A qualitative study on spiritual counseling and guidance services offered in women's shelters

While spiritual counseling and guidance services and academic studies carried out country are increasing day by day, the scarcity of studies on spiritual counseling and guidance services offered in women's shelters draws attention, although it is one of the application areas. Regarding the spiritual counseling and guidance services in women's shelters, there is a need for studies that examine the views and experiences of spiritual support attendants working in this field and evaluate the quality of the service currently being provided. Based on this need, we have determined the aim of our study as investigating the quality of Spiritual Counseling and Guidance services provided based on relevant protocols signed between institutions by the Directorate of Religious Affairs personnel in women's shelters and contributing to the development of this service for its effective and productive conduction. In the research, case study design, which is one of the qualitative research methods, is used. The working group of the study consists of 21 spiritual counselors appointed in women's shelters based on relevant protocols by the Directorate of Religious Affairs in different provinces of Türkiye. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of participants. Among the personnel working as spiritual advisors in women's shelters, three people from each geographical region who worked the longest were included in the study. In total, 21 spiritual counselors were interviewed. Data collection was carried out online with in-depth interview technique using semi-structured interview questions prepared by the researcher. In the analysis of the data, the descriptive content analysis method is used. The research findings are interpreted by gathered under themes such as "qualifications of spiritual counselors of spiritual advisors in women's shelters, quality of ongoing service, problems encountered and solution proposals in service delivery, demand and suggestions to increase the effectiveness and productivity of the service". At the end of our research, it is observed that spiritual counselors appointed in women's shelters work diligently in providing spiritual support services. With that, we can say that there is a need to support spiritual counselors' improvement and development of the professional knowledge and skills assigned in these institutions by providing in service training seminars and supervision sessions tailored to the personnel assigned in these institutions which include the knowledge, experience, and sharing of those working in the field.