Helping others, helps ourselves: incorporating spirituality and altruism in social work practice to improve mental health in Jewish clients

Abstract

Incorporating spirituality into social work practice increases wellbeing, resilience, and connectedness. Spirituality has also been shown to enhance altruistic motivations, leading to improved mental health. Although including spirituality and altruism behavior in therapy increases therapeutic outcomes, intentionally incorporating both in treatment remains undeveloped. This article proposes expanding the SPIRIT spiritual model to create SPIRIT-A by including altruism-based practices as culturally responsive therapeutic tools, particularly within the Jewish community. Two clinical case examples illustrate the application of altruism within spiritually integrated psychotherapy. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for the ethical integration of spirituality and altruism into client-centered social work practice are discussed.