus their efforts on clinical care that respects and incorporates the religious views of clients and does not attempt to recreate the lived religions of the clients' communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spiritual disclosure between older adolescents and their mothers.

This study examines the role of spiritual disclosure within older adolescent-mother relationships. Spiritual disclosure is defined as mutual disclosure of personal religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. Three hundred 18- to 20-year-old college students and 130 of their mothers reported on spiritual disclosure in their relationships. According to both parties, greater spiritual disclosure was related to higher relationship satisfaction, greater use of collaborative conflict resolution strategies, less dysfunctional communication patterns, less verbal aggression, and increased general disclosure in mother-adolescent relationships beyond global religiousness and demographics. Spiritual disclosure also predicted unique variance in collaborative conflict resolution strategies beyond these factors and general disclosure. The findings underscore the value of attending to the interpersonal dimension of religion/spirituality. More specifically, the results suggest that spiritual disclosure is an indicator of relationship quality, one that is tied to better relationship functioning, and one that merits further attention in studies of family dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paradigms, Praxis, Problems, and Promise: Grounded Theory in Counseling Psychology Research.

In this article, the author presents an overview of the qualitative research approach termed grounded theory (B. G. Glaser, 1978, 1992; B. G. Glaser & A. L. Strauss, 1967; A. L. Strauss, 1987; A. L. Strauss & J. Corbin, 1990, 1998). The author first locates the method conceptually and paradigmatically (paradigms) and then outlines the procedures for implementing it and judging its quality (praxis). The author follows with a discussion of selected issues that arise in using the approach (problems) and concludes by noting the appropriateness of grounded theory for counseling psychology research (promise). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing severity of psychopathology at counseling centers: A new look.

University counseling center staff and directors have argued that there has been an increase in severity of psychological concerns among university counseling center clients (R. P. Gallagher, B. Zhang, & R. Taylor, 2004; G. L. Stone, K. M. Vespia, & J. E. Kanz, (see record 2000-02442-010)). A body of literature exists to support this perception; however, this research has been criticized for focusing solely on therapist or client perceptions of psychopathology, rather than on objective data (B. S. Sharkin & L. P. Coulter (see record 2005-14332-008)). In this investigation, the authors explored changes in severity among a random sample of 827 university counseling center clients over the course of 7 years (1999-2005) by concurrently measuring client self-report on the Outcome Questionnaire-45, number of prior treatments, and urgency of concern, as well as psychologist reports of Axis I diagnosis, diagnosis severity rating, and Global Assessment of Functioning score. No meaningful trend increases in severity of psychopathology were found over time. Practice implications of these findings are presented, and possible explanations for the impression that severity is increasing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious beliefs and political ideologies as predictors of psychotherapeutic orientations of clinical and counseling psychologists.

Examined the relations among religious beliefs, political ideologies, and psychotherapeutic orientations in 233 34-98 yr old clinical and counseling psychologists. A majority of the respondents affirmed having religious or spiritual beliefs and claimed that their religious beliefs influenced their practice of therapy. Most respondents labeled themselves as politically liberal, and almost half claimed that their political ideologies influenced their practice. The humanistic therapeutic orientation was positively related to Eastern and mystical beliefs, atheistic and agnostic beliefs, and political liberalism; the cognitive-behavioral orientation was positively related to conservative Christian beliefs; and the psychodynamic orientation was negatively related to Eastern and mystical beliefs and positively related to political liberalism. These findings are discussed in the contexts of the scientist practitioner model and postmodern, constructivist thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselors' etiology attributions on college students' procrastination.

