Through this grant we will develop a novel approach to help mental health trainees develop religious and spiritual (R/S) competencies so they can effectively integrate R/S into their counseling when appropriate. This approach will be framed on the Multicultural Orientation, which emphasizes the development of cultural humility among counselors, encourages counselors to take opportunities to engage culturally relevant conversations, and helps clinicians develop greater cultural comfort. We will develop training materials that can be used in formal educational training programs by trainers and supervisors and in trainee-directed skill development facilitated by peer groups. In addition, we will develop an objective assessment of R/S competencies that will compliment standard self-report measures. The assessment will be behavior-based with trainees providing responses to pre-recorded vignettes of clients discussing counseling issues with R/S relevance. Those video-recorded responses of the trainees will then be scored by raters for important R/S competencies to assess attainment of these important clinical skills.
Total amount: $119,180