Customer Reviews

Spiritual Diversity in Social Work Practice: The Heart of Helping

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the premiere text for use in a course on spirituality and social work. The Council on Social Work Education has included spirituality in its latest guidelines for social work curriculum, and many schools of social work are developing courses on spirituality in order to meet this guideline. This book presents the latest thinking in the field - including theory, ethics, practice techniques, information about many religious perspectives, all grounded in a national survey of NASW members. Exercises at the end of each chapter help students reflect and apply the content to real life situations. This book will be a tremendous asset for anyone interested in incorporating spirituality into social work practice.

This text is a wonderful antidote to the anti-religious Marxist/Feminist tracts that permeated my social work education. For those who work with real suffering people an understand of spiritual diversity, and an ability to reflect on our own biases and preconceptions, is essential for creating a truly empowering alliance with clients. All I heard about spirituality in graduate school was that all (!) religion was an oppressive, patriarchal institution that deserved contempt. This is very sad. I am grateful that this book was written, especially with its emphasis on experiential learning and self reflection. I hope it gets the wide audience it deserves in social work education programs. Nine bows of gratitude to the authors!

I think this is a great text for teaching "Spirituality" and Social work. It takes the profession into consideration while introducing the topics of spirituality, skill sets for assessing spirituality in an accessible manner.