Clients come to counseling with personal theories about their problems' etiology. Counselors bring other hypotheses to the table. Counselors may be more helpful either when they accept clients' theories or when they provide new ones. A third option is that problem etiology is irrelevant in finding solutions. This study tested the cognitive dissonance theory of interpretations (L. Levy, 1963; S. R. Strong, J. A. Welsh, J. L. Corcoran, & W. T. Hoyt, 1992), which argues that discrepant interpretations are most helpful. Eighty two college-aged procrastinators (25 men, 57 women; ages 17–23, M?=?18) interacted with a counselor who (a) agreed with them about procrastination's causes, (b) disagreed with them, or (c) said it was not important to specify a cause. Contrary to prediction, the 3rd condition led to more improvement in participants' self-reported procrastination. This finding is discussed in terms of possible responsibility attributions implicit in the 3rd condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A brief spiritual beliefs inventory for use in quality of life research in life-threatening illness

This paper reports on the initial efforts to validate a brief self-report inventory, the Systems of Belief Inventory(SBI-15R), for use in quality of life (QOL) and psychosocial research studying adjustment to illness. The SBI-15R was designed to measure religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, and the social support derived from a community sharing those beliefs. The authors proposed this scale to address the need for greater exploration of spiritual and religious beliefs in QOL, stress and coping research. Phase I: Item generation. The research team identified four domains comprised of 35 items that make up spiritual and religious beliefs and practices. The instrument was piloted in a structured interview format on 12 hospitalized patients with varying sites of cancer. Phase II: Formation of SBI-54. After these initial efforts, the research team increased the number of items to 54 and adopted a self-report format. To assess patients reactions to the questionnaire, the new version was piloted on 50 outpatients with malignant melanoma. Phase III: Initial validation. To begin establishing validation, 301 healthy individuals with no history of cancer or serious illness in the prior year were asked to complete the SBI-54 and several other instruments. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation of the SBI-54 identified two factors, in contrast to the four which were hypothesized, one measuring spiritual beliefs and practices, the other measuring social support related to the respondent's religious community. Phase IV: Item reduction of the SBI-54. A shortened version of the SBI-54 with 15 items, five from the items identifying factor I and ten from those identifying factor II, was developed to lessen patient burden. The new SBI-15 correlated highly with the SBI-54, and demonstrated convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity. Revision of SBI-15. The investigators rephrased one statement in order to broaden the applicability of the SBI-15 to patients other than those with a diagnosis of cancer, and to healthy individuals. DISCUSSION. The SBI-15R met tests of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity in both physically healthy and physically ill individuals. The SBI-15R may have value in measuring religious and spiritual beliefs as a potentially mediating variable in coping with life-threatening illness, and in the measurement of QOL.     

Development of Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) Therapy for the Treatment of Addictive and HIV Risk Behavior: A Convergence of Cognitive and Buddhist Psychology.

There is a need for theory-based, manual-guided psychotherapies that will simultaneously target addictive as well as HIV risk behavior in inner city, drug-using populations. The growing interest in integrating clients' spiritual and religious beliefs into addiction and HIV-prevention treatment prompted the development of spiritual self-schema (3-S) therapy. 3-S therapy is founded in Buddhist and cognitive psychologies, with particular emphasis on self-schema theory. Evidence is provided for the habitual activation of an addict self-schema that leads to high-risk behavior. The goal of 3-S therapy is to elaborate a self-schema for abstinence and harm prevention: the spiritual self-schema. The Buddhist Noble 8-fold Path to enlightenment serves as an organizing framework for the therapy, which uses cognitive-behavioral techniques to facilitate this shift in self-schema. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Termination in short-term counseling: Comparison of successful and unsuccessful cases.

Counselors (N?=?85) rated the level of outcome for 2 recent short-term counseling cases of equivalent lengths and reported the termination activity that occurred for each case using the Termination Behavior Checklist—Therapist. It was predicted and found that, in comparison with their report of successful cases, counselors reported in unsuccessful cases less frequent discussion of the end of counseling, less review of the course of counseling, less activity bringing closure to the client–counselor relationship, and less discussion of clients' affective reactions to termination. Furthermore, results of this study, which was based on counselor report, paralleled important findings of J. A. Marx and C. J. Gelso (1987), which was based on client report. Counselors were encouraged to end counseling in a more complete manner with unsuccessful cases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A closer look at the role of spirituality in psychology training programs.

