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Can MFTs Address Spirituality with Clients in Publically Funded Agencies?

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Abstract

Many marriage and family therapy (MFT) trainees and therapists working toward licensure are accumulating hours in publically funded treatment centers. The increasingly diverse clientele in the U.S. likely will be served in the public sector, especially as many states are providing more funding for county agencies and increased tuition reimbursement and/or loan forgiveness for students and graduates who work for these organizations. MFTs may feel ill-equipped to address spiritual issues in therapy at these sites, especially when grappling with ethical concerns. This article delineates a case example in which an MFT attends to spiritual issues when working with a family in a county mental health center. The authors illustrate how a therapist can navigate the ethical dilemmas of this case when working from a Bowenian perspective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marital and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University, 10455 Pomerado Road, San Diego, CA, 92131-1799, USA

    Yeo Jin Ahn & Marianne McInnes Miller

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  1. Yeo Jin Ahn
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  2. Marianne McInnes Miller
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Correspondence to Yeo Jin Ahn.

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Ahn, Y.J., Miller, M.M. Can MFTs Address Spirituality with Clients in Publically Funded Agencies?. Contemp Fam Ther 32, 102–116 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-009-9107-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-009-9107-5

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