Joseph M. Currier, PhD

Currier is a licensed psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Alabama.

Briefly describe your background. What is your area of research? What is your most-recent journal-editing experience?

My research focuses on understanding and addressing the multifaceted role of spirituality/religion (S/R) in trauma, moral injury, and other mental health challenges. Drawing on diverse scientific methods, my Spirituality in Psychological Intervention, Research, and Training Lab conducts basic research that examines the pathways and processes via which varying aspects of S/R can support resilience and well-being; cause psychological suffering; and influence the etiology, phenomenology, and course of recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders. We also translate this foundational evidence into the development and evaluation of training, assessment, and treatment strategies that can help practitioners attend to their clients’ S/R in effective, ethical, and culturally responsive ways.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? How will you grow readership? What type of scholarship will you promote in the journal? What kind of content are you hoping to attract?

My top priority is to maintain the positive trajectory of Spirituality in Clinical Practice (SCP) that previous editors (Lisa Miller, Len Sperry, and Tom Plante) have facilitated since the journal’s first issue in 2014. SCP offers a trusted outlet for translational or applied research related to spirituality/religion (S/R) along with conceptual and practically oriented articles that support dialogue, clinical innovation, and professional development among mental health researchers, practitioners, educators, and trainees. I hope to further promote SCP’s impact and reachin psychology and other disciplines along these lines.

Historically, many articles published in the journal have emphasized advanced strategies for addressing S/R in psychotherapy that principally apply to clients from a particular tradition and to practitioners who specialize in spiritually integrated care, thus supporting a vital practice area for psychologists and other mental health professionals. Although I will welcome these types of submissions, my priorities also include increasing empirical, theoretical, and practically oriented work that can lead to effective strategies for

• Addressing S/R in assessment, supervision, and education and training;
• Addressing S/R at generalist levels of clinical training and practice with broader relevance for mental health professionals, including nonspecialists; and
• Addressing S/R in inclusive ways for implementation in clinical practice contexts that serve clients from the full spectrum of S/R diversity, including secular and nonreligious clients.

Why is this journal important to the field? What is its relevance to society and public health? What are the current hot issues?

SCP offers a trusted outlet for disciplines of clinical and counseling psychology and other mental health fields to publish translational or applied research related to S/R along with theoretical and clinical perspectives that facilitate innovation and dialogue among researchers, practitioners, educators, and trainees for addressing S/R in their professional endeavors. Along with the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (PRS), SCP is sponsored by APA’s Division 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality). Although PRS similarly publishes clinically oriented research, our “sibling journal” covers a full spectrum of topics for colleagues from social, personality, and experimental psychology and other scientific disciplines, whereas SCP has a more targeted, applied scope. Still, SCP remains firmly positioned to continue to advance translational and applied research that can bring the psychology of S/R into the mental health care mainstream in ways that support holistic well-being and healing on a large scale.

What challenges lie ahead for the field and the journal? What issues are important to address more broadly, such as replicability, publishing concerns, communicating science to the public, and translating psychological findings for policy change?

Like all APA journals, SCP faces challenges such as using artificial intelligence ethically; enhancing adherence to open-science principles and practices; honoring equity, diversity, and inclusion across all practices; increasing scientific rigor amid exciting statistical and methodological advancements in the broader profession; and supporting editorial board members and reviewers to ensure timely, expert, and fair feedback while balancing other professional demands. Like other clinically oriented journals, SCP also faces a formidable science–practice gap in which even the highest-quality articles seldom inform routine training and clinical practice immediately or appreciably.

Beyond these general challenges, SCP must negotiate the residue of a tenuous history between psychology and S/R from the last century. Along with the role of certain forms or expressions of religion in shaping policy that blurs church–state boundaries and inspires injustice and violence in the present day, nonspecialists might feel ambivalent about addressing this core domain of multicultural diversity in their professional endeavors. Further, researchers and scholars who specialize in the psychology of S/R must stay informed about a steadily changing S/R landscape around the world to ensure their work is responsive to society’s most urgent needs.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Have you introduced or are you planning to introduce any changes?

Building on the leadership and successes of previous editors, we will implement some changes to the scope and editorial process to advance the journal’s reach and impact beginning in January 2027:

Scope

• Expand our focus to address S/R in a fuller range of practice activities (assessment, supervision, education, and training) for psychologists and other mental health professionals, rather than psychotherapy only;
• Make the journal more applicable to generalist practice and training and to nonspecialists in psychology and other mental health professions;
• Highlight the journal’s interest in the full spectrum of S/R diversity, including nonreligious or secular expressions of spirituality; and
• Clarify our focus on the clinical practice of psychologists and other mental health professionals rather than on topics geared for medicine, nursing, chaplaincy, or other health professions.

Editorial process

• Enhance expectations for contextualizing all submissions (including empirical, theoretical, and clinical or practice oriented) in appropriate and up-to-date empirical evidence from the broader psychology of S/R;
• Simplify manuscript types to full-length articles of up to 30 pages and Brief Reports of up to 15 pages, which can encompass past submission types;
• Encourage authors to review and closely adhere to APA’s Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) for qualitative and quantitative research; and
• Incorporate open-science practices and principles in a new Transparency and Openness Statement (TOS) that affirms the reporting of how the sample size was determined; all data exclusions, manipulations, and measures used in the study; and adherence to JARS.

