VISTAS Spirituality and Counseling Issues

VISTAS Online is an innovative publication produced for ACA by Dr. Garry R. Walz and Dr. Jeanne C. Bleuer of Counseling Outfitters, LLC. Its purpose is to provide a means of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences. Papers on a program or practice that has been validated through research or experience may also be submitted. This digital collection of peer-reviewed articles is authored by counselors, for counselors. VISTAS Online contains the full text of over 900 proprietary counseling articles published from 2004 to 2017.



Getting Serious About Spirituality: Preparing Tomorrow's Counselor for Post-Conventional Faith

Zvi J. Bellin

2014

This article offers the tools needed for counselor educators to prepare future counselors for clients who express a post-conventional faith identity. Postconventional faith is defined as an emerging and/or blended religious and spiritual identity that defies the classically neat categorization of contemporary religious and spiritual identity labels. Data on the landscape of religious and spiritual identity is presented to give a picture of the diversification of religion and spirituality in the United States. A case example of an institution which promotes post-conventional faith development in its members is explored. Two theoretical models are presented which can aid counselor educators in helping their students understand the development of post-conventional faith identities. Lastly, in-class training recommendations are provided which can promote students’ achievement of comfort and competence in working with clients who express post-conventional faith identities.

Keywords: counselor education, religion, spirituality, post-conventional faith

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