I think you make some good points, and I agree that it's appropriate to use
concepts from a person's own belief system as a motivational tool. "Give a
man a fish..." is another one I have used on occasions. I have no problem
with that.
It seems to me that your point about suggesting alternative viewpoints is
also valid. Surely, in order to have the broadest set of tools at your
disposal in confronting your client's pathological belief system, you need
to make a selection from a broad range of ideas, not just those that
represent your own belief system. I don't think that offering a client
alternative viewpoints means you are necessarily introducing your own
beliefs into therapy. In fact, to do it properly, you should be able to
give equal consideration to viewpoints that are outside of your own belief
system.
I think there is a big difference between using a range of alternative
ideas in therapy and making a decision (as the group I was writing about
had) that they would "integrate" their own predefined dogma in to their
professional practice. If we preselect our own belief system as the only
one from which valid viewpoints can be offered, we are not providing an
adequate service for the client. I see it as akin to corruption. If a
therapist has a stake in an equipment company and favours that company's
equipment when advising a client, I would call that corrupt. if a therapist
has a stake in a particular religion (i.e. an ideological stake rather than
a financial one), and favours that religion's ideology in their therapeutic
dealings with a client, I would also see that as corrupt. My original post
was about a religious therapists network that wanted "To encourage
therapists to integrate their personal beliefs with their professional
practice." I still think that's unethical.
I also have a problem with the term "spirituality". I have no spiritual
beliefs, other than an utter scepticism about spirituality. I'm not the
only one. We really should be talking about belief systems, not
spirituality. Maybe this is about how the word is defined.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the following definitions:
1 : something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a
cleric as such
2 : CLERGY
3 : sensitivity or attachment to religious values
4 : the quality or state of being spiritual
None of the above applies to myself and other atheists.
Many people who do not subscribe to any formal religion still have
spiritual or other meaningful beliefs, like astrology or a deep commitment
to animal rights or any of a whole range of "new age" guff. Actually, I
quite like the word "weltanschauung" (German: "world view") instead of
spirituality. It has the advantage of being more diverse than spirituality
and applicable to secularists, too (and it's wonderfully pretentious and
unpronounceable). Perhaps "philosophy" is better?
Naturally, your beliefs will affect the way you deal personally with issues
you come up against at work, but as soon as you enter the therapeutic
relationship, your personal beliefs should not be manifest -- only the
client's beliefs are relevant. I can't see how you can be person centred
otherwise. I remember visiting an orthodox jewish client in a nursing home,
where the lifts were configured to constantly visit each floor in sequence
throughout the sabbath, because the act of pressing a button was considered
to be work and therefore forbidden. This is nonsensical in terms of my own
world view, but that's irrelevant. All that mattered was its meaningfulness
to the client. Therapy requires us to enter the client's world and leave
our own behind, as far as we can, or inasmuch as we need to introduce
alternative viewpoints to a client as you suggest, the choice of viewpoints
offered should include a whole range of viewpoints, not just your own. When
we go home from work and have to deal with the things we've seen, our own
belief system can be given free reign, but when we are acting
professionally as therapists, we should be giving equal regard to other
belief systems.
What d'you reckon?
Mike
http://www.otdirect.co.uk
Noel Levan wrote:
> Hi Listees:
>
> It's been a while. Here's my two cents.
>
> Mike, while I can agree with some of your statements and with yours too
> Ron, I'd like to go a step further.
>
> Mike, if I have a client whose "belief system" leads him/her to self
> destructive behaviors, am I (as a therapist) not obligated to "offer
> that client an opportunity" to broaden (and perhaps alter) that belief
> system?
> Is it (or is it not) my professional obligation to offer opportunities
> that allow/encourage that client to "see his issues from a different
> point of view", one that may very well not have ocurred to him/her, and
> one that may very well have the result of changing some aspect of the
> belief system so that this individual is less likely to enact self
> destructive behaviors?
> I believe that it is incumbent upon me to offer the "just right
> challenge" that offers the client an opportunity to become more
> efficacious in his/her life, to broaden horizons and empower each
> individual to make "better" decisions, based upon clear, ethically
> sound, therapeutic, supportive, well-reasoned information.
>
> I do believe there is a chasm between religion and spirituality.
> To my thinking religion is the wholesale swallowing of dogma and a set
> of tenets to the exclusion of any other possible "truth".
> Spirituality is more simple, straightforward conectedness to cosmic
> intent.
>
> I can certainly have my spirituality without running roughshod over
> someone's "religious beliefs".
> And I doubt I'll ever be accused of forfeiting an opportunity to say to
> the "christian", "The Lord helps those who help themselves".
> OR to the Buddhist, "As we believe, so it shall be".
> Heck, I'll bring along any message that supports "self-help" disguised
> in any "holy" rhetoric, IF IT MAKES THE CLIENT WORK TOWARD THEIR OWN
> GOALS!!
>
> "One person's religion is another person's belly laugh".
> Anon.
>
> Noel
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