Naming Spirituality in Counsellor Education.

Abstract

It is presently unclear to what extent tertiary institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand assist their student counsellors to recognise, engage with, and utilise their clients' spirituality. This article attempts to re-establish a discussion that began 16 years ago in a significant New Zealand-based article which made a number of modest proposals about the education of counsellors in relation to their own and their clients' spirituality. Since then, the accreditation of counsellors and courses, particularly in North America, has prompted a re-examination of the benefits and difficulties of integrating spirituality into counsellor education and counselling practice. This article invites counsellor educators and practitioners to reflect upon how working with a client's spirituality is currently incorporated into counsellor education programmes and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. Professional concerns include counsellor competence to work with spiritual and religious issues, and the engagement of spiritual issues in bicultural and multicultural counselling. Considerations for counsellor education include programme content, training requirements, and research, and questions are posed for future discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)