“Everything I learned I learned from the movies.”
― Audrey Hepburn
“Everything I learned I learned from the movies.”
― Audrey Hepburn
Joint Commission. (2022). Spiritual assessment requirements for hospital accreditation . Standards Manual.
Spirituality and the Helping Professions: Integrating Sacred Competence into Secular Practice spirituality and the helping professions pdf
The helping professions—including social work, psychology, nursing, and counseling—have historically oscillated between embracing and rejecting spirituality as a legitimate domain of practice. While the mid-20th century favored empirical positivism that marginalized faith, the past three decades have witnessed a paradigm shift recognizing spirituality as a core component of holistic well-being, cultural humility, and client resilience. This paper synthesizes current literature to propose an integrative framework for spiritual competence. It begins by delineating definitions of spirituality versus religion , then reviews ethical mandates (e.g., NASW, APA) for culturally sensitive spiritual assessment. Key therapeutic applications—such as meaning-making, post-traumatic growth, and end-of-life care—are examined. The paper also addresses professional pitfalls, including value imposition, boundary confusion, and spiritual bypass. Finally, it offers practical tools for ethically integrating spirituality, including the HOPE questions for medical settings and the FICA Spiritual History Tool. The conclusion argues that spiritual competence is not optional but essential for truly person-centered, culturally responsive care in a pluralistic society. Joint Commission
Puchalski, C. M., Vitillo, R., Hull, S. K., & Reller, N. (2019). Improving the spiritual dimension of whole person care. Journal of Religion and Health , 58(3), 668–682. Standards Manual
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