Being forced to violate my conscience in my career

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nat1234

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I am applying for a Master’s program in Counseling and one of the learning objectives of this program is to learn how to provide services to those in the LGBTQ community. It also involves field work and will entail me going to LGBTQ social services agencies to do field work (I will not be allowed to choose or change the agency I am assigned to). Since the university and the agencies are not Catholic, I can presume that, on the job, I will be forced to adopt the stance that there is nothing wrong with leading a homosexual lifestyle and provide encouragement/support to those who chose to engage in them (Which is obviously contrary to Catholic teaching).

I really want to pursue this program and work in this field, but I am worried that I will be forced to violate my conscience by endorsing the sin of homosexuality. Should I abandon this route and simply find another career? Or should I just try to bear it the best I can, knowing that pretty much any other job out there might force me to violate my conscience in some way? Please advise.
 
agree. the people will be in some life crisis. nothing wrong with helping them.
 
Sprits said:
Supporting a person in crisis should be the first matter, their sexual preferences don’t have to be dealt with immediately.
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But the crisis might have something to do with being gay. A gay man, for example, might be struggling with the fact that his family doesn’t accept him or his same sex partner because they think his relationship is sinful. I know a lot of gay men who have strained relations with their parents or other family members.
 
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Sprits said:
It might or might not. I really am trying not to say don’t put that at the top of the list. Help a human being. If your conscience is so fragile you can’t do your best to help somebody in crisis, don’t continue in the program. Nobody needs a social worker or therapist with their own morality baggage.
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I agree. A therapist won’t know what’s going to come up when talking to a patient, and when dealing with LGBT patients will have to be prepared to talk about issues surrounding their sexuality. If the therapist can’t do that without imposing his/her own moral beliefs on the patient, he/she should probably find another line of work.
 
Speak with your Academic Advisor about this.

I imagine in your program you had to discuss cross cultural scenarios (including working with people who differ from you on religion).

Explain to them that you are happy to counsel people, including those who identify as such, but that you cannot go beyond it due to your religious beliefs.

Are you currently wrapping up your practicum?

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Here’s the other thing – if it’s an agency that happens to work with the so-called LGBT community, then that may not in itself be a violation unless you are suppose to affirm them in this.

As a counselor, expect to counsel all sorts of people, but you shouldn’t have to bend over background and support something you know is intrinsically wrong.
 
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I suggest you contact the National Catholic Bioethics Center and the Catholic Medical Association to understand conscience rights, particularly in your own state as they apply to the practice of counseling and therapy.

You can also contact the Alliance Defending Freedom and ask their advice regarding conscience within academic programs as well as practice.

Find out where you stand first, then decide whether this program is the one for you or if you should switch to a different school.
 
gcshapero said:
As a counselor, expect to counsel all sorts of people, but you shouldn’t have to bend over background and support something you know is intrinsically wrong.
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It’s probably possible much of the time to approach moral issues in an impartial manner. For example, if a gay man is talking about how his father has rejected him and thinks he’s sinning, the therapist could probably say something like, “That must have been very painful for you.” He obviously wouldn’t want to say, “I agree with your father that you’re leading a sinful lifestyle and you should stop it and repent.”

But one of the reasons I’ve found therapy a little unsatisfying sometimes when I’ve done it is because the feedback I get from therapists often seems a little vague. I’m never certain if I’ve gotten anything useful from it or not. Also, one solution for LGBT people who are concerned about having a therapist who is sympathetic to LGBT issues is to find a therapist who belongs to the LGBT community if possible. That’s what I do.
 
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Thorolfr said:
But one of the reasons I’ve found therapy a little unsatisfying sometimes when I’ve done it is because the feedback I get from therapists often seems a little vague. I’m never certain if I’ve gotten anything useful from it or not. Also, one solution for LGBT people who are concerned about having a therapist who is sympathetic to LGBT issues is to find a therapist who belongs to the LGBT community if possible. That’s what I do.
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Virtually every counselor, at least ones who’s degrees are CACREP accredited, have to address counseling individuals with opposite positions from their own.

You may very well be working with a counselor who thinks totally different from you.

Just to confirm, are you applying to a Master’s program or are you currently in one completing your field experience?
 
If you are going into any field of medicine or therapy you are going to be dealing with people who are engaging in activity that you don’t agree with, support, and find sinful. There probably aren’t many humans who aren’t engaging in some sin and sin affects us all.

So basically this is just the beginning. As a therapist, unless you are specifically a spiritual director, you will be working with very human people involved in very human situations, and it will not be your job to tell them what you understand to be a sin and that they need to stop. That’s not what a therapist does.

