The Soul of the Helper: Cultivating self-awareness and self-care at the intersection of spirituality and mental health

The intersection between spirituality and mental health has been a growing area of research over the last few decades. In one national survey regarding clinical social workers’ attitudes, behaviors, self-efficacy, and perceived feasibility around integrating clients’ religion/spirituality in practice, social workers’ intrinsic religiosity was the top predictor of their views and behaviors toward such integration. Similar results have also been found within related disciplines, including psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, and nursing. Simultaneously, many mental health clients...Read more have expressed a desire for more attention to their religion/spirituality in treatment. Considering these and other recent studies’ findings, there is a need for mental health care providers to pay close attention to the complexity of their own religious/spiritual beliefs and practices, and to engage in self-awareness and self-care at this intersection, particularly as they consider the complexity of their clients’ religion/spirituality in mental health treatment.
In this session, Dr. Oxhandler will discuss previous research surrounding religion/spirituality and mental health and present the quantitative grounded theory, Namaste Theory. She’ll explain how this research is not only relevant for mental health care providers, but extends to everyday helpers, including parents, partners, teachers, administrators, health care providers, faith leaders, volunteers, and more. Finally, attendees will be introduced to the seven stages of seeking the Sacred from her book, The Soul of the Helper, to contemplate the intersection of spirituality and mental health within their own lives as they serve others. Less...

Register for this Webinar

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the complexity and importance of ethically integrating clients’ religion and spirituality in mental health care.
  • Describe Namaste Theory and the research behind it.
  • Describe why practicing self-awareness and caring for ourselves well, particularly related to religion/spirituality and mental health, are critical in our efforts to care for others.
  • Outline a seven-stage model of seeking the Sacred from The Soul of the Helper to practice self-awareness, promote resilience, and support mental health care providers and educators as they serve others.
  • Identify at least 1-2 strategies to support the practice of self-awareness at the intersection of religion/spirituality as a mental health care provider.

Friday, January 22, 2027

Live Interactive Webinar

01:00 PM EST - 03:00 PM EST

Register for this Webinar
$85.00
EARN 2 CE Credit Hours
Click Here to Register

About the speaker

Holly Oxhandler, PhD, MSW

Holly Oxhandler, PhD, MSW

Professor, Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University
Dr. Holly Oxhandler is a Professor and the Associate Dean for Research at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Holly studies the intersection between religion/spirituality and mental health, and is especially interested in whether and how mental and behavioral health therapists discuss their clients’ religious/spiritual beliefs in treatment. She developed and validated the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale in addition to several other instruments to measure the integration of clients’ religion/spirituality in mental health treatment. Her award-winning research has been generously supported by the John Templeton Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and others. Dr. Oxhandler’s research has been featured in the Washington Post, Consumer Affairs, Religion News Service, and more. She is the author of The Soul of the Helper: Seven Stages to Seeing the Sacred Within Yourself So You Can See It in Others and cohosts CXMH: A Podcast on Faith & Mental Health.

Agenda

1:00 – intro and housekeeping (Solihten)

1:10 – Overview & Presentation (tentative outline below)

  • Overview of research on
    spirituality/religion and mental health
  • Overview of research on what’s
    happening in mental health care
  • Namaste theory & seven stages
    to support mental health care providers
  • Space for reflection and
    integration moving forward
  • Q&A

2:55 – CE process (Solihten)

CE Information - Earn 2 CE Credit Hours

CE Approvals

Joint Accreditation
Joint Accreditation
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
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.
National Board of Certified Counselors
Solihten Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7157. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Solihten Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work
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
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
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
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.

CE Process Info

Before the event, you will receive an email from CE-Go with access to the virtual event. After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link and access to the virtual event will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.

Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", you will be able to:

  • Complete evaluation forms for the event
  • Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go platform, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ceactivities.com".

If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.

Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder in case those emails get "stuck". We'd also suggest "Allowlisting" support@ceactivities.com. This tells your email client that you know this sender and trust them, which will keep emails from this contact at the top of your inbox and out of the junk folder.

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.