2011

The need for counselor education programs to provide training for spiritual/religious integration increases in importance if polls continue to reflect that Americans value a sacred domain in their lives and a desire to address the sacred domain in counseling. Kahle and Robbins (2004) highlight that counselors have the power to help, as well as the power to harm, when incorporating the sacred in counseling sessions. They stress the importance of counselor training that develops competencies for addressing the sacred through learning from research, from clients, and from serious selfreflection. While incompetent application of spiritual or religious integration can be harmful to clients, Hage (2006) also identifies that avoidance and disregard of the client’s spiritual or religious resources is also potentially harmful to the therapeutic outcome.