What do you do if the psychological solution or advice conflicts with the church?

Last updated on: September 24, 2012 at 10:35 pm by Natasha Helfer

What do you do if the psychological solution or advice conflicts with the church? 2012-09-24T22:35:37-05:00 Natasha Helfer

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What do you do if the psychological solution or advice conflicts with the church?

For example, does the church and psychology disagree on masturbation, premarital sexual relations, etc.?

If they do contradict one another, which do you side with as a therapist, the text books or the gospel?

Do you find any bias towards religion in the psychological field? Are there any prominent views that very religious therapists (no matter what religion) may tend to lead towards counsel that coincides with their religion. And I’m not saying any would do this consciously, but are there any antagonists to religion in general for fear that it will lead to therapists allowing their ingrained beliefs to affect the patient?

Sometimes the psychological field and/or research can conflict with church doctrine in such areas as pre-marital sexuality, masturbation, homosexuality, etc. But psychology, as even with medicine, remains somewhat of an art form. Even with all of the scientific research, theory, and study these fields elicit, they remain subjective because they deal with individuals as clients, patients, healers, researchers and professionals. And as individuals we are always subject to bias. In fact this is what statistically correct research tries desperately to achieve: scientific results with the least amount of bias possible. However, you will find that even in fields as well researched as psychology and medicine you have opposing theories, research results, and opinions of what is the best treatment for whatever issue. This is what makes these fields fascinating and why they are continually challenged with new technology, theory and statistical results.

I feel fortunate in that I was trained under a “systems” perspective rather than an “individual” one. This afforded me a field where family relationships and dynamics were very much taken into account when dealing with the overall well-being of the individual – and this perspective happens to go along nicely with my theological beliefs.

There have been times, especially early in my training, when I have struggled with figuring out how my religious beliefs fit in with my professionalism and also my ethical requirements within my profession (i.e. not being able to turn a client away just because I don’t agree with their lifestyle, religion, etc.). At least in the MFT program I attended, we were highly encouraged and challenged to become as self-aware as possible about our own personal biases and how these may affect our work with prospective clients (i.e. religious beliefs, racial perceptions, cultural issues, socio-economic biases, etc.).

What I have found to be personally helpful in thinking through these types of questions is:

1. I realize that no matter who is coming through my door (whether or not they are a member of the church) there are going to be things we both disagree and agree with. They will be acting in ways that are helpful to their progress and they will be acting in ways that are not (much like my own life). My job as a therapist is not to be an ecclesiastical leader, a preacher of religion, a judge, or to push my beliefs on others. My job is to act as a sounding board, an educator, and a challenger in ways that the client(s) in question can relate to and that are in line with their own core beliefs and world views. Some of the things that help people (i.e. learning how to have better family relationships or communication skills) fall under the umbrella of gospel teachings/beliefs. And “spirituality” is important to bring up with any client as far as how they look at or fit this concept into their lives. But the key to good therapy work is to be able to talk about these things in a way that is most helpful to the client, without my own issues getting in the way.

2. I consider that even on issues that seem to butt heads between conservative religion and modern psychology, there are usually several points of agreement. We may disagree on the severity or rigidity of complete sexual abstinence before marriage, but most everyone agrees that teenagers who become sexually active are doing so before they are sufficiently mature to handle the emotional and physical implications. We also agree that having multiple and numerous partners does not fall under the healthy range of human sexuality. We may disagree on whether or not homosexual behavior is “sinful” but we can agree that the family relationships staying connected in these situations ispivotal to the mental health of all involved.Wemaydisagreeonwhetherornotmasturbationshouldbeanareaofconcern,butweagreethatcompulsiveand/oraddictivesexualbehaviorisunhealthyforanyone.

Therefore,Ichoosetofocusmostofmyenergywithclientsonthethingsthatreligion,philosophy,science and common senseusuallytendto mutually agree upon.Thesetypesofthemesareuniversallyhelpfultopeoplenomatterwhattheybelievein or where they come from.

As far as therapists in the field, there is all kinds of diversity when it comes to religious beliefs and bias. I go to conferences where therapists are pastors, new-age, homosexual, agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, married, divorced, etc., etc. There are professional organizations that cater to different religious or psychological positions as well (i.e. Christian counselors, gay/lesbian counselors, marriage-friendly counselors, etc.). Many of these head up or encourage their own research. It is a rich field with much discussion, at times with controversy, on the many issues that our human family faces.

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