This course is designed for master’s and doctoral-level mental health professionals seeking to advance their clinical competence in addressing the complex and often nuanced interface between religion, spirituality, and psychological functioning. Clients frequently present with affective and cognitive experiences that are deeply shaped by their spiritual frameworks, including distressing phenomena such as shame, guilt, fear, and moral injury, as well as adaptive processes such as meaning-making, resilience, hope, and existential grounding.
Participants will examine empirically informed and ethically grounded approaches for integrating discussions of religion and spirituality into clinical practice. Instruction focuses on evidence-based strategies for assessing and treating religiously mediated shame and guilt, conceptualizing and intervening in spiritually framed anxiety, and therapeutically leveraging faith-based values to support motivation, behavior change, and post-traumatic growth. The course further emphasizes clinical ethics, cultural humility, and professional standards for working competently with diverse belief systems, ensuring interventions remain client-centered, respectful, and clinically appropriate across varied religious and spiritual contexts.
Course creation date: May 5, 2025
This course is offered online. Internet connection required.
