Name of Concept
Religious Practices in Couple and Family Therapy
Synonyms
Religion and spirituality; Spirituality
Introduction
Over half of individuals in the USA identify religion and spirituality (R/S) as very important in their lives (Pew 2015); R/S is associated with both conflict and strength in relationships. The approach to integration of R/S practices is diverse; three frameworks are expanded on below: (1) R/S in Bowenian therapy, (2) the use of prayer as therapeutic homework, and (3) relational spirituality. All three have interrelated themes; clinicians can integrate these frameworks as needed.
Theoretical Context for Concept
While there are mixed findings on whether integrating R/S into treatment leads to better outcomes than no integration (Ripley et al. 2014), evidence suggests that the therapeutic alliance is built faster when R/S is integrated (Koenig et al. 2016). Moreover, failure to address R/S can lead to conflicts between the clinician and clients that affect...
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References
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Black, S.W. (2019). Religious Practices in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_905
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_905
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