Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Counseling

The terms “spirituality” and “religion” are difficult to define and differentiate from one another as both concepts are broad, multidimensional, and dependent on social and historical perspectives (Hill et al., 2000). When defining these terms, Hill et al. recommended that various definitional criteria be used to differentiate them. As such, both religion and spirituality include a search for the sacred; however, religion also includes two additional criteria:

(1) a possible (but not necessary) search for the non-sacred within a community that searches for the sacred, and (2) a set of prescribed search methods recognized by the group. For example, within the Christian religion, people may search for belonging in a community through participation in such Christian rituals as communion or wor- ship. The relationship between religion and spirituality is highly individualized, with some individuals experiencing their spiritual life largely, if not exclusively, within the context of organized religion while others may find the experience and expression of spirituality outside of the context of organized religion.