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PROFILES
The Development of the Spiritual Focus in Counseling
and Counselor Education
Geri Miller

This article summarizes the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling’s (ASERVIC’s) history with the Ameri-
can Counseling Association (ACA) and the Summit on Spirituality. It includes comments on the importance of spirituality in counseling
and the rewarding aspects of infusing spirituality into counseling from the perspectives of Mary Thomas Burke, Eugene Kelly, and Judy
Miranti. The article concludes by exploring issues related to fusing spirituality with counseling and presents recommendations.

T
he spiritual dimension is a necessary and
beneficial component in mental health coun-
seling. Frequently clients are concerned about
spiritual issues in their lives and want to dis-
cuss these issues as a part of counseling. For
counselors to be prepared to address these spiritual concerns,
both the American Counseling Association (ACA) and
counselor education training programs need to incorporate
the spiritual dimension in a planned, thoughtful manner. To
effectively and ethically address spirituality issues in counsel-
ing, counselors need guidance from the ACA, particularly the
division of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Reli-
gious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC). Understanding
ASERVIC’s important role in the development of guide-
lines incorporating the spiritual dimension in counseling,
requires a brief review of the individual histories of
ASERVIC and ACA and how the two histories became
interwoven.
In 1952 the American Personnel and Guidance Associa-
tion (APGA) was founded. In 1983 its name was changed
to the American Association for Counseling and Develop-
ment (AACD), and in 1992 it became the American Coun-
seling Association (ACA). The following summary (up to
the 1980s) of ACA’s relationship with ASERVIC, a divi-
sion of ACA, is drawn from Bartlett, Lee, and Doyle (1985).
In 1961, three groups merged to become the National
Catholic Guidance Conference (NCGC): (a) the Catholic
Counselors in APGA, a special interest group formed in 1955
that met each year before the APGA convention; (b) the
founders of the Catholic Counselor (now ASERVIC’s Coun-
seling and Values), a publication that was started by the
Catholic Counselors in APGA in 1956; and (c) the Na-
tional Conference of Guidance Councils, a group of dioc-
esan councils formed in 1958 to look at guidance and coun-
seling in parochial schools. (This group originated in 1951
when the Archdiocese of New York formed the Catholic
Guidance Counsel.) They merged to become a part of the
larger organization of APGA. In 1973 the NCGC became
APGA’s 10th division, a division that brought attention to
counseling issues focused on religion and values. In 1977
the NCGC became the Association for Religious and Value
Issues in Counseling (ARVIC). This name change was a
result of a leadership relationship with the APGA and some
informal pressure from the APGA; the group was no longer
an organization for Catholic professionals but a focal point
for examining counseling in terms of its religious and val-
ues issues (Bartlett et al., 1985).
In the mid-1980s, ARVIC leaders realized the term reli-
gion in its title was not encompassing enough, so there was
discussion at the national board level and state membership
levels about adding the word “spiritual.” After 3 years of
discussion as well as careful consideration of a membership
survey regarding the name change, the board of directors
voted at the 1993 ACA convention to add the words “spiri-
tual” and “ethical” to ARVIC resulting in the name change
of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values
in Counseling (ASERVIC; Wagenhofer, 1993). ASERVIC
continues to provide leadership to ACA on spiritual, ethi-
cal, and religious values. No other division has spirituality
as the main focus of its mission. Because of this important
focus, ASERVIC plays a critical role in ACA’s recent com-
mitment to a diversity that includes spirituality.

Geri Miller is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian State University, Boone, North
Carolina. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Geri Miller, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, Edwin
Duncan Hall, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 (e-mail: millerga@appstate.edu).

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To understand ACA’s recent commitment to emphasize the
spiritual aspect of counseling, phone interviews were con-
ducted with three individuals whose involvement in ASERVIC
and ACA enables them to provide an insightful overview:
Mary Thomas Burke, Eugene Kelly, and Judy Miranti (see the
Appendix for brief biographical information). They discussed
(a) the importance of spirituality in counseling; (b) the roles
of ASERVIC, the Summit on Spirituality, and the Counsel
for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Pro-
grams (CACREP) in the process of fusing spirituality into coun-
seling; and (c) personal rewards they have experienced as a
result of their involvement.
IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUALITY IN COUNSELING
There is increasing evidence of counselors’ need to be knowl-
edgeable and competent in the area of spirituality in coun-
seling. CACREP standards are currently in the process of
being revised with the intent of incorporating spirituality
competencies. (The standards are scheduled to become ef-
fective January 1, 2001.) In addition, ACA has developed a
position paper asserting a commitment to diversity that spe-
cifically includes spirituality. The challenge for ASERVIC
will be to define the competencies regarding spirituality. To
further the argument for the importance of including spiri-
tuality in the counseling process, the three interviewees were
asked to lend their voices to the current discussion.
Reflecting on the progress that has been made, each in-
terviewee summarized his or her views as to the impor-
tance of including spirituality in the counseling process.
Burke: Spirituality is an integral part of a person’s life.
Everyone is looking for meaning in life which comes from
the spiritual dimension of one’s life. Many people have ques-
tions and struggles with spirituality, which they bring to
counseling. Counselors need to be prepared to address these
issues with their clients, or they will be doing them a great
disservice.
Kelly: It is important for counseling to include spirituality
because the evidence we have from research and clinical ex-
perience is that the area of spirituality is very important for
many people. For example, wellness models state that spiritu-
ality is a part of human development. It makes sense for a
counselor to work on spiritual issues when they emerge and
are relevant in counseling. Although not everyone accepts
spirituality as a part of reality or considers it important, we
need to understand that it may be an important part of coun-
seling, perhaps for many clients. Many clients hurt with lone-
liness, guilt, shame, and anger. Spirituality, when authenti-
cally present, provides a way to move toward meaning in life,
even when it is painful. Spirituality can provide the client with
a source of benevolence toward oneself as well as a context
for social support such as a religious or spiritual community.
Counselors, who have a religious bent, need to be alert that
religious experiences may have a negative as well as a positive
impact for clients and help those who have negative experi-
ences to work through the impact of those experiences.
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Spiritual Focus in Counseling and Counselor Education
Miranti: Spirituality is a natural, life enhancing, develop-
mental process that gives purpose and meaning to life. We
should not have to wait to be asked to facilitate the spiritual
aspect of our clients. While it is unethical for us to impose our
beliefs on our clients, we can explore spiritual themes in the
context of helping our clients enhance their lives by finding
meaning in them. We need to look at themes that have been a
meaningful part of a person’s life and encourage the presence
of those themes. In order to be sensitive to our clients, we
need to be aware of our own views of spirituality in order to
help our clients define spirituality in their own lives.
These views both clarify and underscore the need for in-
fusion of a spiritual focus in both counseling and counselor
education. The exploration of this fusion began with the
Summit on Spirituality.
SUMMIT ON SPIRITUALITY AND SUBSEQUENT SESSIONS
While editing Counseling: The Spiritual Dimension, Burke
and Miranti began to talk about convening a summit on
spirituality. The summit was the outcome of discussions
among leaders of ASERVIC who wanted to gather ideas on
how to infuse spirituality into the counseling process. It
was decided that a summit was the best way to gather such
ideas. It took 1 year to plan the summit, and 13 of the 15
individuals invited to the summit were able to attend. These
invited individuals, from various ACA divisions and across
the United States, were chosen because they had written
books or articles on spirituality in ACA journals. The 2½
day Summit on Spirituality, endorsed by ASERVIC, was
held in October 1995 in Belmont, North Carolina, and was
hosted by Mary Thomas Burke and Judy Miranti.
Two important areas that the Summit on Spirituality ad-
dressed were (a) defining or describing spirituality and (b)
exploring the key counselor competencies regarding spiritu-
ality. Day 1’s general discussion on spirituality (how it fits in
people’s lives, and into counselor education) resulted in a draft
description of spirituality that was redefined on the 3rd day.
