Posted by Dinah on September 27, 2009, at 18:55:20
In reply to Re: is religion an appropriate topic in therapy?, posted by elizabeth31 on September 27, 2009, at 15:05:10
Well, as I say, my therapist and I both have tolerance near the top of both our lists of virtues to strive for, so I'm sure we could deal with any philosophical discussions that arose. I know we differ on some of the more controversial issues, but I'm ok with that. He has a well thought out position, and doesn't take them lightly. He respects my beliefs and I respect his.
I'm a bit unorthodox in my theology and I worry sometimes about offending him or having him think less of me. And there are some statements he could make that would cause me to read him the riot act. But so far he hasn't made them, and in fact appears to be sensitive enough to the issues to avoid making them.
But instead he tells me that at least I'm thinking about these things, and that maybe it's my purpose to stimulate others to think about things, rather than to be more orthodox myself. Sometimes he'll say something like "I was reading James and that made me think of what you said about that being your favorite book of the New Testament."
It does come up as a legitimate therapy topic, because my views sometimes cause me interpersonal difficulties. Not now, thank heavens. I've found a congenial and open minded group for Sunday School. :)
I consider myself very lucky to have a therapist who is ok with discussing these things.
poster:Dinah
thread:918718
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090907/msgs/918749.html