Spirituality and Religion in Human Services: A Guide for Practitioners and Managers

Spirituality, whether or not rooted in religion, is a core feature of what it means to be human. This important practice manual explains why spirituality and religion should be a fundamental consideration for professions that are centred around helping people tackle their problems and fulfil their potential.

The authors draw on their considerable expertise to challenge thinking, promote reflection and improve practice through a framework that takes complex concepts and makes them manageable and accessible. By fusing together theory, practice and values, a theorizing practice approach is promoted to encourage reflection and understanding, with exercises at the end of each chapter to stimulate the reader to think about how values inform practice.

This insightful guide equips a wide range of practitioners and managers with an understanding of spirituality and religion within day-to-day practice to support others and nurture best results.

Neil Thompson is a well-known and highly respected author in social work and the human relations field more broadly. He is currently a visiting professor at The Open University and Wrexham University. His online platform, The Neil Thompson Academy, offers a range of learning opportunities, including leadership qualifications.

Bernard Moss was Emeritus Professor of Social Work Education and Spirituality at Staffordshire University, where he began working with social work students in 1993. His particular teaching interests focused on communication skills, studies in death, dying and bereavement, and mediation studies.