Is It Ethical to Leave Spirituality Out of Therapy?

Many therapists today feel the tension: clients often want their spiritual or religious beliefs to be acknowledged in therapy, but most mental health training programs barely touch on spirituality. This gap raises an important question: is it ethical to leave spirituality out of therapy altogether?

In this episode, I explore:

✨ The real cost of ignoring the spiritual dimension in clinical work
✨ Recent research from Australia and beyond showing how spirituality is under-addressed in mental health care
✨ Why many therapists feel unprepared to bring spirituality into sessions and how that impacts client care
✨ Practical examples of what ethical, evidence-based integration of spirituality can look like in practice
✨ The shift we need as a profession if we’re serious about holistic, person-centred therapy

Whether you’re a therapist, psychologist, counsellor, or simply someone curious about how psychology and spirituality can work together, this episode invites you to reflect on what true ethical care means.

🌟 Why This Matters

A growing body of research shows that spirituality is central to wellbeing, resilience, and meaning-making. Yet many clients report that their spiritual needs are overlooked - or worse, totally dismissed in therapy. At the same time, clinicians often say they lack training or confidence in addressing spiritual themes. The result is a gap in care that can leave clients feeling unseen.

This episode offers a grounded, evidence-based perspective on why spirituality belongs in the therapy room and why leaving it out may be ethically problematic.

💡 Want to Go Deeper?

This conversation is just the beginning. My program, The Conscious Therapist, is designed to support therapists in ethically and confidently integrating spirituality into clinical practice.

➡️ Doors are open now and will close on 8 October. Learn more here: https://www.integratedwisdom.com.au/theconscioustherapist

You can also explore:

The Science of Spirituality FREE micro-course - https://www.integratedwisdom.com.au/microcourse

The Signal Newsletter: https://www.integratedwisdom.com.au/

Contact Tatiana:

You can now send me your comments or questions, to [e-mail] or you can also find me on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/wisdomwithtatiana/

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Intro and Outro music: Inspiring Morning by Playsound

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Episode Transcript

Tatiana (00:00):
Welcome to the Integrated Wisdom Podcast.

(00:03):
I am your host, Tatiana DaSilva, psychologist, spiritual
educator, and founder of a bodyof work.
Devote to lead others toremembering what we never truly
forgot, that science and spiritwere never separate.
They are each in their own way,expressions of the same sacred

(00:23):
architecture.
This podcast is for the quietrevolutionaries, the therapists,
the seekers, the spirituallydiscerning and scientifically
curious who know that we arebeing called into a new paradigm
for personal and collectivetransformation.

(00:45):
Together we explore what itmeans to live a coherent.
Soul led life drawing frompsychology, neuroscience,
epigenetics, energy medicine,and spiritual remembrance.
These aren't just conversations.
They are transmissions for thoseready to return to what's true,

(01:06):
to what's whole, and to what'sbeen quietly waiting beneath it.
Hello and welcome to theIntegrated Wisdom Podcast.
I'm Tatiana, and today we'rediving into a question that I
think every therapist and reallypretty much anyone that's
interested in healing should besitting with.

(01:30):
"Is it ethical to leavespirituality out of therapy?"
Now before we go deeper, I justwant to pause and let you know
that the doors to the conscioustherapist are open right now.
This is my training program fortherapists who want to ethically
and confidently integratespirituality into their work.
If you've been listening to thispodcast and feel like this is

(01:51):
the missing piece for you, I'dlove for you to take a look.
I'll share more at the end, butyou can also find a link to the
course in the show notes.
Doors close on the 8th ofOctober.
Alright, let's get into it.
So, In our profession, we spenda lot of time on ethics,
confidentiality, consent,boundaries, cultural competence.

(02:15):
We know these inside out, butthere's something that we don't
often talk about.
Many therapists avoid engagingwith spirituality in the therapy
room, sometimes due to a lack ofknowledge, but sometimes also
because of fear.
Fear of imposing beliefs, fearof being unprofessional, fear of

(02:37):
crossing some invisible line,and yet when we ignore this
dimension, we risk silencing acore part of where our clients
are.
For many, Spirituality is notjust a belief system.
It's the lens that gives meaningto suffering the anchor that
carries them through grief andthe place that they draw

(02:58):
resilience from.
And here's the ethical tension.
If our codes are asking us torespect diversity values and
worldviews, then isn'tspirituality a part of that?
And if so, what does it meanwhen we leave it out all
together?

