ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the first phase, engaging clients. Clients may share spiritual cues in the initial interview to communicate that they have a spiritual or religious background or a spiritual issue to bring up. Empathy is important during the entire helping process but it is especially important in the beginning phase of engagement. Hodge offers a few principles that expand upon the importance of empathy for the spirituality of a client. Luoma defines intuition as an act or process of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning. Spiritual-related strengths could be an almost unlimited number of things and vary from one person to the next. Self-determination is an ethical principle that is central to a spiritually sensitive social worker. Forging a spiritually sensitive relationship is important during initial engagement and depends upon the social worker communicating empathy, being intuitive, recognizing and affirming spiritual strengths of clients, and encouraging client self-determination.
