Pedagogy in diversity: Teaching religion & spirituality in the clinical social work classroom

Abstract

The role of religion and spirituality in clinical work is often a particularly sensitive subject, rich with diverse opinions and experiences. As professional, psychodynamically oriented clinicians and instructors, we have had an ambivalent relationship with religion and spirituality extending as far back as Freud. The concepts of postmodernism, identity complexity, and transitional space are revisited and utilized in this paper as tools to help develop a framework for teaching religion and spirituality in clinical social work. This framework provides the conceptual scaffolding for establishing teaching goals that emphasize the development of: (1) increased comfort with the subject; (2) increased ability for self‐reflection and self‐knowledge; (3) enhanced ability to learn how to listen for spiritual themes in client narratives; and (4) strengthened skills for clinical intervention with clients around the subject of religion and spirituality.