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Enhancing Cultural Comfort with Existential, Spiritual, and Religious Topics in Psychotherapy

CE Hours 2

About this course

Clients often enter therapy with concerns that have existential, spiritual, and/or religious (ESR) elements. Such topics are culturally laden and often elicit discomfort or uncertainty in others, including therapists, which can result in therapists avoiding, minimizing, or otherwise signaling reluctance to discuss ESR themes. Given that client perceptions of therapist cultural comfort (i.e., discussing culturally laden topics with ease) are associated with better therapy outcomes (Bartholomew et al., 2021), the current session explores common sources and manifestations of therapist discomfort with ESR topics and introduces strategies for regulating this discomfort. Case vignettes and discussion will be interwoven throughout.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe and demonstrate behavioral indicators of comfort toward clients’ existential/spiritual/religious experiences or topics.
  • Identify and describe how one’s levels of cultural (dis)comfort toward different clients’ existential/spiritual/religious experiences or ideas manifest.
  • Identify two ways to regulate cultural discomfort toward clients’ existential/spiritual/religious experiences or topics.

Course Instructor(s)

  • Stephanie Winkeljohn Black, PhD

    Stephanie Winkeljohn Black is a licensed psychologist and associate professor at Penn State Harrisburg. She has published over 45 scholarly articles and book chapters and contributed to over 60 presentations on topics related to cultural processes in psychotherapy training and supervision. Her primary focus is on developing and providing psychotherapy training on clients’ religious, spiritual, and existential needs and wellbeing, which is addressed in the forthcoming book Existential-Spiritual Psychotherapy (a Cambridge Press Element), coauthored with Dr Elena Kim.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

References

  • Bartholomew, T. T., Pérez-Rojas, A. E., Lockard, A. J., Joy, E. E., Robbins, K. A., Kang, E., & Maldonado-Aguiñiga, S. (2021). Therapists’ cultural comfort and clients’ distress: An initial exploration. Psychotherapy, 58(2), 275–281. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000331
  • Pargament, K. I., Exline, J. J., Cowden, R. G., & Wilt, J. A. (2025). Are spiritual struggles the cause or effect of psychological problems (or both)? Empirical findings and their implications for research and practice. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000408
  • Pérez-Rojas, A. E., & González, J. M. (2024). A critical comparison between cultural comfort and countertransference. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 34(4), 544–556. https://doi.org/10.1037/int0000343
  • Winkeljohn Black, S., Awlia, D., Shrivastava, S., & Crede, M. (2025). Psychotherapy trainee perspectives on the impact, usability, and feasibility of an online program to increase multicultural orientation toward religious and spiritual clients. Psychotherapy, advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000589
  • Black, S. W., & Kim, E. E. (2026). Existential-Spiritual Psychotherapy. Cambridge University Press.

CE Process Info

Content

  • Materials
    2 parts
    • Video
    • Slides
  • Joint Accreditation

    Joint Accreditation (JA)

    In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYEDSW)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. #0060.

  • New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSEDLMHC)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology (NYEDPSY)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists. #PSY-0016.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy (NYEDMFT)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. #MFT-0045.

Enhancing Cultural Comfort with Existential, Spiritual, and Religious Topics in Psychotherapy
You Have Completed This course
$75
You are enrolled
  • CE Hours
    2
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    Oct 21st, 2026

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