Is There a Missing Component in the Toolkit of Mental Health Professionals?

Spiritual counseling currently occupies a minimal role in psychology, although it appears to be growing larger. Many authors have proposed various definitions of spirituality and their views on its relation to mental health, yet few schools of thought incorporate the element of spirituality in psychological treatment. This has left the majority of psychotherapists unequipped to address spiritual issues in counseling. Nonetheless, many studies have explored the effect spirituality can have on wellbeing in a variety of contexts, including clinical, athletic, alcoholism, and prison settings. The risks associated with the addition of spirituality in counseling have been thoroughly explored, however, its beneficial role in treatment has yet to be explored to the same extent. This bibliographic review presents various types of spiritual interventions and aims to investigate the hypothesis; does spiritual counseling have a beneficial role to play in psychological treatment?