Quote:
Originally Posted by piggy momma
As many of you know, my T is also a Catholic priest. He teaches at the Catholic university that I go to, and I grew up Catholic. When I moved here 16 years ago he was also in a parish and I met him at church.
I've always made it a point though not to talk about religion with him. He says mass on campus once a week and I go, but that's about it. I just feel like religion is separate from therapy and I should keep them separate.
The new psychologist I'm seeing this summer while regular T is away works out of a Christian agency. When I met with him for the first time, at the end he asked if he could pray for me. I said yes, thinking he'd go home and say his bedtime prayers and toss my name in there. But nope. He started praying over me right then and there. It felt weird, but I figured for $200 an hour I'd take all the help I can get.
But...I've been struggling with my faith a lot lately and I know regular T (well both actually) believes very strongly in the integration of faith and psychology - that the two cannot be separated. So, I asked him if when he comes back in September if we can do some work around spirituality and faith.
Is that weird? Does anyone else have a Christian counsellor that they talk God with? I told him I'm actually really uncomfortable talking about religion with him, but since it's such a huge part of who I am, I don't see how I can leave it out anymore...
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I respect everyone's religious beliefs, and would not mind discussing anything like that in therapy if it came up. I would not like a T to "pray over me", but would be ok if they wanted to add me to their "prayer list". I would find it very strange and uncomfortable because I do not personally practice any religion.
By the way. If you are looking for some excellent reading in the area of Christian and psychological ties, read Soul-Making by Allen Jones. Just absolutely amazing how he really takes the "religion" out of the picture, focuses on the deep spiritual aspects of Christianity (with a focus on the Desert Traditions) and brings the psychology of the human into the picture.
My favorite quote from the book, and it really crosses my mind often in my therapy environment:
"It is, perhaps, in the use and understanding of silence that the psychoanalytic and desert traditions are alike. Silence involves a kind of breakdown; an annihilation for the sake of reorganizing the way we perceive ourselves and the world. Silence, in the end, can become a healing and comfortable experience."