Counselor Quick Reference

Glossary

Spirituality vs. religion

Spirituality: universal, internal, affective, private. Religion: denominational, external, ritualistic, public — "organized spirituality" (Smith, 2006, as cited in the textbook).

Spiritual bypass

Welwood's term (coined 1984, elaborated in his 2000 book Toward a Psychology of Awakening) for using spiritual practice to avoid cognitive/emotional/physical/interpersonal work — a common problem, not a rare one.

Ethical bracketing

"The intentional setting aside of the counselor's personal values in order to provide ethical and appropriate counseling to all clients" (Kocet & Herlihy, 2014).

Religious appropriation

A privileged group using a practice in a way that distorts it, harms the originating community, or is performed inauthentically — e.g., a non-Native counselor running a sweat lodge.

Translation vs. transformation

Translation = beliefs/creeds as a meaning-making framework. Transformation = progression to higher spiritual development (e.g., a near-death experience). Different ethical competencies apply to each.

Impositional (5th approach)

This chapter's added category: imposing any spiritual/religious framework on an atheist or nonreligious client — ethically comparable to exclusivism.

Religious Well-Being (RWB) & Existential Well-Being (EWB)

Two components of spiritual well-being: RWB is a client's felt connectedness to God/a Higher Power (including through mindfulness or folk practice); EWB is their broader sense of purpose and life satisfaction. A client can score high on one and low on the other.

Anti-Semitism & Islamomisia

Named forms of religious oppression covered in the lecture: anti-Semitism targets Jewish people (see the Tree of Life shooting example below); Islamomisia — coined as an alternative to "Islamophobia" to name deliberate hatred rather than fear — targets Muslims, showing up in mosque attacks and everyday discrimination like denying entry to a woman wearing a hijab.

Cult features & religious trauma

A cult is marked by isolation from outsiders, a group goal pursued without regard for members' wellness, and excessive devotion to the movement or its leader. Per the course lecture, people who leave often face housing/financial instability, isolation, and elevated risk for PTSD, addiction, and trafficking (elevated PTSD risk is documented in religious-trauma research; the fuller risk profile is lecture-sourced).

Spiritual genogram & spiritual ecomap

Two intake tools: a genogram maps a client's religious/spiritual history — affiliations, events, and conflicts across their heritage; an ecomap instead maps their current spiritual story and ties to present-day communities, rituals, and leaders.

Music Chronology (Emerging Life Song)

A spiritually-based intervention: the client picks songs illustrating their personal/spiritual story, uses them to revisit memories, then picks a song for their current spiritual worldview and one for their imagined spiritual future.

Relationships between religion and spirituality (5 categories)

Four approaches to client spiritual issues (Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2000)

World religions at a glance

Seven "All is One" tenets attributed to Wilber (condensed; textbook adaptation)

• 1. Spirit exists · 2. Spirit is found within, through an open heart and mind
• 3. Most people don't realize Spirit within (Decliners; "there and then" spirituality)
• 4. There is a path to liberation (text study, community, mindfulness, heartfulness, body practices, social action)
• 5. The path leads to rebirth/enlightenment — authentic (transrational) vs. inauthentic (prerational) growth
• 6. Enlightenment ends suffering (not pain) — resistance to pain is what creates suffering
• 7. The end of suffering shows up as real acts of mercy, compassion, and justice — not only charity

Clinical & ethical checkpoints

• Never assume a client shares your beliefs about God, afterlife, or spiritual practice — ask directly
• A client's religious/spiritual identity doesn't stand alone — it intersects with their other identities (race, gender, orientation, etc.); learn the specifics of a client's group rather than assuming a generic experience
• Failing to assess religion/spirituality is itself a form of values-imposition, not neutrality
• Referring a client over a personal-values conflict is discriminatory per the ACA Code of Ethics — use ethical bracketing or seek supervision instead
• Never perform another culture's sacred practice yourself (e.g., a sweat lodge) — invite an actual community leader if a client wants that experience
• A client presenting with spiritual bypass still needs cognitive/emotional/physical/interpersonal work, not just more spiritual practice
• Use Barnett & Johnson's (2011) ethical decision-making process when a client's presenting concern intersects with their faith