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Abstract. Given the fact that there are beneficiaries of social work with spiritual concerns, the training of specialists who are able to adequately respond to such concerns or needs is appropriate. Thus, the present paper aims to signal the existence of educational programs, at university level, oriented towards the above-mentioned area, namely specific disciplines addressing the relation between social work and religion or spirituality. More specifically, the paper intends to present that a successful Master's program, "Values Focused Social Work Practice ", organized at the West University of Timişoara, is a good practice model in the field of social work education, with interdisciplinary and with spiritual components.
Keywords: spiritual social work, social work, values
Many specialists claim that spirituality is once again a current subject in the field of social work, and understanding the spiritual interest of those accessing social services is a resource for practitioners, because it can improve the understanding of human behaviors (Sheridan, 2003; Furness, Gilligan, 2010; Neagoe, 2013 etc.). In the human service profession, spirituality is increasingly recognized as a significant client strength that can aid a client's well-being (Hodge, 2011). Spiritual beliefs and practices are part of the multicultural diversity, and social workers should have the knowledge and skills in this area in order to be able to effectively work with different groups of clients. Even though modern social work tends to aim for an empirical approach, we cannot minimize or ignore the potential benefits that spirituality can bring to a social work intervention.
Gilligan and Furness (2005) emphasize that formal education in social work must give more weight to the spiritual and religious beliefs of its beneficiaries, along with the potential utility of interventions that also have a component of this kind.
Research reveals that many clinical social workers are interested in using spiritual interventions with their clients (Hodge, 2011). Professional social work has come out of philanthropy, which is why fundamental values such as equality, human rights, freedom, or social justice can be revitalized through the complementarity of the spiritual perspective.
Given that there are beneficiaries of social work with spiritual concerns, it is appropriate to train specialists who can provide or direct beneficiaries to value-oriented social work services. Thus, in this direction there are courses at...