Call for papers from journal Psychological Services

Traditionally, psychologists have shied away from providing spiritually integrated care in organized settings for many reasons, including a) feeling that they have too little training to respond appropriately, b) fears about encroaching on church-state boundaries, c) concerns about scope of practice, including concerns about respecting chaplains’ scope of practice, d) cultural differences in that psychologists are religious at far lower rates than the general public, and e) lack of research upon which to base spiritually integrated care.

However, psychologists in organized care settings must respond to accreditation requirements from the Joint Commission and the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities, and these requirements include consideration of clients’ spirituality and cultural resources and beliefs.

Furthermore, our ethics code as psychologists requires us to be responsive to client spirituality as an individual difference.

The editorial staff at APA Division 18’s journal, Psychological Services, is inviting manuscripts for a special issue on spiritually integrated care and collaboration with chaplaincy as they can be applied in organized care settings, especially in federal and state settings.

This special issue seeks manuscripts that address areas in which spiritually integrated care is relevant to practice, needed to respond to clients’ needs, practiced ethically, and may involve appropriate collaboration with chaplaincy. Examples may include:

• Review of ethics and scope of practice considerations for spiritually integrated care in organizational settings
• Research documenting needs and/or effects of spiritually integrated care for specific concerns or groups; for example, individuals managing moral injury, spiritual distress related to suicide risk, clients managing addictions who struggle with guilt, assisting clients in finding purpose in the face of disability, managing spiritual distress associated with chronic pain, twelve-step facilitation, etc.
• Research on the needs and effective practices with individuals who are religious/spiritual minorities, such as non-Christians, atheists, and agnostics
• Research and practice in meeting needs for staff around grief, loss, moral distress, and moral injury
• Research and demonstration projects for collaboration across psychology and chaplaincy

Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies, as well as systematic reviews, empirically-informed consensus statements, theoretical papers, and meta-analyses are all welcomed.