How to Select a Psychologist or Counselor

[Will]

I guess it was the title of Friendly Atheist's post ("Can You Avoid Religious Psychologists?") that struck a nerve and necessitated this response. As an atheist, it ticks me off when people spread misconceptions about atheists, and as I psychologist, I feel similarly when it comes to my profession. It is a hell of a lot harder to find a psychologist who will push religion on their clients than it is one who would never dream of doing so! I'd like to use Friendly Atheist's post as a springboard to give you some tips on selecting a mental health provider.


A reader contacted Friendly Atheist and had the following to say:

Something just happened that I’d like advice on (from you or your readers). My son has been diagnosed with ADHD by his pediatrician and I figured we’d go to a child psychologist for more info (an idea the pediatrician encouraged). I picked the closest one on my insurance’s coverage list and set up an appointment.

    Luckily, we got an informational packet in the mail from this psychologist (actually a Licensed Professional Counselor) before we actually went to meet with her. Let me quote some of the things that were in her packet.

    The counselor’s responsibilities are:
    * Spending personal time with the Lord
    * Praying for the client
    * Studying scriptures
    * Listening to client concerns, facts, feelings, faith position
    * Sharing scripture and personal walk appropriate to client concerns
    * Praying with the client, acknowledging God’s available presence with him/her

    She holds a Master’s degree in Religious Education from a Baptist theological seminary (in addition to other more valid sounding degrees). She signs off by saying, “I have already begun to pray for our times together…”

    I was dumbfounded by this. I mean, I do live in the Bible Belt, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I am still dismayed that this person appeared on a list of medical providers supplied by my insurance company!

    I guess my question is, how do I keep this from happening again? (I cancelled the appointment, of course.) Do I need to call and explicitly ask each psychologist (or whatever other health care specialist) if their practice is based in reality or superstition?

The reader did the right thing by canceling the appointment. Fortunately, this sort of thing is actually fairly easy to avoid. There are some nutjobs out there, but they are the minority. This is true even in the Bible Belt.

First, I'd like to clarify some credentialing terminology. The provider described by the reader was a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and not a psychologist. The LPC is a master's-level designation as opposed to the doctoral degree psychologists have. There are many excellent LPCs out there, and they are a cheaper alternative when one does not need the additional expertise of a psychologist.

So when might one need the additional expertise of a psychologist? First, a psychologist will generally have more extensive research training than a master's level clinician. This does not necessarily mean they are better, but it does mean that they are more likely to operate as scientist-practitioners than master's-level clinicians who are going to focus on the practitioner side. The more complex the problem, the greater benefit can be derived from someone with this additional training. Second, psychologists can do psychological testing. I mention this not only because it is a critical difference but because it might be relevant to Friendly Atheist's reader. Medical doctors routinely overdiagnose ADHD, and psychological testing is likely to result in a more accurate diagnosis.

For the atheist who needs a mental health professional, psychologist or counselor, I offer the following recommendations:

    * When first calling to schedule an appointment, inquire about the provider's degree and the institution from where the degree was obtained. Steer clear of anything that does not have "psychology" or "counseling" in the degree.
    * If the provider is an LPC, ask directly whether this person provides "Christian counseling." If so, move on. You are not asking whether the counselor is Christian but whether they provide "Christian counseling." This is an important difference and one which you are well advised to heed.
    * View the initial appointment as an opportunity to evaluate the provider. If you do not feel comfortable for any reason, ask for a referral and move on. Reputable providers tend to encourage this sort of evaluation - they want to make sure they can be helpful to you and that you feel comfortable with them.
    * Recognize that many mental health professionals will ask, on questionnaires or in person, something about your religious affiliation or the importance of spirituality in your life. They tend to do this to help understand your worldview and not to convert you. However, if the provider should make disparaging comments about your lack of religious participation, spirituality, and the like, move on. This represents a violation of the provider's own professional ethics, and you deserve better.
    * If you are seeking therapy and want to make sure that your provider will utilize scientifically-sound methods, look for someone who provides cognitive-behavioral therapy. Of all the therapeutic modalities, it has been researched the most extensively and has the most evidence supporting its efficacy.

http://www.atheistrev.com/2009/02/how-t ... selor.html

Thanks to blogger vjack for this very informative and important entry. Some very shameless and misdirected counselors may believe that their position provides them with the opportunity to proselytize, but they are 100% wrong even if they have theist clients. Psychology is a science. Counseling is a skill based on psychology, a science. While some may want to think that religion can be a way of helping people heal, it's really not. It's more like helping someone deal with an alcohol addiction by giving them cocaine. Sure, they don't drink anymore, but they're still living in a gutter.