Should psychology training programs take steps to incorporate content related to spiritual and religious diversity in their curriculum? This article provides a critical discussion of research demonstrating minimal integration of spiritual and religious issues in psychology training, supervision, and course work. Unique aspects of training related to spiritual diversity and interventions across various subdisciplines in psychology are highlighted. Suggestions for integrating spiritual and religious diversity into psychology training are presented. For the benefit of students, clients, and their communities, psychologists are encouraged to obtain specialized training to enhance their spiritual and religious competency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client and counselor characteristics and engagement in counseling.

Examined relations among various client and counselor characteristics and engagement in counseling for more than 1 session with 5 female and 4 male practicum counselors and 203 of their clients (128 women, 75 men) who had come to a university counseling center for the 1st time. After the initial interview, clients rated counselors' interest, helpfulness, competence, warmth, and genuineness; counselors rated clients' verbalness, intelligence, capacity for insight, likability, and the severity of clients' problems. Clients also indicated the extent to which counselors identified concerns for which the clients did not initially seek counseling. Findings show that 71 clients returned for more than 1 counseling session. Counselors' perceptions of clients as more disturbed and counselors' desire to see the clients were positively associated with clients' returning for counseling after intake. Identification of concerns for clients by counselors at intake was also positively related to engagement in counseling. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and health outcomes for a heterogeneous rehabilitation population.

Purpose: To determine relationships between the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS; i.e., positive/negative spirituality, forgiveness, religious practices, positive/negative congregational support) and physical and mental health (Medical Outcomes Scale-Short Form 36; SF-36) for individuals with chronic disabilities. Research Method: A cross-sectional analysis of 118 individuals evaluated in outpatient settings, including 61 with traumatic brain injury (TBI), 32 with cerebral vascular accidents (CVA), and 25 with spinal cord injury (SCI). Results: Three of 6 BMMRS factor scores (i.e., positive spiritual experience, forgiveness, negative spiritual experience) were significantly correlated with the SF-36 General Health Perception (GHP) scale, and only 1 of 6 BMMRS factor scores (i.e., negative spiritual experience) was significantly and negatively correlated with the SF-36 General Mental Health (GMH) scale. BMMRS scales did not significantly predict either physical or mental health in hierarchical multiple regressions. Conclusions: Positive spiritual experiences and willingness to forgive are related to better physical health, while negative spiritual experiences are related to worse physical and mental health for individuals with chronic disabilities. Future research using the BMMRS will benefit from using a 6-factor model that evaluates positive/negative spiritual experiences, religious practices, and positive/negative congregational support. Interventions to accentuate positive spiritual beliefs (e.g., forgiveness protocols, etc.) and reduce negative spiritual beliefs for individuals with chronic disabilities are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating counselor effectiveness: A critical review of rating scale instruments.

Critiques 6 frequently used counselor rating scales: the Counselor Rating Form (A. Barak and M. B. LaCrosse; see record 1976-07806-001), the Counselor Rating Form—Short Version (J. D. Corrigan and L. D. Schmidt; see record 1983-09385-001), the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, the Counselor Evaluation Inventory (J. D. Linden et al; see record 1966-04251-001), the Counselor Effectiveness Scale (A. E. Ivey, 1971), and the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale (D. R. Atkinson and G. Carskaddon; see record 1975-25352-001). The validity, reliability, and pragmatic utility of each scale are critically examined, and the frequency of scale use across 3 counseling journals is recorded for an 11-yr period (1974–1984). Reliability and validity issues are raised, and it is suggested that use of these instruments has been based more on convention than on sound psychometric evidence. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling adolescents with problem pregnancies.

According to current estimates, 40% of young women will get pregnant while they are teenagers. Most teenage pregnancies are unintended, and thus, they often precipitate a personal crisis. This article discusses the psychosocial context of such pregnancies, including emotional and cognitive development during adolescence, family and peer relations, and norms for gender-appropriate sexual expression. In counseling teenagers with problem pregnancies, the main goal is to help clients reach and implement an informed and fully integrated decision about the pregnancy. Ethical conflicts arise when counselors impose their religious or moral beliefs on their clients, or when the confidentiality and privacy of the counseling relationship is limited by an external authority. In addition, it may sometimes be difficult to reconcile clients' right to self-determination with the responsibility to promote their best interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)