Although total agreement was not reached for a definition of
spirituality, the consensus description follows (this definition
appeared in Counseling Today, “Summit Results in Informa-
tion of Spirituality Competencies,” December, 1995):
[T]he animating force in life, represented by such images as breath,
wind, vigor, and courage. Spirituality is the infusion and drawing out
of spirit in one’s life. It is experienced as an active and passive pro-
cess. Spirituality also is described as a capacity and tendency that is
innate and unique to all persons. This spiritual tendency moves the
individual towards knowledge, love, meaning, hope, transcendence,
connectedness, and compassion. Spirituality includes one’s capacity
for creativity, growth, and the development of a values system. Spiri-
tuality encompasses the religious, spiritual, and transpersonal. (p. 30)
On the 2nd day, the incorporation of spirituality into
counseling practices and the ethics of incorporating spiri-
tuality into counselor education were explored and a list of
10 competencies emerged (using the eight CACREP core
areas as guidelines).
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Miller
After the Summit on Spirituality, four subsequent sessions
were held at ACA and the Association for Counselor Educa-
tion and Supervision (ACES) conferences to clarify issues re-
lated to the infusion of spirituality into counseling. At the
1996 ACA Convention in Pittsburgh, for instance, approxi-
mately 40 people attended a forum focusing on the refine-
ment of the spiritual competencies. In October 1996 at the
ACES winter conference in Portland, a session on infusing the
spiritual dimension into the CACREP core curriculum was
held and attended by approximately 35 counselor educators
and supervisors. Out of these two meetings emerged 9 com-
petencies (the original 10 were revised to 9). The CACREP
committee will review these 9 competencies for the purpose
of incorporating them into the revised CACREP standards.
These competencies are as follows:
In order to be competent to help clients address the spiritual di-
mension of their lives, a counselor needs to be able to: 1) explain
the relationship between religion and spirituality, including simi-
larities and differences, 2) describe religious and spiritual beliefs
and practices in a cultural context, 3) engage in self-exploration of
his/her religious and spiritual beliefs in order to increase sensitiv-
ity, understanding and acceptance of his/her belief system, 4) de-
scribe one’s religious and/or spiritual belief system and explain vari-
ous models of religious/spiritual development across the lifespan,
5) demonstrate sensitivity to and acceptance of a variety of reli-
gious and/or spiritual expressions in the client’s communication,
6) identify the limits of one’s understanding of a client’s spiritual
expression, and demonstrate appropriate referral skills and general
possible referral sources, 7) assess the relevance of the spiritual
domains in the client’s therapeutic issues, 8) be sensitive to and
respectful of the spiritual themes in the counseling process as be-
fits each client’s expressed preference, and 9) use a client’s spiri-
tual beliefs in the pursuit of the client’s therapeutic goals as befits
the client’s expressed preference. (Burke, 1998, p. 2)
At the 1997 ACA Convention in Orlando, a 3-hour pro-
gram was held discussing the competencies and examples
of how to incorporate them into each area of the CACREP
core. At this point, Phases I and II of the Summit of Spiri-
tuality were complete. Phase I of the process of fusing spiri-
tuality into counseling was the Summit on Spirituality
where a definition/description of spirituality and a list of
competencies were drafted. Phase II was to find ways to
incorporate spirituality into CACREP criteria. At the 1998
ACA Convention in Indianapolis, a session was held with
approximately 35 people in attendance where the focus
was on assistance needed to inject spirituality into the prac-
tice of counseling. This session was a bridge to Phase III
that focuses on infusing spirituality into counselor educa-
tion through the development of training materials and cur-
riculum guides. At their 1998 meeting in Indianapolis, the
ASERVIC Board voted to support an extensive survey with
ACA members to determine their needs in this area with
the goal being a multifaceted training summit that will as-
sist in incorporating spirituality as an integral part of the
counseling practice.
