Would You Want Spirituality Included in Your Counseling?

I have always believed that it is important to give clients the option of including their religious/spiritual beliefs in the counseling session.  After all, what we believe about life and its purpose is going to have a big impact on how we approach every day situations, and on how we view ourselves.  Of course it is not my place, as a practitioner, to try and influence or change a person's belief, but only to help create a safe place for building on personal faith and values.

A recent study found that most clients feel it is appropriate, and even preferable, for spirituality to be part of the counseling process.  As I see it, a person's faith is most often something that calls upon them to improve themselves, to see purpose in life (even the hard times), and to treat others with kindness.  Of course, not everyone has spiritual or religious beliefs, and I am just as happy to help them make the positive changes they want to make, but I have found that in many cases, it is a person's faith/spirituality that helps them see the "light at the end of the tunnel."