i see a #christian #therapist but not a "#ChristianTherapist ™️."
my therapist is licensed and has the same educational credentials as secular therapists.
she is just also a christian and it's helpful to have a shared background of faith when i speak about things from a religious perspective or come from a standpoint of modeling Christ or discerning and doing what God commands.
(she thinks the joseph smith stuff is weird but thats okay. he's not the center of my faith by far.)
i think "ChristianTherapists™️" or "ChristianCounselors™️" can be very harmful especially when they are not having a secular education or held to the same ethical standards as secular professionals.
like. "Conversion Therapy" (rg. gender and sexuality) shouldn't be something offered.
and the concept of "sin" being leveraged on the part of the counselor i think is almost always bad.
and i've just seen so many horror stories about it from my fellow queer people. it's hard for me to trust.
that said, i do seek counseling from my pastor, which has been monumentally helpful. in ways regular therapy wasn’t helping.
which does include going directly to scriptures for answers.
there was one case in which my interpretation of scripture was really harming me. the way i had been taught it led me towards accepting abuse.
revisiting the scripture and going through it with someone with more theological education helped me see that the passage was not intended for me to accept abuse at all
so i don't want to knock coming from a mainly from a religious perspective (when appropiate) either
but the secular training and regulated ethics are v important
my pastor helped me make radical, lifesaving, change. but i probably needed the DBT, talk therapy, and DV group therapy to get to that point
back to my secular (but christian) therapist, she helps me honor scripture while honoring myself
ex. my aim to honor my mother and father. she ensures that it isn't at the sacrifice of myself
My Heavely Parent(s) are with me all the way. and prayer helps tremendously when i feel i am able to do it. (i get caught up in doubting me or my self-worth sometimes. but i don't feel like They are shaming me. it's internal things or a societal things)
but yeah. i do what i do and it really helps me.
but i am so skeptical about when i hear the words "ChristianCounseling" or "ChristianTherapy" despite me seeing a therapist who is Christian and seeking counseling from specific religious leaders
there is a nuance that i am not quite hitting.
but i know it when i see it, y'know?
if it's being pushed as an alternative to clinical therapy, that's a red flag.
and you can look to see what their qualifications are.
in my case, i didn't even know my therapist was christian til I brought up faith. then she asked me if it was okay if we spoke in that capacity and i said that yes, i wanted to. i was mostly looking for someone with intellectual/ developmental disability specialization.
off-topic now, because a lot of therapists do not get that.
so many list just "anxiety and depression" for conditions. and i don't want to give them a chance because i trust that they are being honest with their range.
psychiatrists do this too (more include ADHD tbf), which I DON'T understand. it was very hard to find someone who advertised working with patients with I/DD, manic, and psychotic disorders.
the rest of dem psychiatrist need to level up. 3 things out of the whole DSM??? bffr!
wednesday the valkyrja