Non-catholic therapist

[samuraisedge18]

if you have problems that are faith related there is a problem in itself. i don’t want someone to suggest something against my faith. what does everyone think on the matter?

 

[Antegin]

if you have problems that are faith related there is a problem in itself. i don’t want someone to suggest something against my faith. what does everyone think on the matter?

I’m not sure I am following the question completely. Do you mean if you have a spiritual problem should you see a therapist who does not share your faith?
If the lines are blurred as to exactly what kind of problem it is, most parish priest receive more than enough therapeutic training to help decern whether the problem should be handled through Spiritual Direction or referred to a competant therapist.
Therapy is not a faith where you surrended your will to another equally fallible human being.It is a dialogue between two people, one lost in an emotional ocean, one firmly planted on the beach throwing a lifeline to the one caught in the waves. The doctor might have the education and training but it is the patient who has to do all the work.
As a rule, therapy even from non-Christian therapists, does not oppose spirituality. But, if it ever does, your parish priest is still there to keep docrine and dogma clear.

 

[Schultzz]

I’m not sure I am following the question completely. Do you mean if you have a spiritual problem should you see a therapist who does not share your faith?
If the lines are blurred as to exactly what kind of problem it is, most parish priest receive more than enough therapeutic training to help decern whether the problem should be handled through Spiritual Direction or referred to a competant therapist.
Therapy is not a faith where you surrended your will to another equally fallible human being.It is a dialogue between two people, one lost in an emotional ocean, one firmly planted on the beach throwing a lifeline to the one caught in the waves. The doctor might have the education and training but it is the patient who has to do all the work.
As a rule, therapy even from non-Christian therapists, does not oppose spirituality. But, if it ever does, your parish priest is still there to keep docrine and dogma clear.

Good advice. However, spirituality and religion are two separate things. The right therapist can help a great deal, but a priest can help with both.

 

[samuraisedge18]

I’m not sure I am following the question completely. Do you mean if you have a spiritual problem should you see a therapist who does not share your faith?
If the lines are blurred as to exactly what kind of problem it is, most parish priest receive more than enough therapeutic training to help decern whether the problem should be handled through Spiritual Direction or referred to a competant therapist.
Therapy is not a faith where you surrended your will to another equally fallible human being.It is a dialogue between two people, one lost in an emotional ocean, one firmly planted on the beach throwing a lifeline to the one caught in the waves. The doctor might have the education and training but it is the patient who has to do all the work.
As a rule, therapy even from non-Christian therapists, does not oppose spirituality. But, if it ever does, your parish priest is still there to keep docrine and dogma clear.

i don’t mean going to a therapist because you have a problem that has to do with your faith, i’m talking about already going to a therapist an the problem comes up.

recently i’ve been having anxiety about being bisexual and i told my psychiatrist( who is not really my therapist but he prescricbes my medications). i told him i was not sexually active and he said that if i was going to have any kind of sex that i should buy some condoms. i don’t want to be told this. i don’t want someone who i tell my problems to to tell me to carry condoms.

 

[tessi]

one lost in an emotional ocean, one firmly planted on the beach throwing a lifeline to the one caught in the waves

That depends on what beach he is firmly planted on. I understand the problem because I have been through it. A therapist with no religion is planted on the beach of self love, self assurance, things like “be happy, think of yourself, you can do it, put away all that brings pain”. They recommend things usually far from catholic doctrine.(not because they are bad, but because they don’t know) I would recommend quitting and pray if you can not find a catholic therapist.

 

[Antegin]

i don’t mean going to a therapist because you have a problem that has to do with your faith, i’m talking about already going to a therapist an the problem comes up.

recently i’ve been having anxiety about being bisexual and i told my psychiatrist( who is not really my therapist but he prescricbes my medications). i told him i was not sexually active and he said that if i was going to have any kind of sex that i should buy some condoms. i don’t want to be told this. i don’t want someone who i tell my problems to to tell me to carry condoms.

My psychiatrist is Hindu and suggested I would benefit from centering prayer. Hindus believe that divinity is found deep within them. Centering prayer was about finding that divinity and worshiping it. I was just as turned off by this notion as you are by the idea of casual sex and using condoms.

But what I discovered was that I could focus on the Real Presence. It was not within me but in my parish tabernacle and every tabernacle in the world. Then I could use the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to focus on the truth I have been given by Faith, something that can not be distorted by the mental illness I have. From here I can test all my perceptions discarding what is false and keeping what is real.

While my shrink didn’t quite get it right, she did point me in the right direction.

Your shrink does not want you to get an STD especially AIDS. In a faithless world, the condom makes sense. But in your life in Christ, the best way to avoid STDs is abstinence. Redirect that sexual energy into acts of charity and remain chaste.

Also, as a rule psychiatrists are egg heads who specialize in the complex chemistry of the brain and pharmaceutical preparations. I have not really met one yet who made a decent counselor.

So while I am saying to interpret your psychiatrists instruction in the light of Christian Faith, in the next breath I’m advising you to get a real therapist.

Nothing confusing therehttp://www.gifs.net/Animation11/Hobbies_and_Entertainment/Excitement/Confused_man.gif

 

[Schultzz]

My psychiatrist is Hindu and suggested I would benefit from centering prayer. Hindus believe that divinity is found deep within them.

Also, as a rule psychiatrists are egg heads who specialize in the complex chemistry of the brain and pharmaceutical preparations. I have not really met one yet who made a decent counselor.

Interesting Observation.

 

[Dorothy]

i don’t mean going to a therapist because you have a problem that has to do with your faith, i’m talking about already going to a therapist an the problem comes up.

recently i’ve been having anxiety about being bisexual and i told my psychiatrist( who is not really my therapist but he prescricbes my medications). i told him i was not sexually active and he said that if i was going to have any kind of sex that i should buy some condoms. i don’t want to be told this. i don’t want someone who i tell my problems to to tell me to carry condoms.

There is an Association of Christian Therapists. You can check an online site, or the yellow pages to see where there is one near you.

Yes, therapists who do not have a Christian worldview will not always tell you the right things.

There is also “Courage”, a catholic ministry. You can look them up online, and they even do telephone counseling.