Purposeful Integration of Spiritual and Faith-based Traditions in Clinical Addiction Recovery.

This continuing education presentation provides clinicians with a comprehensive, evidence-based framework for integrating spiritual and faith-based traditions into addiction treatment, with a particular focus on abstinence models, 12-step social model approaches, residential and outpatient care. The training explores the psychological and neurobiological foundations of spirituality in recovery, differentiates spirituality from religion and spiritual emergence, and examines the diverse cultural and faith traditions that commonly intersect with treatment, as well as the emerging use of entheogen “spirit medicine” in convential clinical practice. Participants are introduced to the core spiritual principles embedded within abstinence and 12-step models—such as higher power (the God of our understanding) , surrender, accountability, service, and meaning-making—and learn how these principles support identity transformation and long-term recovery. Participants will gain practical tools and interventions drawn from Spiritual Psychology, Jungian Depth Psychology, ACT, DBT, mindfulness-based relapse prevention, and positive psychology. The workshop emphasizes ethical practice, cultural humility, and trauma-informed care when addressing spiritual needs, especially for clients with religious trauma histories or those experiencing spiritual emergence. Through case vignettes and discussion of structured assessments (FICA, HOPE, SPIRIT) participants learn how to incorporate wisdom traditions, contemplative practices, needs, values and spiritual assessments into their clinical approach to clients. The training encourages providers to support clients in accessing spirituality as a resilience resource while ensuring that all interventions remain client-directed, inclusive, and clinically grounded in evidence-based practices.