Cindy L. Anderton University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Debra A. Pender

1. Integrating spirituality, religion and ethics into CACREP Core Courses: A problem-based learning module using client spirituality/sexuality conflict Cindy L. Anderton University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Debra A. Pender Northern Illinois University Kimberly K. Asner-Self Southern Illinois University Carbondale Cindy L. Anderton is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Counselor Education at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Correspondence concerning this teaching module should be addressed to Cindy L. Anderton, Department of Counselor Education, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, Winther Hall 6035, Whitewater, WI, 53190-1790. Email: andertoc@uww.edu

2. Religious and spiritual issues could be integrated into one or more of the following CACREP-core courses: • Ethics • Multicultural counseling • Human growth and development

3. Depending on the course a combination of the following readings would be required: • American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Code of Ethics (2005) • A religious identity status model (Griffith & Griggs, 2001) • A spiritual and/or faith development model (Fowler, 1981, 2001; Myers & Williard, 2003) • Spiritual competencies: Competencies for addressing religious and spiritual issues in counseling (Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling [ASERVIC], 2009) • A gay identity model (e.g., Fassinger & Miller, 1996; McCarn & Fassinger, 1996; ) • Competencies for counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) clients (Association of LGBT Issues in Counseling [ALGBTIC]) • Hermann and Herlihy (2006) article.

4. Learning Objectives 1. Demonstrate knowledge of ethical standards of professional organizations and credentialing bodies, and applications of ethical and legal considerations in professional counseling (CACREP Core Standard [CCS], 1.j.). • Discuss attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences, including specific experiential learning activities designed to foster students' understanding of self and culturally diverse clients (CCS, 2.b.). • Discuss counselors' roles in developing cultural self-awareness, promoting cultural social justice, advocacy and conflict resolution, and other culturally supported behaviors that promote optimal wellness and growth of the human spirit, mind, or body (CCS, 2.e.). • Discuss and model counselors' roles in eliminating biases, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination (CCS, 2.f.). • Discuss and recognize importance of “client’s beliefs (or absence of beliefs) about spirituality and/or religion being central to his or her worldview and can influence psychosocial functioning” (ASERVIC, 2009, “Spiritual Competencies, Culture and Worldview,” para. 2). 6. Discuss biological, familial, and psychosocial factors that influence the course of development of LGB orientations and transgendered identities (ALGBTIC, Competencies, Human Growth and Development,” para. 1).

5. Ethics Course • Readings: • ACA’s (2005) ethical standards; • Competencies for Addressing Religious and Spiritual Issues in Counseling (Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling [ASERVIC], 2009); • A gay identity model (e.g., Fassinger & Miller, 1996; McCarn & Fassinger, 1996); and, • Hermann and Herlihy (2006) article • Power point Presentation content: • Highlight ACA’s (2005) Standards: A.1.a, A.1.c., A.4.a., A.4.b., C.2.a. and C.5. • Provide an overview of an LGB, spiritual, and religious identity model, while making sure to differentiate between spirituality and religion. • Students would be given the case study and engage in the activity with discussion focused on: • Relevant ethical standards (Learning Objective 1); • Personal values, attitudes, biases and how these might intentionally or unintentionally cause oppressive or discriminating dynamics with the present client (Learning Objectives 2, 3 and 4); and, • Spiritual and/or religious and sexuality conflict and the ethical dilemmas this might present for counselors (Learning Objectives 1, 5 and 6).

6. Multicultural Counseling Course • Readings as part of the course: • A religious identity status model (Griffith & Griggs, 2001); • A spiritual and/or faith development model (Fowler, 1981, 2001; Myers & Williard, 2003); and, • A gay identity model (e.g., Fassinger & Miller, 1996; McCarn & Fassinger, 1996). • Additional assigned readings for this module: • Competencies for Addressing Religious and Spiritual Issues in Counseling (Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling [ASERVIC], 2009); • Competencies for Counseling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Clients (Association of LGBT Issues in Counseling [ALGBTIC]); and, • Hermann and Herlihy (2006) article. • Power point Presentation content: • Highlight ACA’s (2005) Standards: A.1.a, A.1.c., A.4.a., A.4.b., C.2.a. and C.5.). • Students would be given the case study and engage in the activity with discussion focused on: • Personal values, attitudes, biases and how these might intentionally or unintentionally cause oppressive or discriminating dynamics with the present client (Learning Objectives 2, 3 and 4); • Exploring thoughts or perspectives on how people develop sexual orientation, spiritual and religious identities (Learning Objectives 5 and 6); and, • Ethical dilemmas this might present for counselors (Learning Objective 1).

7. Human Growth and Development Course • Readings: • A religious identity status model (Griffith & Griggs, 2001); • A spiritual and/or faith development model (Fowler, 1981, 2001; Myers & Williard, 2003); and, • A gay identity model (e.g., Fassinger & Miller, 1996; McCarn & Fassinger, 1996). • Power point Presentation content: • Highlight ACA’s (2005) Standards: A.1.a, A.1.c., A.4.a., A.4.b., C.2.a. and C.5.). • Students would be given the case study and engage in the activity with discussion focused on: • Exploring thoughts or perspectives on how people develop sexual orientation, spiritual and religious identities (Learning Objectives 5 and 6), • Ethical dilemmas this might present for counselors (Learning Objective 1), and • How the development of one aspect of a person’s identity might impact the development of another aspect of their identity (Learning Objective 6).