(03:18):
Let me give you an example.
I once heard a story about awoman, let's call her Sarah, who
came to therapy right afterlosing her partner, she was
devastated, as you would expect.
But what weighed on her mostwere the questions that she
didn't feel safe voicing to hertherapist.

(03:44):
Where is he now?
Will I ever feel close to himagain?
Is there an afterlife?
And if so, did his soul move on?
The therapist worked with Saraharound grief models, cognitive
reframes and symptom management,but Sarah left each session
feeling like the deepest part ofher pain was untouched.

(04:07):
The questions that mattered mostwere never named, and this
happens more than we realize.
When we ignore spirituality,three things can happen.
Clients can feel unseen orsilenced.
We miss opportunities for deeperhealing and meaning making, and

(04:27):
we can unintentionally reinforcea split as though therapies
about the mind and spiritualitybelongs somewhere else entirely,
and the data backs this up.
A study of about 472 adults inoutpatient therapy showed more

(04:48):
than half of clients reportedmoderate or greater importance
for spirituality.
affirming care.
Likewise, about one third hopedto address spiritual issues in
their treatment.
Another survey looking atcurrent mental health clients,
religious and spiritual beliefsand attitudes found that 75.6%

(05:13):
of respondents agreed that agood therapist is sensitive to
clients' religious and spiritualbeliefs.
Of those respondents, 71%reported that they would be open
to discussing their spiritual orreligious beliefs in therapy,
and 58.9% of respondents said itis important for my therapist to

(05:37):
know how to discuss spiritualityin therapy.
And yet most studies looking attherapist attitudes about
incorporating spiritual elementsinto their practice found a
clear gap in confidence andknowledge.
A 2023 Australian Review foundthat although spirituality and

(05:59):
religion play a vital role inmental health for culturally and
linguistically diverseAustralians, it is rarely
included in mainstream mentalhealth care.
Many from CALD communities usereligious or spiritual practices
as scoping strategies and seereligious and spiritual leaders
as mental health supports.

(06:19):
There is a gap between whatclients draw from spirituality
and what mental health systemsoffer in this country.
An Australian study that waspublished in 2025 reviewing the
roles and contributions thatspiritual care practitioners
perceive to have in the mentalhealth system in Australia,

(06:40):
found that the spiritual carepractitioners.
Reported that spiritualityremains underdressed in mental
health care in Australia.
They also explained that theybelieve that their role includes
helping discern betweenspiritual experiences and
psychopathology, as well asadvocating for spiritual needs
and collaborating with mentalhealth professionals in the care

(07:04):
of clients.
But these findings clearlysuggest that there is a
recognition that mental healthcare is incomplete if it omits
spiritual dimensions.
Another Australian study from2023 that looked at spirituality
in Australian healthprofessional practice found that

(07:27):
health practitioners inAustralia face inconsistent
approaches to clientspirituality.
So spiritual care is unevenacross different settings.
And although the National Safetyand Quality Health Services
standards in Australia frame,high quality person centered
care as including spiritualpreferences.

(07:48):
Many professional codes do notexplicitly reference
spirituality, though this ischanging in Australia, from the
1st of December, the PsychologyBoard of Australia has included
the incorporation of thespiritual attitudes and beliefs
of clients into the formulationof care.
So that is changing.

(08:09):
but this shows that there is astructural gap, or there has
been a structural gap up to thispoint.
There has been expectations forperson-centered care and that it
should include spiritualsensitivity, but regulatory and
professional frameworks haveoften ignored this element of
care.
And lastly, in a recent mixedmethod study 60% of

(08:36):
participating clinicians agreedthat spirituality has been
neglected in their practice dueto lack of training or comfort
level.
This was published in theJournal of Human Services, and
this paper argues thatintegrating spiritual
determinants of mental healthcare can improve outcomes,
reduce anxiety and increasequality of life.

(08:59):
So the gap is not only real,it's massive.
We recognize that it'simportant, the evidence is
abundantly clear on this issue,and yet our training has massive
gaps in supporting clinicians inbringing this, these elements to
the therapy room in a safe way.

