A Systematic Review of Relations Between Psychotherapist Religiousness/Spirituality and Therapy-Related Variables

Although psychotherapy is a value-laden undertaking, the ways in which therapists' values affect their work are not well understood. Religion and spirituality (R/S) are potentially powerful influences on therapy that need to be studied in greater depth. To summarize existing research and encourage additional work, the authors conducted a systematic review of studies examining the relations between psychotherapists' R/S and therapy attitudes and behaviors, the therapeutic relationship, and treatment outcomes. In addition to requesting article recommendations from authors who had published on this topic, the authors searched the PsycINFO and PubMed electronic databases for original, peer-reviewed journal articles describing quantitative studies of the associations between therapist R/S and variables of interest. A total of 29 articles met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. On the basis of the studies reviewed, therapist R/S is positively correlated with favorable attitudes toward integrating R/S into therapy and confidence in one's ability to do so. Relatively few studies addressed other topics; thus, the following conclusions are more tentative. There is some evidence that therapists high in R/S tend to hold conservative social values and not to be supportive of unconventional sexual behavior. Therapists appear to prefer clients who share their R/S beliefs and values. However, therapist R/S and client-therapist R/S similarity are not consistently related to the therapeutic relationship or treatment outcomes. Implications and directions for future research are addressed in the discussion.