Religion, Spirituality, and Social Work: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study on the Behaviors of Social Workers in Conducting Individual Therapy

Using the findings of a quantitative and qualitative study, this article discusses the growing interest in how spirituality and religion might relate to clinical practice. From the 126 participants who were gathered from her network of social workers and members of a midwestern National Association of Social Workers chapter, this researcher examined if, and how often, social workers integrate a number of spiritual behaviors with clients in individual therapy. Similar to samples from previous studies, these participants confirmed the hypothesis that social workers would be more likely to integrate indirect ways of engaging spirituality. Among these participants, there were high percentages of acceptance beliefs and spiritual-based practices. This article is a summary of the findings in a Smith School for Social Work exploratory thesis which can be found in its entirety online at http://dspace.nitle.org/bitstream/handle/10090/5880/thesis%20templated.pdf?sequence=1.