8. Case Study Elements • You are a counselor working in a community agency (this could be switched to school, college, etc.). • You have begun working with a new client Michael who is a 23 year old male (can adjust age, gender, name, etc.). • You have seen Michael for one previous session and the focus was on Michael’s concerns about his job performance and problems in school as a result of insomnia, anxiety and depression (work and school could be changed to fit different scenario). • In the second session you start focusing on some of Michael’s strengths. Michael reports that he has a large support network of friends through his local church and he has very positive relationships with his family. Michael is normally an A or B student and up until this semester has done very well in school and had positive reviews at work. (scenario could be changed a bit for an adolescent, older adult, etc.). • In the third session Michael discloses to you that he is questioning whether or not he might be gay. The possibility of being gay is terrifying because he would never be accepted as a gay man in his church or family. Michael loves his church and the values and beliefs he holds are extremely important to him.

9. Activity • Students would be broken up into small discussion groups and given a chance to read through a case study in which a client who fully identifies with a conservative religious background begins to question his or her sexual orientation. • Students would be given a set of stimulus questions (related to the focus topics for each course) and given time to discuss and come up with answers to these questions. • Once the discussion is complete each small discussion group is in charge of selecting one person from the group to serve as an ambassador for them (a different person for each stimulus question). This ambassador will be instructed to come to the middle of the classroom and become a member of another small discussion group (consisting of all the ambassadors selected for each small discussion group). Each ambassador’s mission is to articulate what his or her group discussed and the answers they came up with to the other members of this newly formed group while the rest of the class participants observe (fishbowl exercise; Shakarian, 1995). • The process of the small discussion groups meeting and discussing a stimulus question and then sending an ambassador to the fish bowl would correspond to the number of stimulus questions they are being presented with. • Only one stimulus question would be given at a time so that the small discussion groups would focus solely on each stimulus question and not get ahead of themselves by reading and considering what will be discussed next. • Having ambassadors present the differing perspectives of the groups they were in allows these perspectives to be shared in a safer manner without putting pressure on or exposing someone who might hold an unpopular perspective to the entire classroom. Another way to make this even safer is to instruct the ambassador that he or she is responsible for presenting a summarization of the differing perspectives that were shared in his or her group. • After the ambassador’s have presented on each of the four stimulus questions the activity would conclude with a large classroom discussion where process questions designed to elicit learning and meaning attribution (Association for Specialists in Group Work [ASGW], “Best Practice Guidelines,” C.1, C.2).

10. Stimulus questions varying according to CACREP Core Course • Ethics Course: • What ethical standards are relevant for you as a counselor working with this client? • What personal values, attitudes, biases do you have that might intentionally or unintentionally cause discrimination or oppression against this client? • What ethical dilemmas could you face when working with this client? • Multicultural Course: • What ethical standards are relevant for you as a counselor working with this client? • What would be your thoughts and reactions to a client wanting to choose either their religious identity over embracing his or her sexual minority identity? • What would be your own thoughts and reactions to a client wanting to choose their sexual minority identity over their religious beliefs/identity? • How might your own sexual orientation identity stage and religious identity status be influencing the way you think and are reacting to this scenario? • Human Growth and Development Course: • What are your thoughts/perspectives on how individuals develop spiritual, religious and sexual orientation identities? • What ethical dilemmas might this present for you as a counselor? • How might the development of one aspects of a person’s identity impact the development of another aspect of their identity? • How might your client’s sexual orientation developmental stage/status and/or religious identity status be influencing the conflict they are experiencing?

11. Examples of Activity Process Questions • What was it like for you to discuss this case scenario? • What did you learn about yourself through this exercise? • What will you take with you from this discussion? • Where can you get more exposure and opportunities for growth?”

12. References American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Codes of Ethics. Author: Alexandria, VA. Association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in counseling (n.d.). Competencies for counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients. Retrieved 01/24/2011 from http://www.algbtic.org/resources/competencies.html. Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling. (2009) Spiritual competencies: Competencies for addressing religious and spiritual issues in Counseling. Retrieved from http://www.aservic.org/resources/spiritual-competencies/ Fassinger, R. E., & Miller, B. A. (1996). Validation of an inclusive model of sexual minority identity formation on a sample of gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 32, 53- 78. Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning. New York: Harper & Row. Fowler, J. W. (2001). Faith development theory and the postmodern changes. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 11, 159-172. Griffith, B.A. & Griggs, J.C. (2001). Religious identity status as a model to understand, assess, and interact with client spirituality. Counseling and Values, 46, 14-25. Hermann, M. A., & Herlihy, B. R. (2006). Legal and ethical implications of refusing to counseling homosexual clients. Journal of Counseling and Development, 84, 414-418. McCarn, S. R., & Fassinger, R. E. (1996). Revisioning sexual minority identity formation: A new model of lesbian identity and its implications for counseling and research. The Counseling Psychologist, 24(3), 508-534. Myers, J. E., & Williard, K. (2003). Integrating spirituality into counselor preparation: A developmental, wellness approach. Counseling and Values,47(2), 142-155. Shakarian, D. C. (1995). Beyond lecture: Active strategies that work. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 66, 21-24.