The importance of spirituality in the lives of many clients has been acknowledged in the most recent curriculum policy statement of the Council on Social Work Education and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. A number of studies have also appeared in the professional literature advocating for the inclusion of spirituality in both social work practice and education. Despite this legitimacy, social workers are often reluctant to address this issue for a variety of reasons, most notably the lack of knowledge on this subject and its application to practice. To that end, this article presents general information on spirituality and discusses specific ways of incorporating the spiritual dimension into social work assessment and intervention.
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