Do be sure to check the credentials of a psychologist, psychiatrist, or counselor before retaining their services.

[curiosityandthecat]

The last thing I need when choosing someone to fix my crazy is someone who's even crazier than me!  

[Kylyssa]

Unfortunately, the poor in America are stuck with religious counselors.  Every free or low cost mental health service provider in my area that I've investigated has proven to use Christian counseling.  I didn't even know such a thing existed until I saw a free mental health counselor who advised me to pray when I'm having a panic attack.

Maybe it's just the area I live in (West Michigan) but it is pretty discouraging.  

Real psychologists are only for the well off it seems.  Heck, I'm still paying off my psychotherapist bill co-pays from when I had insurance.

[Will]

Unfortunately, the poor in America are stuck with religious counselors.  Every free or low cost mental health service provider in my area that I've investigated has proven to use Christian counseling.  I didn't even know such a thing existed until I saw a free mental health counselor who advised me to pray when I'm having a panic attack.

Maybe it's just the area I live in (West Michigan) but it is pretty discouraging.  

Real psychologists are only for the well off it seems.  Heck, I'm still paying off my psychotherapist bill co-pays from when I had insurance.

My mum's an LMFT with a private practice and she accepts people that try to get counseling through medical providers. She gets less money, but the people need help. She is religious, but I know that she'd never be the kind to interject religion into her practice. Most of the shrinks I know are the same; leave god at the door.

[SSY]

It's only in psychology they could get away with this. A heart surgeon would never pray for someone's carotid artery to unblock itself, becuase its obvious that won't work. Yet here, where problems are more complex and not as easy to see, the idiots can claim any healing is a result of their woo woo and superstitions.

Religion always preys on the weak  

[AlP]

Now none of this applies to the counselor described in the original post, who seemed to take a religious approach right from the get go and relied on such religious practices as praying as part of the treatment.

In my experience as a patient, part of what a good therapist can help you with is in showing you how you are thinking irrationally and how it is affecting your mental health, for example through cognitive therapy. I've gone into therapy with some pretty irrational ideas (I have PTSD - so alter-egos, going for weeks without eating and such like) and I think the most help I've got from it is having these irrational thoughts gently pointed out to me.

A problem that counselors and therapists encounter is they have to accept whatever religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) a patient has and kind of roll with them, however irrational they may be and however different they might be to their own. For example, I've met some people in group therapy who have been made mentally ill apparently primarily because of their religious faith. I met one poor woman who became depressed because she had adulterous thoughts. She was not having a relationship outside of her marriage. But the combination of merely thinking about it and being catholic made her feel very guilty, which in turn made her depressed. That seems pretty irrational but it's not the job of a therapist to turn people into secularists or at least people of a benign religion.

Is that a good thing? Should therapists treat people for being religious if it is causing them harm?

[SSY]

Therapists should remove crazy. Religion= crazy

If most people claimed to hear voices they would be sectioned, but because they share the same delusion its apparently OK.

[Will]

I agree, SSY. Unfortunately it's difficult for a lot of therapists to have perspective on this as they are religious themselves and one of the tenants of religion is "thou shalt not dare question, lest ye be tortured for eternity". I hold the irony in the inability to self-reflect on such an important topic, for therapists, to be self-evident.

The sad part is we already can determine, based on established scientific theory, what exactly religious people are afflicted with. Things like groupthink and schizophrenia are rampant and could be treated if only they could be identified as such.

[VanReal]

I've moved around through several head-shrinkers over the years, and one big part was due to an inability to communicate do to social/religious issues.  I've never seen an assessment questionare that doesn't ask about religion.  My current is religious (or I think she is there are cherubs by the front door and a massive poster of the Footprints poem on a wall in the waiting room) but she has never once mentioned religion to me, never even hinted at it.  She asked in the assesment "what religion, if any, do you consider yourself a member" I put none, and that was that.  You have to hunt for someone that you feel comfortable with or you'll struggle through therapy.

I agree with Kalyssa when she mentioned being stuck if you can't afford the service.  Most pychiatrists don't accept insurance anymore and most medical plans cover meds and MD visits but cover very little by way of talk therapy.  It's sad really because of the high rate of mental illness and the lack of help that can be found.  Such a large percentage of our homeless suffer from mental illness and our prisons are full of the mentally ill.  I guess this is one of the societal pendulum swings, we went from state hospitals that could commit people without due process to making it almost impossible to get legitimate help.

