International OCD Foundation | Grasping Religious & Spiritual Traditions Sensitively- Without Being An Expert In That Tradition

Article written by Justin K. Hughes, MA, LPC

Acknowledge Your Limits

Your Role & The Role of Assessment

Therapy is an application of psychological science. It is not a worldview and, therefore, can only at best explore, not answer, questions about religion, spirituality, faith, and purpose. In other words, it cannot tell you what to believe. Undeniably, in the exploration process many come to find various answers. Therefore, when working with any one person, and specifically someone who adheres to a specific tradition or beliefs, it is crucial to acknowledge your limits as a therapist.

Identify your limits by:

Guarding against counter-transference (when clinicians transfer their own emotions onto the client)

You will need to “dust off” those assessment skills!

Those trained in behavioral and cognitive behavioral therapies can utilize their already existing functional analyses/assessments (e.g., ABCDE, etc.)
Those of other modalities can give thoughtful consideration to their assessment process and how they formulate treatment plans (such as in an initial diagnostic assessment). Many of the same questions used to assess those relevant patient factors from day one can be shifted to consideration for religious and spiritual beliefs.

Determine what a client believes by asking them.

Clarify, clarify, clarify.

Don’t make assumptions.

Examples:

If a person states they’re Jewish, don’t assume they celebrate Yom Kippur. Ask.
For someone who identifies as “spiritual, not religious,” ask if they wish to share, “In what ways is spirituality important to you? What specific things do you do or ways do you think in relation to your views and practices?”
This extends even for those who have no faith, atheists, and agnostics. “Tell me more about your experience as an atheist. Is there anything important for me to know? What does life look like in the context of being an atheist?”
Don’t start referencing the Bible, Koran, The Book of Mormon or anything simply because a person says they’re Christian, Muslim, Mormon, and so forth.

Incisive questions lead to better assessment which provides the opportunity for better treatment. Clients who don’t believe in God may find it very important to talk about this and how difficult it is for them in their world where they may be a minority group.

Tolerate Your Own Uncertainty and Lack of Expertise

You certainly don't have to be an expert in religious beliefs. In fact, it would be rare if you were, as most clinicians focus their careers on clinical work. Only a minority of clinicians will have some secondary or additional spiritual or religious training.

Openness To Learning

Curiosity and openness is crucial for a growth mindset and in much of therapy (especially for those of us who are CBT clinicians). It’s not only clients who must grow in their openness to learn. Therapists are hopefully growing and learning regularly.

Consider Learning Through:

Trainings

You may want to look into getting an extra certification and training. As already noted, few people will actually get an additional full degree and most therapists don’t have to. There are an abundance of CEU/CME’s, certifications, programs, and clinic/hospital internships that will strongly set you up for success. Some religious based universities or even churches offer religious fundamental learning classes to the public. For OCD training opportunities, visit the IOCDF Training Institute.

Exploring Religious Doctrine or Articles

Curiosity

Your Clients Teaching You

No one person will be able to naturally understand every culture, condition, diagnosis, or experience. While some clients may strongly desire for their clinician to be an expert in OCD treatment and share all the same faith beliefs, it’s unrealistic that all these factors will line up perfectly. Using kindness, our training, and effective communication skills, clients who are willing to work with you will often be willing to teach you if you are open to learning. Let them teach you so you can best serve them.

7 Competency Keys

Vieten et al. (2016) posit in their research some excellent considerations for competency in religious and spiritual beliefs. Here’s a brief overview from Vieten (2020):

Being able to conduct effective and empathic psychotherapy with clients from diverse religious and spiritual traditions.
Routinely asking about clients’ spiritual and religious beliefs and practices as part of taking a client’s history and assessing their resources and strengths.
Knowing ways that some religious and spiritual experiences mimic psychiatric symptoms, and being able to discriminate between the two.
Knowing the difference between spirituality and religion, and being able to address both domains in psychotherapy.
Being aware of therapists' own biases based on their religious and spiritual background and beliefs.
Treating religious and spiritual background as just as important as racial, ethnic, and socio-economic background in terms of diversity.
Knowing how to work in concert with spiritual directors or clergy members in clients’ treatment when appropriate.