Enhancing communication skills for integrating spiritual and religious elements in marriage and family counseling in Malaysia

Communication is essential in the counseling process, particularly in family counseling, where effective communication occurs when information is understood and accepted. This qualitative case study examines how counselors integrate spiritual and religious elements into family counseling through their communication patterns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 counselors, and data were analyzed using NVivo 12 software through thematic analysis. The findings reveal six key themes: counselors' sensitivity to clients' spiritual and religious concerns, alignment with clients' perspectives, identification of spiritual and religious themes in clients' behavior and language, assertiveness in assessing religious issues, use of humor in discussing religious matters, and seeking clients' permission to address spiritual topics. The study highlights the influence of Malay cultural norms, as well as counselors' personal beliefs and values, on their communication styles, which emphasize politeness and refinement. These findings underscore the need for further research on counseling communication across cultural contexts in Malaysia to enhance professional competencies and contribute to the development of the counseling field. (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).