Delivering Psychological Services to Religious and Spiritual Clients

Abstract

Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse. This chapter reviews some of the fundamental problems and obstacles to providing culturally competent and compassionate mental health care to religious and spiritual clients, highlights the recent progress that has been made toward better serving the mental health needs of these clients, and provides a summary of best practices and future directions. Although religious and spiritual individuals continue to be underserved, there is increasing consensus among mental health professionals that religion and spirituality represent important cultural and clinical dimensions associated with treatment outcomes. As such, the field continues to work toward narrowing the gap in service delivery for religious and spiritual individuals seeking psychotherapy.