In summary, each of the three interviewees discussed the
most rewarding aspects of being involved with the aforemen-
tioned process of incorporating spirituality into counseling:
500 J O U R N A L O F C O U N S E L I N G & D E V E L O P M E N T • FA L L 1 9 9 9 • V O L U M E 7 7
Burke: It has been rewarding for me to meet people with
similar interests, hear people say that our efforts are meet-
ing a need, and seeing our efforts fill a void in our profes-
sion. We are “blazing a trail” in the area of spirituality in
counseling. There has always been a need, but it is only now
that the need is being really acknowledged by our profes-
sion. We are being looked to by the public to help our young
people explore these issues. I hope we do not neglect this
opportunity of leadership because ACA has a golden op-
portunity to make a mark on the counseling profession.
Kelly: This experience has been a very enriching one for
me spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually. I have learned
a lot about spirituality/religion research as well as what is
being done clinically with regard to incorporating spiritual-
ity into counseling. In my own clinical work, I have found
that the spiritual dimension can be respectfully and care-
fully incorporated into counseling so that it is enriching to
people. Finally, I have also learned a lot in terms of my own
teaching. I teach a course at George Washington, “Spiritual,
Religious, and Values Issues in Counseling.” I have watched
how this course has impacted students in their clinical work.
The course seems to give students permission as well as skills
and knowledge to work on these issues in counseling. It also
encourages a respectful alertness in students to issues of spiri-
tuality which arise in their counseling work with clients.
Miranti: I want to continually look at how I relate to oth-
ers, how sensitively aware I am. I have realized that the only
movement for change for someone is the internal move-
ment. The power in the therapeutic relationship lies in the
presence, acceptance, and facilitation of spirituality that goes
beyond any theoretical model. Change can occur for a cli-
ent if the counselor is sensitive, respectful, and willing to be
present with the client in order to facilitate their growth.
ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The historical development of spirituality being incorpo-
rated into counseling and counselor education is an encour-
aging one. The events from the initial inclusion of the Na-
tional Catholic Guidance Conference in the American Per-
sonnel and Guidance Association through the current Phase
III of the Summit on Spirituality speak to a willingness to
dialogue within ASERVIC and between ACA and
ASERVIC to make the inclusion of spirituality in counsel-
ing respectful, compassionate, and ethical. The involvement
of ACA members in the process points out the interest in a
spiritual component of counseling. Now as ASERVIC en-
ters Phase III of the Summit on Spirituality, the challenge
that faces both ASERVIC and ACA members is how to
include spirituality in counseling—and counselor educa-
tion—to make it a reality. The willingness of ASERVIC to
survey ACA members to develop a training summit for this
purpose is vital.
The proposed changes to CACREP standards are likely
to result in a number of questions that counselors need to
face both individually and collectively. These questions may
include the following:

1. How do we help people develop a spiritual identity? This
question invites dialogue about techniques that can be used
that are respectful to the client/student, problem, and situ-
ation. Although there may be some general techniques that
emerge from a training summit and perhaps a model of
competencies required of counselor education programs in
the county, each counselor/counselor educator will need
to face how these general techniques can be respectfully
and ethically applied to the idiosyncrasies of each person,
problem, and situation.
2. Do we have a right and an obligation to help people de-
velop a spiritual identity? Dialogue will be required here to
sort out if, when, and how counselors have a right and obli-
gation to enter into this process. A counselor comfortable
with the idea of fusing spirituality into counseling should
be very aware of his or her own motivation for doing so and
the potential bias of his or her own spiritual views on the
counseling process. At the other extreme, a counselor who
wants to avoid the inclusion of spirituality should examine
how such avoidance may negatively affect the client. These
same cautions apply to the counselor educator incorporat-
ing spirituality into a counselor education program.
3. How does context affect application? Dialogue is required
in the area of context in two ways. First, information is
required regarding the dilemmas counselors and counselor
educators face in the different contexts in which they work.
