Inclusion of Relationship and Religion/Spirituality Issues in Mental Health Counseling During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of Canadian Practitioners

Relationship (REL) and religion/spirituality (R/S) concerns were prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic but mental health practitioners’ engagement with these issues was unclear. A survey of Canadian mental health practitioners’ ( N = 155) based on a convenience sample in two provinces revealed that overall 66% of practitioners reported engagement with REL and 33% with R/S in their first three counseling sessions. Three latent analysis profiles of engagement emerged: Low ( n = 18), Moderate ( n = 91), and High ( n = 46). Confidence and appraisal of the importance of working with REL and R/S strongly predicted engagement in all three groups. Demographically, High Engagers compared to Moderate/Low Engagers tended to be older with more experience, identify as East Asian and Indigenous, Christian or spiritual, hold doctoral degrees, trained as marriage and family therapists and professional counselors and typically working with couples and families in their service. Practitioners reported the least confidence working with couples relative to parenting, generational and workplace issues. Desire expressed to enhance their skills in REL was 64% and 56% for R/S. Implications for training and leveraging the systemic strengths brought by couple and family therapists to meet the needs of future pandemics are highlighted.