Integration of Spirituality and Religion in Therapeutic Interventions and Effectual Factors on Sanism in America: A Historical Case Study

Abstract

This literature review will focus on the importance of integrating religious and spiritual paradigms into therapeutic interventions to meet cultural demands in rural America. The tension lies in the scarcity of training provided to counseling professionals in this area which has resulted in a hesitancy to integrate faith-based interventions into treatment plans. With an added layer of complexity, sanism magnifies the necessity of decreasing discrimination and intolerance starting with the counseling session in hopes of building advocacy outward to challenge and change systemic and societal misperceptions. The reviewer will evaluate articles investigating the impact of faith-based integration and synthesize findings to explore the mechanics of counselor action and advocacy. Gaps will be noted in areas of counselor education to increase competency in spiritual and religious integration as well as the potential negative outcomes of integration. Proposals will be explored for future studies to measure client treatment outcomes with faith-based integration as well as to consider how diverse cultural variables might affect societal perceptions of mental illness or religion and spirituality.