The Spiritual Competency Academy
Learn how to Integrate Spirituality Into Your Therapy Practice...
AND Earn CE Credits!
Meet Your Instructors
David Lukoff, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and co-author of the DSM IV and DSM 5 diagnostic category Religious or Spiritual Problem which increased awareness of spiritual issues in clinical practice. He has published over 80 articles on spirituality and mental health, many in peer reviewed journals such as Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Journal of Humanistic Psychology Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Psychiatric Annals, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Spirituality in Clinical Practice.
Cassandra Vieten, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, mind-body medicine researcher, author, consultant, and public speaker. She is Executive Director of the John W. Brick Foundation, Scholar-in-Residence at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, where she served as President from 2013-2019. Her research has focused on spirituality and health, transformative experiences and practices, the development of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being, and development of media technologies to inspire awe. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and completed her research training in behavioral genetics at UC San Francisco. She has authored three books, published numerous articles in scientific journals, and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop leader.
Gary Buck, PhD is a graduate of Meridian University’s Doctor of Psychology p
rogram and also holds a bachelor’s degree in Religion from Princeton University. He is a licensed psychologist and has participated in trainings led by Zindel Segal, PhD in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, by Richard Miller, PhD in Yoga Nidra/Integrative Restoration, and completed an internship with Saki Santorelli in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the U. of Massachusetts Medical School.
A Buddhist meditator of nearly 50 years, he currently practices in the Vajrayana tradition where his main interests are Mahamudra and Dzogchen. He is a former Buddhist monk in the Thai Theravadan tradition. Gary is a former Managing Director and Board member of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and a former Associate Director of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County. He is currently a psychotherapist in private practice in San Rafael and Petaluma, CA, where he sees child and adult clients.
Testimonials
"The information and guidance in Dr. Lukoff's courses will soon be, if not already, mandatory for all health care professionals who choose to remain current and literate in their fields."
-Jeanne Achterberg, Ph.D. , Former Professor of Psychology at Saybrook Graduate School
"An excellent job of guiding people through 
the mental health resources."
-John Suler, Ph.D , Department of Psychology, Rider University Webmaster: Psychology of Cyberspace
"I am so excited to know that I am not the only one seeing the importance of this concept and how it would help to broaden the area of wellness and emphasis on the mind, body, and spirit/psyche/soul."
"This course has helped me to see the progression of the relationship between spiritual and religion. The section on the history of religion and spirituality was fascinating."
"The information presented here will help me demonstrate to my interdisciplinary colleagues that spirituality is foundational to human care...or rather is the foundation of human/holistic care."
"Learning about the SSOPP model will help me to further develop my assessment skills. It has helped me to organize my own thinking around how to administer tan assessment during both specific chaplaincy referrals and general hospitality visits. Being better able to listen for R/S problems will help me to determine interventions depending on length of admission."
"The topic of R/S problems give me better insight on the issues our mental health patients may be facing whether they express them or not. Thank you for this course...it really was 'right on time' considering how I am growing in both my consciousness and in my vocation."
"I found that the course was engaging as it used different ways of teaching...videos...reading...quizzes. You delivered important information essentially without dragging out with details."
"A good presentation, great selection of material and organization. This was a much more valuable use of my time than virtually all of the CEU courses I have to sit through."
SCA Continuing Education Courses
All courses available for free preview
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$50.00Evidence-Based, Ethically-Sensitive and Strength-Based Spiritual Assessment
This course trains you in the foundation of spiritual competency and how to conduct an a spiritual assessment with clients. This will enable you to elicit information for treatment planning and build a stronger therapeutic alliance.
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$100.00Mindfulness Practices for Mental Health Professionals
This course covers the history of mindfulness practices, its evolution from a religious practice to a mental health intervention, contraindications, and programs such as MBSR, ACT and DBT that incorporate mindfulness practices.
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$10.00Mindfulness as a Complementary and Integrative Medicine
This course focuses on the research support for meditation and mindfulness as forms of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) and its changing patterns of usage.
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$10.00The Origins of Mindfulness Research: Herbert Benson
Herbert Benson, MD's pioneering research on the relaxation response helped established the efficacy of meditation for healthcare. Research and theory on the Relaxation Response is introduced in this online course.
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$10.00Neurological Research on Meditation
This courses provides an overview of the recent neurological research on meditation, its relationship to spirituality as well as reviewing neurochemical, neuroelectrical, and neuroimaging research.
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$10.00Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
This course describes the theory and research behind Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
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$10.00Mindfulness Related Psychological Problems, Misuses, and Contraindications
While meditation practice is generally safe and has beneficial results, it can catalyze challenging psychological problems. This course explores these considerations in using meditation in clinical practice.
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$10.00Integrative Restoration - iRest Yoga Nidra Mindfulness
Integrative Restoration - iRest, also known as Yoga Nidra, is a multifaceted intervention which was developed by adapting the ancient traditional Yoga Tantric practice of Yoga Nidra, a meditation rather than Hatha Yoga practice.
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$10.00Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a system of therapy that combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with mindfulness meditation. The research and theory behind DBT are reviewed in this online course.
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$10.00Mindfulness for Parents and Families
This course looks at the possible uses of mindfulness as an aid to parenting and within the life of a marriage and family. The focus is on current research on prenatal mindfulness, mindful parenting, and mindfulness in marriage and couples therapy.
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$10.00Mindfulness with Children in Clinical Contexts
This course describes challenges and potential benefits of using mindfulness as a clinical intervention with children. We also discuss the results of research on mindfulness with children, now in its early stages.
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$10.00Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
An empirically validated psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways with commitment and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.
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$10.00Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
MBCT is taught as a group intervention that takes the form of a participatory psychoeducation course.
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$10.00School-Based Mindfulness Interventions for Children
This course describes the recent movement to include the teaching mindfulness to children in mainstream educational classrooms.
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$10.00Forgiveness I: Spiritual Perspectives on Forgiveness
This course examines the beliefs and attitudes towards forgiveness found in various religious traditions.
SCA courses provide approved CE credits through these accreditation agencies:
American Psychological Association: The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for license renewal by LCSWs, MFTs, LPCCs, LMHCs for programs from CE approved sponsors of the American Psychological Association. LCSWs, MFTs, LPCCs, LMHCs from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board for approval.
California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California
National Board of Certified Health and Wellness Coaches. (CEP Number 100196)
For questions or additional information, contact David Lukoff, Ph.D. Email Phone: (707) 763-3576