ABSTRACT
The introduction discusses the contemporary state of religion and spirituality in the helping professions, drawing on interdisciplinary research that examines both therapist and client experiences. Based on this analysis, it argues for a paradigm that respects the messiness of lived religion and spirituality (R/S), honors true pluralism, and can draw from a literature that crosses many models and disciplines. The Ways Paradigm is offered as such an approach that articulates three dimensions by which all helping models, regardless of their origins, can be understood and adapted to a wide range of clinical populations and presenting problems. This broad framework is used to tie together many strands of scholarship into R/S in counseling that cross disciplines and include the diverse manifestations of R/S in contemporary society. Using the Ways Paradigm as a template for integration, therapists will be able to deepen their knowledge, dispositions, and skills in R/S dimensions of therapy.