We also plan to facilitate 1–2 special issues annually that support our strategic priorities. For example, Daryl Van Tongeren and Aaron McGlaughlin are co-leading a special issue on “spiritually responsive psychotherapy with religious nones and dones.” Building on the successes of a Global Summit and Division 36 Mid-Year Conference, we are also planning a special issue to bridge the science–practice gap in the psychology of S/R and to increase SCP’s global reach.

What advice would you offer new authors hoping to publish in the journal? What are you seeking in a manuscript?

All authors ideally will demonstrate clear methodological rigor and grounding in robust theoretical and conceptual foundations and appropriate empirical evidence from the psychology of S/R literature, such as systematic and meta-analytic reviews, randomized controlled trials, practice-based evidence studies, longitudinal surveys, well-designed qualitative or mixed-method studies, pilot or feasibility studies, systematic program evaluations, and case studies utilizing standardized and psychometrically sound measures. Conceptual or theoretical articles should also be firmly anchored in scientific evidence and coherent theoretical frameworks, articulate clear directions for clinical or applied research, and consider incorporating case examples to illustrate concepts or ideas.

Authors are also encouraged to discuss the implications of their findings or insights for clinical practice within the constraints of their methodology and the broader knowledge base. Rather than treating S/R as an isolated domain of human experience, authors ideally should conceptualize S/R in an overarching framework of multicultural diversity that considers the cultural and global contexts of their work. Authors should also adhere closely to the JARS and specific submission guidelines outlined on SCP’s website.

APA Journals is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in its practices and systems. How will this be reflected in the journal?

Promoting diversity and inclusiveness in SCP’s editorial board, authors, and content is another priority. The journal affirms the full spectrum of spiritual and religious diversity, including active engagement in formal religious traditions and communities and secular pathways to pursuing sacred meaning and connection. As such, SCP welcomes submissions that address clinically relevant topics for conventionally religious persons and those who are neither religious nor spiritual (“religious nones”), are no longer religious (“religious dones”), or are spiritually or religiously questioning. We also encourage authors to conceptualize S/R in a broader framework of multicultural diversity that does not minimize the importance of other sources of identity or privilege and oppression. In addition, we encourage authors to contextualize S/R in an intersectional framework that honors the possible interplay with race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and other core areas of diversity.

Historically, SCP’s diverse editorial board and reviewers have adopted a commitment to fairness, respect, and kindness. In so doing, Plante and previous editors expanded the S/R diversity of the journal’s published content, increased submissions from under-represented groups in the psychology of S/R literature, and facilitated diversity on the editorial board and reviewers. I will stay committed to these values and also work to facilitate greater participation from international colleagues, early-career professionals, nonspecialist colleagues in psychology, and other mental health professionals.

Explore APA Journals’ EDI initiatives.

APA Journals is committed to publishing transparent, rigorous research; improving reproducibility in science; and aiding research discovery. Do you foresee the journal participating or continuing to participate in APA Journals’ Open Science initiatives? What is the significance of such initiatives for your field?

Gradually aligning SCP’s operationswith open-science principles and practices is another priority. In my work, I aspire to register all studies before conducting any statistical analyses and to publicly share associated data, analytic code, assessments, and other materials. I also share pre-prints of articles on a reputable repository or use open-access options when funding allows. Although many authors utilize these same practices, the journalhas not formally participated in APA Journals’ Open Science initiatives. Beginning in January 2027, we will require a TOS in empirical manuscripts. We also will ask authors to describe their adherence (or nonadherence) to open-science principles and practices. Thus, we want to enhance awareness and knowledge of these principles and practices among our stakeholders.

However, we will not require adherence to any practices beyond including the TOS. Namely, we are concerned the journal’s focus on translational and applied research might engender challenges with data sharing and other practices that inadvertently hinder scientific advancements in some contexts. As such, we will provide authors the flexibility and time to get accustomed to the new procedures. Looking further ahead, we will evaluate the feasibility of requiring new practices that further promote transparency, openness, and scientific rigor.

Explore APA Journals’ Open Science initiatives.

Please describe your experience with APA Publishing. Has your experience with APA as a nonprofit scholarly publisher differed from other publishers? 

I have had many positive experiences with APA Publishing in my career. I have served as an SCP consulting editorand continue to serve on editorial boards with PRS and Traumatology. I also have co-authored two books and continue to publish much of my own research and scholarship in APA journals. I have appreciated the warmth, professionalism, transparent and timely communication, and commitment to excellence of the APA Publishing team.

APA Publishing is proud to support the association’s mission to promote psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives. How will your editorship further support this mission?

Psychologists and other mental health professionals historically have rarely attended to the S/R identities, orientations, or worldviews of the people they serve or study. As such, the avoidance of S/R might limit the advancement of psychological science and opportunities for promoting well-being or healing in times of suffering and also neglects amassing evidence for pathways via which S/R can support or diminish well-being or influence recovery and growth when mental health challenges occur. Even in cultural and geographic contexts in which engagement in organized religions has decreased, spiritual and existential concerns related to meaning and meaning-making, moral grounding, and transcendent connection might powerfully shape well-being, suffering, and recovery among people who seek the care of mental health professionals. Religion also is a core area of multicultural diversity in APA’s ethical and accreditation standards, such that practitioners, educators, supervisors, and researchers ideally will have rigorous evidence and high-quality resources from the psychology of S/R subfield to guide their professional endeavors. In all of these ways, SCP seeks to bridge scientific inquiry, clinical innovation, and real-world practice to support the advancement of our larger profession and the quality of our psychological services.