I'd keep my crazy if my shrink tried to talk to me about religion as part of my treatment.

[Miracle89]

I came across this website because one of my clients is an atheist. I was truely saddened to see how hateful and ignorant some people on here appear to be about therapist, psychologist, and christian counselors. Since I am a Christian counselor with a Master's Degree in Counseling let me educate those of you who think we are "nut jobs" just what our degree entails.

Actually we have more education than most secular counselors. We take all the courses that any psychologist has to take PLUS all the theological courses that ministers take. Then we integrate psychology and theology. In addition to that theology has been around for thousands of years and psychology is a new science which is only 100 years old. Psychology GREW out of theology, not the other way around and borrows many of its personality theories from what Jesus taught in the Bible.

For instance Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a common theory studied by all psychologists comes from Jesus teachings, and all psychology did was change the names, etc. and give them secular names.

All of man's problems have at their "root" cause a heart/soul problem. Since most of you on here are atheist and therefore are your own "gods" it would be a waste of my time to actually try to convince you that there is another God other than yourself. Can you make a tree? Nope, all you can do is make a desk or some other object out of the wood of the tree. When you can actually make a tree or a mountain, please alert the defense department because you will have the answer to all wars.

Here is the defintion of a REAL Pastoral Counselor.

Pastoral counselors are certified mental health professionals who have had extensive religious/theological training and clinical training in the behavioral sciences. They may specialize in marriage and family therapy, addiction, grief, and other issues, including serious mental illnesses. They may also provide educational programs on marriage preparation, adjusting to divorce, and coping with loss and grief. They may work in health clinics, state hospital, private and group practices, congregation-based centers, or in pastoral counseling centers.
Pastoral counselors are psychotherapists with specialized training in the areas of psychology, theology, and the behavioral sciences. Pastoral counselors come from all faith backgrounds and are sensitive, respectful, and responsive to their clients’ belief systems.

The Pastoral in our name is the traditional name for counseling that integrates therapy with a client’s faith and/or values.
Pastoral counseling is psychotherapy reinforced with compassion and intentional respect for the spiritual values of the client.
Pastoral counseling takes seriously the spiritual dimension of a person in the healing process while working with individuals, couples, and families to resolve problems.
Pastoral counseling is built on the belief that life’s crises and transitions are best met by the knowledge of psychology, the wisdom of theology, and with respect for a person’s faith background and values.

I feel sorry for the poster on here who actually cancelled the appointment with that Christian Therapist. She is now goint to go the psychology/medication route, which will not cure her son, but merely keep him doped up enough so that he is not a behavioral problem. A  Christian therapist would actually have given her a way to get to the root of his ADHD disorder, which by the way cannot be scientifically measured in the brain as even existing but would call it what it really is.

It is kids who have parents who are afraid to discipline them and give them consequences for their behavior for fear their child will not love them anymore. And as she will find, the medication will not work after awhile and she will STILL have the same problem.

Do not take this to believe that I don't believe in medication. Because in Bi-polar Disorder which IS an organic chemical imbalance that can be found in the brain, then medication gets these chemicals back in balance. ALL the disorders in the DSM-V or the Diagnostic Manual that psychologists and psychiatrists, and therapists use are really just names that a group of people gave to a common list of characteristics displayed in many people. THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC evidence found in the brain to explain any of them. That is because they do not exist. The brains of a serial killer and a housewife look just the same. What makes the difference between them is a heart/soul/sin problem.

The serial killer has no conscious and the housewife does. One feels guilt and remorse and the other does not.

Anyway, too bad you atheist rely compleletly on yourselves to solve all of your problems. That is UNTIL you are near to death or someone you love is about to die, and then lo and behold "all of sudden" you want to believe that there is a God. And you know why? Because YOU cannot stop them from dying. YOU cannot bring them back to life. And therein lies the difference.









Pastoral counselors typically have a bachelor’s degree, a three-year professional degree, and a specialized master’s or doctoral degree in a mental health field.

[Whitney]

Since you have an atheist client it might be helpful for you to know that atheists do not view themselves as god...if we did we wouldn't be atheists.  Your comment about atheists turning to god when they have troubles in life is exactly why atheists don't want to see theology based counselors...you think we have to change our views towards the god concept in order to be well in times of need; that's simply not true.

[iNow]

I feel sorry for the poster on here who actually cancelled the appointment with that Christian Therapist. She is now goint to go the psychology/medication route, which will not cure her son, but merely keep him doped up enough so that he is not a behavioral problem.