(09:22):
Now, of course, this doesn'tmean that we impose
spirituality.
It means that we create a safespace where it's welcome if and
when the client brings it.
That's ethical care, and that'sexactly what the Conscious
Therapist Course was designed toaddress.
You know, the recognition thatthere is this big gap in our
training, in terms of providingtherapists with the tools and

(09:44):
the frameworks and the languageto be able to incorporate
Spirituality into thetherapeutic room safely and with
confidence is something that'sbeen missing and something that
in my course, I hope to be ableto address.
And so maybe it's time that weexpand how we think about

(10:04):
ethical competence.
Ethics isn't just about avoidingharm, it's also about practicing
integrity, about seeing thewhole person, and for many
people being whole includestheir spirituality.
What would it mean if spiritualcompetence became part of how we

(10:26):
measure good therapy?
Not as an extra.
but as an integral part ofprofessional practice?
One simple shift that you canmake today is this.
Instead of asking yourself, do Ineed to bring spirituality into
therapy?
Try asking, am I prepared tohold space if my clients bring
it?

(10:47):
Here's a short reflection thatyou can take into your own
practice this week.
Think of one client that you'recurrently working with and ask
yourself if they were to bring aspiritual existential question
into the room.
How prepared would I feel?
Notice what comes up.
Do you feel grounded, curious,uneasy or unsure?

(11:15):
That response is not aboutself-judgment.
It's information.
It tells you where your ownedges are and where growth might
be needed.
This kind of reflection buildsawareness, and awareness is the
first step towards competence.
And again, one of the additionalelements that is being added to
the core competencies forpsychologists in Australia is

(11:38):
the need for reflectivepractice.
We need to be aware of theattitudes we bring to the
therapeutic space, and alsowhere our knowledge gaps fall in
terms of supporting our client'sneeds around these topics.
And so circling back to thequestion I asked you at the
start, is it ethical to leavespirituality out of therapy?

(12:01):
Now, I don't think the answer isas black and white is that, but
I do believe this, that when weignore it all together, we risk
missing the heart of ourclient's healing.
And this is exactly why Icreated the conscious therapist.
It's a program designed to helptherapists step into this work
with confidence and claritythrough grounded practice,

(12:24):
through research and ethicalframeworks.
If this conversation is stirringsomething in you, I would love
for you to come and see whatit's about.
And if it's not your season forthat, that's absolutely okay
too.
Either way, my hope is thattoday's episode leaves you with
a question worth exploringfurther and finding your own way

(12:44):
to ensure that you are meetingthis very important dimension of
healing in the work that you'redoing if you're a therapist
hearing this and if you're aseeker, listening to this
episode, someone who is goingthrough their own individual
therapy, I encourage you to askyour therapist about how you can

(13:06):
incorporate your spiritualperspectives into the work that
you're doing with them.
If you feel like this would bebeneficial to you, or if it's
something that you are holdingonto and having a desire to, to
be exploring in therapy, buthave maybe felt it wasn't the
right space to do so.

(13:26):
Now ask the question.
Give yourself permission to putit on the table and see if it's
something that can be explored.
Let's start normalizing theseconversations.
It's undeniable thatspirituality needs to be brought
into the therapeutic space thatwe cannot support clients
holistically without looking atthat element of being human.

(13:48):
So let's all of us start makingstrides towards normalizing this
element of human care.
I thank you so much for, forbeing here with me.
If you have any questions,you're welcome to reach out to
me on email [e-mail] au,

(14:10):
or you can DM me on Instagram atWisdom with Tatiana.
And as I said, if you are atherapist, the Conscious
Therapist program is open rightnow.
Intake is open right now and youcan find in the show notes a
link to the course.
Find out more information aboutit.
Doors will close on the 8th ofOctober and we get started from

(14:30):
the 13th.
So if any of this has resonatedwith you and you're curious to
learn more, I invite you tostart by looking at the course
outline, and seeing how itresonates for you.
I hope you'll have a lovely weekand I'll see you next time.
Always reminding you that youare never disconnected.

(14:51):
Only waiting to remember.
Speak soon.
Thank you for tuning into thisepisode of Integrated Wisdom.
It is my sincere wish that thisepisode may have intrigued and
inspired you to reclaim yourpower and step into becoming
more fully integrated spiritualbeings.

(15:12):
New episodes are published everysecond Wednesday, and I hope
that you'll continue to join usas we dive deeper into what it
means to live an integratedlife.
If this space has stirredsomething in you, I invite you
to subscribe, share it withthose attuned to this path, and
explore the full body [e-mail] au.

(15:35):
You can also find me onInstagram at Wisdom with
Tatiana, where the conversationcontinues.
Until next time, staydiscerning, stay curious, and
let this be your reminder.
You were never disconnected.
Only waiting to remember.