Is It Biblical To Seek Post Religious Trauma Therapy?

[Tollo]

Rant here. Have you noticed how all the religious magazines and talk shows and pseudo-intellectual types try to ask if things related to mental health is "biblical" for people to do? Decisions that would normally be made based on your individual circumstances and are clearly not a one-size-fits-all situation and are also clearly not a moral/immoral option. They have to ask "should a ~Christian do this?" Is it "Biblical"?

 

For instance "Should a Christian seek the services of a psychotherapist?". "Is it Biblical to to attempt 'self-improvement'?"

 

They always have to say something about how "True Happiness" only comes from a Personal Relationship With Christ even if they can't be so bald-faced as to claim that "instead of sins, we have SYNdromes! This postmodern age, grumble grumble."

 

"Too blessed to be depressed."

 

They often have zero compassion for the individual, it's all about never giving up on the cult mentality, through thick and thin.

[Deidre]

True -- I remember a friend of mine going through problems with her husband, and they were going to seek counseling. They are both Christians, and were seeking a 'Christian' counselor. lol My guess is that if you go to secular counselor, logic might enter into the equation, and we all know what happens then...you might start questioning the validity of your beliefs, against reality. Hmmm...

 

I remember also wanting to see a Reiki instructor, and a friend of mine at the time advised me against it, as I was a Christian at that time. (so was she) Her reasoning was that it went against Christianity.

 

I'm just glad to be rid of this big brother mentality that Christianity seems to have over people. It's free-ing to make decisions based on logic and reasoning, and not on superstition and fantasy.

[Bayard]

On the Christian forum I used to frequent, most members advised seeing therapists of the same faith in the case of mental trouble. Others advised exorcism- thankfully, they were in the minority. Either way, I'm glad I'm gone!

[TheRedneckProfessor]

When I entered my teens I started getting depressed a lot and I knew something about me just wasn't right.  I didn't seem to be as content, or as comfortable, in life as others I saw around me.  I asked my parents about getting some counseling but they refused.  All I needed to do was pray and jesus would take care of everything.  It only continued to get worse over the years.  Since deconverting 11 years ago, my outlook on life has gotten much better, though I still won't say I'm as well-adjusted as I'd like to be.

 

Adults advising each other against professional help on religious grounds is bad; adults refusing professional help to their children on religious grounds is abuse.

[Storm]

I live in a city where a major church that that has a good reputation within our community offers counseling. The catch: it nouthetic counseling. The worst possible counseling I can think of. They believe that the bible is sufficient for all things and that you can be counseled without any outside influences, just the bible. My ex-wife went through 8 weeks of counseling for some issues she was having in regards to being abused as a child. After 8 weeks, she said it was a waste of time. The "therapist" basically never addressed her issues and ultimately just focused it back to her relationship with god. Pathetic.

 

I think that allowing pastors and other lay leaders to be considered suitable to counsel people without some sort of certification requirements is such a bad idea. Its bad enough that people's lives get fucked up by christianity itself, then to only add more fucked up people trying to make you better. Its a recipe for disaster.

[DoubtingNate]

My dad is a (conservative) Presbyterian minister and both my parents and I have taken anti depressants at different times and have found them helpful. My dad's parents would probably not have been too keen on them, sort of like they were tee totalers and did not approve of things like card games, etc; so it was a new thing for my dad.

 

That said, I have also been exposed to some useless and unhelpful counseling advice and read some real shit sandwiches in the guise of Christian self help, also based in guilt and slave-like devotion to Jesus and the institution of Marriage and the Family instead over any kind of personal happiness and fulfillment.

[amateur]

I get a kick out of listening to a xian therapy radio show on occasion.  So many questioners start out with "Is it biblical to . . ." then they state what they would like to do.  The topics are generally about relationships  and marriage, so "Is it biblical to divorce" is the start of a common tearful question.  Then they get into details about being married for 25 years and how they haven't had sex or spoken civilly to each other in the last 20 years.  The hosts are like, "That's not a biblical basis for divorce."  I'm like, "You're an adult that can make your own adult decisions about your life."

 

But the questioner is a 50-year-old who is crying like a baby, so maybe they are not adults.