Understanding Religion and Spirituality Competency Training in Graduate Social Work Education

This article focuses on understanding the role of competency training within social work education, concerns, and opportunities for developing religion and spirituality competence in graduate social work education. The understanding of religion and spirituality as it relates to competency development through the historical development of national accreditation standards in social work education is addressed. Concerns about how to address religion and spirituality in the social work curriculum and barriers to implementation are also discussed. Implications for how to address these barriers with strategies for training faculty and students in religion and spirituality competence are identified that could move the social work profession forward.