Development, Refinement, and Psychometric Properties of the Attitudes Toward God Scale (ATGS-9)

Perceived relationships with God can be a source of comfort or struggle. To advance the study of spiritual comfort and struggle, we develop the nine-item Attitudes toward God Scale (ATGS-9), and we describe six studies (2,992 total participants) reporting its development and psychometrics. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified two factors: (1) Positive Attitudes toward God and (2) Disappointment and Anger with God. Subscale scores showed good estimated internal consistency, 2-week temporal stability, and evidence for construct and discriminant validity. Positive Attitudes toward God correlated with measures of religiosity and conscientiousness. Disappointment and Anger with God correlated with negative religious coping, lower religious participation, more distress, higher neuroticism, and entitlement. These results support the ATGS-9 as a brief measure of attitudes toward God

Spiritual Formation among Doctoral Psychology Students in Explicitly Christian Programs

How does training in an explicitly Christian doctoral program in clinical psychology affect students\u27 faith development? Two studies are reported that consider students\u27 locus of control, spiritual perceptions, and religious behaviors over the course of training. The first study involved 157 students from 5 doctoral programs who completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of an academic year. A number of changes were reported from the beginning to the end of the year, including increased internal locus of control, decreased awareness of God. decreased church attendance, and decreased ratings on the importance of religion. A number of differences between cohorts were also observed, with flrst-year students affirming more spiritual attributions, religious problem-solving, and religious behaviors than students in other cohorts. The second study included 140 first- and second-year students from 4 doctoral programs. Changes were reported over the academic year, including increased disappointment with God and fatigue, and decreased church attendance, personal prayer, and importance of religion. No differences between first and second-year students were observed. Various possible explanations are offered for these findings, including eroding of faith, enhanced self-efficacy, rearraging faith, and fatigue

An Online Social Networking Disaster Preparedness Tool for Faith Communities

The purpose of this article is to introduce a brief online social networking disaster preparedness tool that psychologists can help faith communities implement to assist in developing preparedness and response plans. This tool may potentially be used to strengthen social networks within and between faith communities in disaster circumstances through improved information sharing and gathering, communication, and support. An in-depth description of how psychologists can work with faith communities to develop and implement this tool is provided. A case example highlighting how the tool was developed and used in the preparedness activities of a southern Mississippi faith community in response to the threat of Hurricane Gustav is also given

Preparing Psychologists to Work With Underserved Populations: A Faith-Based Pre-Doctoral Training Model

The purpose of this article is to provide a pre-doctoral training model for preparing future psychologists to work with underserved clients and communities from a uniquely Christian perspective. Another major goal of this article is to encourage others to develop pre-doctoral training programs dedicated to working with underserved groups. The training model presented in this article is based on the Chicago Area Christian Training Consortium (CACTC) Internship in Professional Psychology, which provides pre-doctoral interns the opportunity to work with underserved urban, suburban, and rural populations. In this work, interns are challenged to expand their repertoire to also include non-traditional modes of service delivery which, in many cases, is considered to be more effective in work with underserved populations. Consequently, the CACTC (a) mission statement, (b) program description, (c) training objectives, (d) CACTC sites, and (e) training philosophy are highlighted

Psychotherapy with Religious and Spiritual Clients: An Introduction

This invited issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session is devoted to psychotherapy with religious and spiritual clients. After offering definitions of religion and spirituality, noting areas of potential convergence and differentiating nuances, the authors highlight the prevalence and types of spirituality among both clients and mental health professionals. They describe the historical and current context for examining approaches to psychotherapy with clients who endorse religion, experience spirituality within their religion, or define themselves as spiritual even if not religious. They then summarize the subsequent articles in this issue, which offer practical guidance for practitioners. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 65:123-130, 2009

Next Steps for Clinicians in Religious and Spiritual Therapy: An Endpiece

To conclude this issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, the authors identify several next steps for clinicians interested in religious and spiritual therapy, They call for more clinically useful definitions of religion and spirituality and suggest that new methods of clinical practice that employ both Western and Eastern religion and spirituality need to be developed and tested. The need for more clinically focused religious and spiritual assessments is highlighted. They recommend greater clergy-psychotherapist collaboration and propose that clinicians lead and collaborate with researchers to further meaningful research on religion and spirituality. Finally, the authors identify areas of graduate training that require strengthening and provide corresponding guidelines. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 65:224-229, 2009

The Lived Coping Experiences of South Mississippi and New Orleans Clergy Affected by Hurricane Katrina: An Exploratory Study

Over seventy percent of Americans identify with some faith community and use their faith as a means to cope with life experiences, especially following disasters (Weaver, Flannelly, Garbarino, Figley, & Flannelly, 2003). Clergy have been found to play a significant role in responding to disaster needs, including providing pastoral counseling, crisis management, and serving and meeting the overall needs of others (Darling, Hill, & McWey, 2004; Pector, 2005). Though clergy play a major role in attending to disaster needs, little is known about how clergy cope with disasters. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the ways in which clergy in South Mississippi and New Orleans coped with Hurricane Katrina using a phenomenological approach