Some examples of these contexts include the type of orga-
nization in which they work (school, community, univer-
sity), ethnicity of the client/student, counselor/counselor
educator, and geographical setting (rural/urban). Both simi-
larities and differences among contexts need to be under-
stood better to guide counselors and counselor educators
on the infusion of spirituality into their setting. Second,
counselors and counselor educators need to learn how they
are comfortable operating in a spiritual context with an
awareness of their own spiritual development: Are some
religions/spiritual views more easily worked with than oth-
ers? Are some infusion techniques more comfortable to use
than others?
SUMMARY
Because the history of ASERVIC’s relationship with ACA
involves dialogue and collaboration, this history creates
confidence for me in the process of incorporating spiritual-
ity into counseling. ASERVIC and ACA have worked well
together historically at forging new concepts and areas nec-
essary to keep counselors current in addressing client is-
sues. Although the meetings of Phase I and Phase II were
necessary for respectively describing spirituality/developing
competency standards, and examining ways to infuse spiri-
tuality into CACREP standards, the attendance of counse-
lors at the meetings also demonstrated the interest in ad-
dressing the spiritual dimension in counseling. ACA and
ASERVIC will now need to finalize a definition of spiritu-
ality, develop a model of incorporating spirituality into
J O U R N A L O F C O U N S E L I N G & D E V E L O P M E N T • FA L L 1 9 9 9 • V O L U M E 7 7
Spiritual Focus in Counseling and Counselor Education
counselor education programs, and provide opportunities
for counselors to discuss any questions or concerns they
may have that are related to spirituality’s role. Particularly
regarding techniques, both quantitative and qualitative re-
search will need to accompany the proposed inclusion of
spirituality into counseling. Researchers will be required to
focus on identifying which specific counseling techniques
are helpful, in which settings, and with which populations.
Only by using techniques anchored in research will coun-
selors and counselor educators be able to rely confidently
on the use of these techniques and trust that the definition
of spirituality and model of infusion into training will be
both ethical and effective.
REFERENCES
Bartlett, W. E., Lee, J. L., & Doyle, R. E. (1985). Historical develop-
ment of the Association for Religious and Values Issues in Counsel-
ing. Journal of Counseling and Development, 63, 448–451.
Burke, M. T. (1998, Winter). From the chair. The CACREP Connection, p. 2.
Summit results in information of spirituality competencies. (1995, De-
cember). Counseling Today, p. 30.
Wagenhofer, J. (1993, Summer). A new horizon for ARVIC. Interaction,
pp. 1–2.
APPENDIX
Brief Biography of the Counselors
Biography
Mary Thomas Burke. Burke is a professor and coordinator
of graduate counseling at the University of North Caro-
lina-Charlotte. She served as president of the North Caro-
lina ASERVIC and the North Carolina Counseling Asso-
ciation in addition to serving as president of ASERVIC, and
the ACA and CACREP liaison to the National Board for
Certified Counselors. She currently serves as chairperson
of the CACREP Board, president of Chi Sigma Iota Inter-
national, and president of the North Carolina Counselor
Educator and Supervisors Association. She coedited Ethi-
cal and Values Issues in Counseling and Counseling: The Spiri-
tual Dimension with Judy Miranti. Both books were pub-
lished by the American Counseling Association. She is a
member of the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina and cur-
rently serves on its governing council.
Eugene Kelly. Kelly is a counselor educator and professor
in the School of Education and Human Development at
George Washington University. He has been a member of
ASERVIC for many years. He was involved in the Summit
on Spirituality held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1995.
Judy Miranti. Miranti is a counselor educator and dean of
graduate studies at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New
Orleans, Louisiana. She has served as ARVIC president, a
member of the ACA Governing Council, and president of
Chi Sigma Iota. She has found publishing and editing in the
area of spirituality a fulfilling challenge. She has also found a
very professionally fulfilling association with ASERVIC and
ACA. She is trained in marriage and family systems. She has
been married for 23 years and has a 21-year-old son.
501