Spiritual Formation in the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology at George Fox University

• Published in: Journal of spiritual formation and soul care Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 296 - 313
• Main Authors: Bufford, Rodger K., Thurston, Nancy S., Gathercoal, Kathleen A., Goodworth, Marie-Christine, Holt, Lynn H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2018
• Subjects: spiritual formation; graduate education; R/S integration; health service psychology
• ISSN: 1939-7909; 2328-1030
• DOI: 10.1177/1939790918795627

At its inception, the training model in the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology (GSCP) at George Fox University was informed by the approach inaugurated at Fuller Theological Seminary School of Psychology in the 1960s. In the original model, training in Christian religion/spirituality and theology accompanied training in professional psychology. In the interim, our culture, psychological knowledge, perceived psychological needs, and training programs have changed greatly. Here we report changes in religion/spirituality (R/S) training and integration over the last two decades. We describe our current spiritual formation structure and process, and program evaluation efforts. Over the past several years the GSCP has shifted from relying mainly on a cognitive approach involving Bible and theology courses (theoretical-conceptual integration) toward a more personal-experiential approach that includes team teaching of the theology and religion courses, an individualized spiritual direction experience spread over two years, and more intentional integration of R/S and spiritual formation components throughout the program. We anticipate this may be an ongoing area for further development in coming years as we seek to meet the needs of a changing student body with greater R/S diversity and largely postmodern worldviews.