Influence of psychologists' values on the discussion of spirituality and exercise in therapy
Abstract
Previous research has provided evidence that values may direct behaviors and that psychotherapy is value laden, however, there is little known about how therapists' values influence their in session behaviors with clients. Furthermore, spirituality and exercise are topics that are not frequently addressed in psychotherapy, often due to therapists' attitudes regarding the appropriateness of including either. Trends show that not only are spirituality and exercise significant factors on individual functioning, but also that people are interested in utilizing alternative therapies as a part of their treatment. It was our goal to investigate if values are influencing therapists' decisions to give clients what they want by being client directed on their discussion of spirituality or exercise, or find out if therapists are neglecting clients' wishes by avoidance or proselytizing. Past research has been predominantly focused on attitudes and beliefs about spirituality or exercise and therapists behaviors. In the current study, the strength of therapists' values on spirituality and exercise were analyzed as they relate to the therapists specific practices regarding spirituality or exercise in session. The results of this study indicated that psychologists' spirituality values did not predict the likelihood of discussions of spirituality with their clients. However, the results did show psychologists' exercise values to be a significant predictor of discussions of exercise in psychologists' in working with clients.
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