As a trained counselor, I'm somewhat surprised to hear that you think the child will be prescribed medications if they visit a psychologist.  Psychologists are not able to prescribe medications, only psychiatrists can, as they are the ones who go to school for an MD (psychologists will generally have a PhD or a PsyD).

ALL the disorders in the DSM-V or the Diagnostic Manual that psychologists and psychiatrists, and therapists use are really just names that a group of people gave to a common list of characteristics displayed in many people. THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC evidence found in the brain to explain any of them.

Again, I'm rather surprised to hear a trained counselor make such a claim, as it is plainly false, to the point of being a lie.  A common example where we see differences in the brain is among schizophrenics, but there are countless organic brain disorders... organic disorders with empirical support... which are disorders listed in the DSM-IV.  

In sum, you simply cannot be taken seriously, nor am I inclined to believe your claim about being a counselor if you don't know these simple facts which are covered in most Psych 101 classes.  

The brains of a serial killer and a housewife look just the same. What makes the difference between them is a heart/soul/sin problem.

And the farts of purple unicorns cause erections in leprechauns.  Until you share some peer-reviewed and repeatable evidence in support of such a strange assertion, then my claim and yours rest on exactly the same footing.

Anyway, too bad you atheist rely compleletly on yourselves to solve all of your problems.

Well, that's just false (at least you're consistent).  I have lots of friends, family members, and colleagues, and we work together to solve problems just as any good community/troop/pack would.  Really, I'm beginning to question if you are even out of high school yet based on the silliness of your assertions.  I don't mean this as insult, so if you've matriculated beyond high school, then please note I'm more challenging your credentials and knowledge on the topic than I am your character or ability.  I've worked directly with countless clinical psychologists, and have spent many years studying these phenomenon... and the simple fact is that most of what you have said is easily recognized as blatantly inaccurate to anyone with even a remedial knowledge of the topic.

That is UNTIL you are near to death or someone you love is about to die, and then lo and behold "all of sudden" you want to believe that there is a God.

Again, this is plainly false.  I lost my father when I was young, and I didn't turn to god for much the same reason that I did not turn to the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, or a leprechaun.  You've essentially just repeated the false assertion that "there are no atheists in foxholes."  Reality shows that there are, so this is yet another baseless and incorrect assertion from you.  You're already questionable credibility has now taken yet another blow.

Pastoral counselors typically have a bachelor’s degree, a three-year professional degree, and a specialized master’s or doctoral degree in a mental health field.

Interesting to know.  Thanks for sharing.

[LoneMateria]

Miracle89 there is so much factually wrong with what you are saying it made me laugh.  The only thing you've done by openly posting your ignorance is make me disrespect Christian Counselors.  I never gave it much thought until that post you made right there.  I feel you are psychologically abusing your patient by feeding him misinformation along with your own prejudices.  I find it interesting you are supposed to have both a normal degree then a theological one.  What happens when they conflict?  I bet I can guess ^_^.  

iNow great response too bad it will most likely land on deaf ears.

[Miracle89]

First of all I KNOW that only psychiatrists can prescribe medications. And secondly, your insults are EXACTLY what I expected. Attacking my credentials, calling me names, etc. Typical liberal atheistic jargon. Don't bother to reply as I will not engage in back and forth arguements. I merely posted what I did for the few persons who might not know better about christian counselors.

[iNow]

First of all I KNOW that only psychiatrists can prescribe medications.

I apologize.  My mistake.  That was not obvious when reading your post.

And secondly, your insults are EXACTLY what I expected. Attacking my credentials, calling me names, etc. Typical liberal atheistic jargon.

In any area of academic or intellectual pursuit, it is appropriate to challenge assertions and discard false premises.  I apologize that my post came across as a personal attack, but ask that you note my attack was on your assertions, and not on you.  There were no insults, just attempts to ensure validity and accuracy for any readers of this thread.

Since you have stated that you are a trained counselor, I am again surprised at your reaction.  Counselors go through countless hours of training in group sessions to ensure they have control over their emotions, as an inappropriate response such as yours above during a therapy session could negatively impact the progress of their patient.  Basically, I am incredibly reluctant to accept your stated credentials due to the number of false assertions in your previous post, and also due to the way in which you responded so aggressively toward me... and in such a personal and vitriolic manner... instead of demonstrating your knowledge by addressing my questions and criticisms.  


Finally, you mentioned that I was using "jargon."  If I've shared any words which you'd like me to better define, please indicate precisely which ones and I will be glad to clear up any confusion wherever I can.  Thanks for your response.