I suggest you speak to a few priests and Catholic counselors and ask them what their experience has been and see if they have any suggestions as to how to address these issues.

Also, referring to the title of this thread, you are NOT being forced…there is no gun to your head. If you choose a profession that involves work that you strongly feel violates your conscience and faith then the only one forcing you is you. There are any number of other fields of study and work that you can choose.

All people must come to terms with this issue and find work that does not violate their conscience. It’s great that you are thinking ahead and that you want a career that will help people. Best to you in your studies.
 
gcshapero said:
You may very well be working with a counselor who thinks totally different from you.

Just to confirm, are you applying to a Master’s program or are you currently in one completing your field experience?
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I’m not applying to any counseling programs, but I am a gay man who has seen several therapists and know a lot of other gay men who see or have seen therapists. And although I have mostly been referred to therapy because I have ADHD, issues relating to my sexuality have also been discussed extensively as well, especially since the ADHD impacts virtually every aspect of my life.

And as for counselors who think totally different from me, I think I would pick up on that after a while and would be less likely to be forthcoming on certain topics if it felt unsafe to discuss them.
 
I second what @1ke said and I would look for some Catholic Social Workers in your areas that you can talk with to see how they deal with this. Catholic Charities should be able to give you a lead or two on some Catholic Social Workers.
 
You also might have to work with an alcoholic, drug addict, someone having an affair, someone addicted to porn, families dealing with dysfunction. Not to mention those who are not Catholic.
 
Thank you to everyone for offering your guidance/opinions so far.

Just to clarify, I have no issue working with individuals who experience homosexual attraction or identify as openly homosexual, my only concern is that I would be expected to condone homosexual lifestyles/acts and contribute to the normalization of homosexuality that is currently occuring in so many areas of our society. I’m planning to look into doing my MSW studies at a Catholic institution instead.
 
Well, at least I would be able to tell someone that alcoholism is wrong and harmful without gaining too much push-back. Our society generally accepts the idea that alcoholism is undesirable and has the potential to harm oneself and others. If you say the same about homosexuality, that it has the ability to harm people and ruin lives, especially in a professional environment, prepare to be reprimanded, perhaps fired, and deemed a bigoted homophobe.
 
nat1234 said:
I really want to pursue this program and work in this field, but I am worried that I will be forced to violate my conscience by endorsing the sin of homosexuality. Should I abandon this route and simply find another career? Or should I just try to bear it the best I can, knowing that pretty much any other job out there might force me to violate my conscience in some way? Please advise.
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I think some of the most important qualities a counselor/therapist can have are compassion and empathy. If you have those, you can probably be good in this kind of work.

If you end up treating LGBT people, one issue that will likely come up, especially with older people from that community is the AIDS epidemic. 362,000 people died of AIDS in the US by 1996 when effective treatments finally became available and it caused a lot of trauma for the survivors, both for those who were infected and survived as well as for those who were never infected. Many still suffer from this since they lost countless people whom they loved and to whom they were close. And HIV is still infecting and sometimes killing gay men today. I knew someone who died of AIDS a few years ago, and he was only 24. It was a tragedy since so many medications to treat HIV infection are now available. Compassion is what is needed here, not moralizing.
 
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nat1234 said:
Well, at least I would be able to tell someone that alcoholism is wrong and harmful without gaining too much push-back. Our society generally accepts the idea that alcoholism is undesirable and has the potential to harm oneself and others. If you say the same about homosexuality, that it has the ability to harm people and ruin lives, especially in a professional environment, prepare to be reprimanded, perhaps fired, and deemed a bigoted homophobe.
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And if you had a Muslim patient, would you tell them that their religion is wrong?
 
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As a Protestant pastor, I counsel people whose choices I do not support. People who cheat on their spouses, people in sex-same relationships, people who have had an abortion, people who opt for assisted suicide, people who have racist views… I’d bet most priests find themselves in similar situations at one time or the other.

What I was taught about counseling is that it is not so much about giving concrete advice as about helping people find in themselves the necessary resources to face a crisis. Sometimes, if that’s necessary for me to be at ease, I’ll state clearly that I don’t share the person’s view or choice, but that if they are okay with that, I’m willing to accompany them for a while, without judgement.

Focusing on the person who is there, on their inner frailties and wounds, and helping them heal, does not mean cautioning their life choices.
 
I’d advise that you LET IT BE known that
you have an issue w/ LGBTQ relationships.
If you get booted out of the program you
can SUE the institution for trying to MAKE
you go against your conscience, it is written
in the Constitution!! (First ammendment in
the US Constitution and The Human Rights
act section 2a in Canada).
 
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