| Psychologists are increasingly being asked by clients to incorporate religiously accommodating interventions into psychotherapeutic treatment plans, and prayer is often one of the requested interventions (Moon, Willis, Bailey, & Kwasny 1993; Wade, Worthington, & Vogel, in press; Worthington, Dupont, Berry, & Duncan, 1988). Some licensed psychologists struggle not only with praying with clients without inadvertently imposing personal religious values and beliefs but also with ethical issues and concerns as well. Drawing from the disciplines of psychology, religion, and science this project explored models of prayer that are being offered by selected individuals from the disciplines of religion and psychology; provided a detailed examination of Theophostic Prayer Ministry (TPM); and discussed key concerns and possible resulting ethical dilemmas that arise when weaving prayer into the backdrop of psychotherapy. While this project used TPM to examine ethical use of prayer, research from this project indicated the findings herewith have widespread general implications for licensed psychologists interested in weaving religious interventions into the backdrop of psychotherapeutic practices. |
