Integrating Faith and Spirituality into Clinical Work
May 20, 2022 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Presenter: Cerise Lewis, PhD, LPCC, LMFT
Description: Faith and spirituality are cultural identifiers that many clients want integrated into their counseling sessions. Too often counselors are uncomfortable with topics related to faith and spirituality and avoid integrating them into the sessions unless the client insists. This presentation teaches participants practical approaches to intentionally integrate faith and spirituality into counseling sessions in a culturally sensitive way.
Participants will learn practical approaches to improve their intake processes, initial session, and subsequent sessions while integrating client’s faith and spirituality identifiers into the sessions. Clients will also navigate discomforts and barriers to faith and spirituality integration and how to mitigate these challenges. Participants will also learn approach faith and spirituality from a constructivist lens to make space for humanistic ideologies that conflict with some faith orientations. Upon completing the session, participants will have a working knowledge and ability to apply the principles and interventions learned from the workshop.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Cerise Lewis is a licensed marriage and family therapist who works in private practice primarily with Black individuals, couples, and families experiencing relationship interaction dysfunction, emotional connectivity issues, depression, anxiety, and infidelity. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled Counselor Educators’ Experiences Teaching Students to Integrate Faith and Spirituality into Clinical work. In addition to private practice, she is an adjunct instructor at Yorkville University. Her systemic approach to counseling weaves faith and spirituality into counseling sessions to help clients navigate and resolve presenting problems and grow. Dr. Lewis has a mission to strengthen cultural competence and train counselors to integrate faith and spirituality into clinical work while helping them become comfortable and culturally responsive to clients’ needs.