Content Analysis of Source Books of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Courses in Iranian Universities in terms of Paying Attention to Religious- Spiritual Needs

One of the most important sources of learning and teaching for university students are the academic source books. Because of the importance of and given the important role of religious-spiritual needs in mental health, five source books in consulting and clinical psychology courses were selected by the professors and experts, and their contents were analyzed in terms of paying attention to some spiritual religious units such as faith in God, belief in the Hereafter, religious beliefs, belief in an immaterial soul or psyche, religious behaviors or rites (such as prayer), reading the scriptures, spiritual motivation or goals, forgiveness, repentance, and thanking God.
The findings show that faith in God has been stated only in one of the books and in a very limited way (4 times). Repentance, thanking God, belief in an immaterial soul or psyche and reading the scriptures have not been referred to in any of the books. Belief in the Hereafter has been mentioned in two books (once positively and four times with a negative look), and religious beliefs has been mentioned in all books (26 times with a positive look and 5 times with a negative look); religious behaviors has been referred to in three books (6 times), spiritual/ religious goals in two books (5 times), and forgiveness only in one book (1 time) with a positive view. So, ‘faith in God’ as an important matter has been mentioned only in one of the books, some units not have appeared in any of the books, and belief in the hereafter and religious beliefs have been challenged in some books. Thus, in view of the important role of the religious/ spiritual dimension in mental health, it is necessary to use those textbooks in university courses that have paid more attention to religious/ spiritual units or, at least, have no negative look at them.