Psychology of Religion and Spirituality for Clinicians

If you are interested in clinical issues, consider reading The Psychology of Religion and Spirituality for Clinicians, edited by Jamie Aten, Kari O'Grady, and Everett Worthington Jr. They have assembled a useful collection of chapters devoted to research on especially relevant for clinicians as they work with clients. Chapters focus on developmental, motivational and personality concerns; meaning-making, religious coping, and forgiveness; psychopathology, couples & families, mental health, and physical health.

Graduate Training, Religious Beliefs, and Sexual Orientation

A counseling psychology student has filed a lawsuit in response to being dismissed from the Eastern Michigan University graduate program. The student's religious beliefs about homosexuality apparently led her to respond to a client in a way apparently inconsistent with the university's nondiscrimination policy. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group, is backing the student's suit. The Ann Arbor News offers details.

Staff Psychologist Position - Psychology of Religion

The Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute has a position opening for a staff psychologist in the Psychology and Religion program. For more information, go to the SLBMI website and contact Dr. Christopher Grimes.

Meditation & Mindfulness in Therapy

A good article describing the therapeutic use of meditation and mindfulness appears in the New York Times. It offers a summary of the growing interest in such techniques, as well as the mixed research evaluating their efficacy. Pass it along to your students or others who might be interested in religion and therapy.

Positive Psychology, Therapy & Spiritual Care

Living well and dying well:
New frontiers in positive psychology, therapy and spiritual care.

5th Biennial International Meaning Conference
July 24 to 27, 2008
Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Toronto, Canada.

The conference brings together leading authorities to provide the latest developments in research, intervention and spiritual insight on how to live fully and vitally with the awareness of suffering and death. Professional workshops include logotherapy, humanistic-existential therapy, meaning-centered counseling and narrative therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy. All attendees from outside North American will enjoy a 40% discount of conference registration fees The deadline for abstracts/proposals is 15 May 2008.

Web address: http://www.meaning.ca
Sponsored by: International Network on Personal
Meaning and the International Society for Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Faculty Position - Institute for Psychological Sciences

The Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, VA:

Invites applications for a Full-time faculty position beginning Fall 2008. The Institute for the Psychological Sciences is a free-standing professional school offering the M.S. and Psy.D. degrees in clinical psychology. The Institute is committed to the fruitful integration of sound science and effective practice in psychology with a Catholic perspective on the nature of the person, marriage, family, and the moral life. Successful applicants will be committed to this mission and willing to teach in accordance with such views. We are seeking a doctoral-level psychologist who is dedicated to the training and formation of future generations of psychologists through their teaching and research. Applicants should demonstrate interests and competencies in teaching in the areas of psychotherapy and psychological assessment. Other duties would include academic & dissertation advising and some administrative responsibilities. Applicants should be license eligible in the state of Virginia. Rank of appointment and salary will be commensurate with qualifications.

Applications are currently being reviewed and will be accepted until the position is filled. Send letter of interest and curriculum vita to: Chair, Committee on Faculty Recruitment, IPS, 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 511, Arlington, VA 22202. IPS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

What Spirituality & Religion Offer the Contemporary Practicing Psychologist

Dr. Thomas Plante has written a new paper, What Might Sirituality and Religion Offer the Contemporary Practicing Psychologist and shares it with you through my website. In this article he describes several ways that clinical, counseling and pastoral psychologists can use religion and spirituality to enhance their work with clients. Look for his book on this topic soon to be published by the American Psychological Association.

I am very pleased to help distribute Dr. Plante's work, and I invite you to consider doing the same. If you have articles that you would like to share through my website and blog, please contact me.

Grad Programs in Clinical/Counseling Psych of Religion

One of the most common questions I receive is from students who would like to become clinical or counseling psychologists and to use or study religion from that vantage point. I have resisted creating a page devoted to this question for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that listings of such programs are almost certainly incomplete and outdated moments after they are published. It also seems more like the kind of task that is suited to an organization than to an individual.

Still, I receive enough questions on the subject that I have added the following to my FAQ file. If you are reading this and note any glaring errors, please let me know so that students and prospective students have the information they need.

QUESTION: I would like to get a doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology, and to do it with a professor who studies religion. What schools offer this?

Getting into an applied psychology program is not easy, as most admit only a small percentage of their applicants. Adding a religious component to your search then limits the number of schools even further. This means that your task is not impossible, but it will require a combination of hard work and a strong application.

Your best option is probably to seek out a good clinical or counseling psych program that has one or more faculty members who are interested in religion. The names that come most quickly to mind are Bowling Green (Pargament); Pepperdine (Shafranske); Loyola-Baltimore (Piedmont); Connecticut (Park); Fuller (several); Regent (several); Brigham Young (several). Of course, several of those universities are religiously affiliated, so you may or may not feel personally able to agree to study there with the expectations that they have for students. Still, you should at least check in to each of these universities and consider just what type of fit they may provide you. I don't believe that any of those faculty study faith development themselves, but each of them do study the psychology of religion and would likely be open to studying faith development.

In all likelihood, I've left out some others who would be suitable, as this list is merely what comes to mind at the moment, but this will give you a start. I should also mention that I am replying to this question in February, 2008. If you are reading this in a few years, the answer almost certainly will have changed as university faculty retire or are hired, and as university curricula and degree programs change. For instance, the psychology department at my university has initiated a Psy.D., aimed at preparing students to practice clinical psychology in rural settings. There is no formal psychology of religion component, but students can do their dissertation on a variety of topics, including religion.