INTEGRATION IN THE THERAPY ROOM - AN OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Clinical integration refers to the incorporation of religious or spiri tual beliefs, values, and methods into the process of psychotherapy th at results in a different way of being as a therapist, understanding t he client, and/or doing therapy. Two goals are pursued in this article : (a) to provide an overview of what has been done in clinical integra tion over the past 25 years; and (b) to point the reader to resources in each of the areas addressed in this article. First, the foundations for clinical integration that have been laid over the years are outli ned. These include pragmatic, ethical, empirical, and personal reasons for engaging in clinical integration. Following this, an overview of the spectrum of clinical integration is described. The incorporation o f religious values and beliefs, religious content in traditional psych ological frameworks, and spiritually-derived goals and techniques are discussed. Finally, some ethical considerations in pursuing clinical i ntegration are outlined.