“To Be Honoured”: Experiences of therapists who engage in spiritually integrated counselling practice
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Date
2025-03
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Spirituality is an important part of well-being and culture for many psychotherapy clients, and therapists are called by their ethical code to acknowledge and incorporate spirituality when desired by the client. However, few counsellors receive education in spiritually integrated practice in Canada. This study explored approaches to spiritually integrated practice employed among Licensed Counselling Therapists (LCTs) and LCT Candidates (LCT-Cs) in New Brunswick and the nature of their learning processes to integrate spirituality into counselling. This qualitative study utilized narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of eight LCTs and LCT-Cs who engaged in spiritually integrated counselling practice. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings were presented in five themes: (1) the spiritual nature of therapy; (2) therapist congruence; (3) culture-infused practice; (4) stigmatized spirituality; and (5) a closer look at practice. Implications for practice, training, and further research are discussed.