Psychiatrist advertises that he's Christian

I think he just wants people to assume he's a good honest person. That's what a lot of people think when they see "Christian".

My PDOC is a Christian and we've never talked religion.

Now if he had advertised for "Christians only" that would be a real problem even for me!

But also, please don't be anxious if he reminds you that as a human being you do have a spiritual side, and strengthening that seems to help a person heal.

He hasn't responded to my email yet, but he might not work on Mondays. A lot of psychiatrists & therapists around here only work limited days of the week.

I need to just forget about it, because I really have no choice. He is the ONLY psychiatrist my insurance will let me see. So I have to just give him a chance, and if he DOES start shoving religion down my throat, then after that I will start demanding that my insurance pay in-network pricing for my current psych nurse, and I'll say I don't give a crap if you don't cover psych nurses and you only cover psychiatrists, I will NOT be treated that way!

Hopefully it doesn't have to come to that, though. (well, I don't know, I don't really want to switch!)

Could be a Christian or an Athiest .
Wouldn't matter to me as long as he gets the job done.

AMEN! - I hear you there... when I was going under (and quickly) twelve years ago it did not matter to me what religion, race, ethic back ground or sex my therapist was.... all I wanted was someone that cared enough for me as a human being to not let me die while I was stuck in an very wounded and ill thinking mind.

I had several Orthodox Jewish pdocs--they were excellent Doctors; and there was no problem with talk of religion.

They helped me tremendously...I didn't care about the religion thing:
I needed good Medical Help--and that was what I got.

I wanted to toss these in before Martina's thread got cold:

When I was just starting college I neglected to state what kind of faculty advisor I wanted so I got assigned one by default. He turned out to be a divinity student at the time (and later went on to become a professor of theology). He may have been a very capable advisor for some students but he wasn't for me. He wasn't familiar with my fields of interest. I can hardly hold that against him since neither was I , but he seemed to take that to mean he could leave me to my own devices there and focus instead on my religious education.

I'd recently been feeling oppressed by religion and wanting to distance myself from it. I got the impression that he, along with my father, thought that was the root of all my other problems and if I'd just come back to the fold, straighten up and fly right, everything would be fine. When I'd consider options like taking a year off from school, he'd caution me about cutting off my nose to spite my face. It turned out to be an excellent idea to take the year off, not only from school but from him.

I live in an area famous for being multicultural and tolerant. It's generally assumed that any practitioner or agency will be happy to accept any client as long as the practical requirements are met: someone's qualified to work with that client's issues and fluent in the client's language, and suitable fee arrangements can be worked out.

I can see how in some parts of the country advertising "Christian" would be like saying, "Hi, neighbor, we're just folks like you". Around here, referring to a particular religion would probably send the message, "We prefer to work with folks like ourselves" and a prospective client would want to ask (a.) whether those of other religions (or none) were even welcome and (b.) whether, if the client were of that same religion, the counseling/therapy would focus on religious issues and solutions to the exclusion of what the client might really want to talk about.

Martina, I admire your stand on this. I learned the hard way that I would've been better off doing the same thing back then. I hope that pdoc works out for you, though, so you don't need to fight with your insurance company.

I like Yoda practical agnosticism as I enjoyed also the dilemma about a therapist who might be interested to make more money or proselytes (now they need money to live too!)

I am still trying to force myself to remain open at new experiences and to get rid of any tint of prejudicial mind formed from older bad ones. In a way you could say I never learn (I don't want to learn that yet!!) and always:

Give a Try!

Theodora's post made me think of something: a vast majority of lawyers are of the Jewish faith with door blessings and the like, yet we don't think of it negating their expertise (their names are quite an advertisement in themselves, might I add.) We go to them for help with issues of the law. Similarly, shouldn't we expect that just because a doctor displays his Christianity, that it will not reduce our experience with him as a doctor?

If he should mention it (not you) then a polite "I'm not interested in discussing that topic" should suffice.

I think that it really depends. I could care less what religion my lawyer, or a vast majority of other professionals, is. I don't think that the religion of a therapist or pdoc may negate their expertise, but I do think that here in Mississippi, when people advertise they are Christian counselors, they are specifically (in most instances) saying "your therapy will be based on the bible". The therapists here will not work with you at all unless you are willing to use their "Christ based" approach.

For instance, the therapist here in my town has a website that is (this isn't really the name, but its very close) wwwdotchristianhealingdotcom. Here's a bit of her description of the therapy services she provides:

She is not willing to negotiate on this. I have asked. You must be willing to do her therapy with this Christ based perspective (she uses the bible a lot in therapy), or she will not accept you as a patient.

So, I don't think people are being judgmental when they say they do or do not want a therapist that advertises they are Christian. Fool Zero must live in my area (haha) because the description of why people advertise they are Christian is right on for me as well: if you aren't Christian, you need not apply.

I have found that throughout my many years of life, experiences with the Christian faith has had both positive and negative problems for me. The bottom line for me, is, if one has to proclaim they are a christian, announce and advertise it, then I have my doubts about their faith (which I have to work on judging others!). I have been taught that living the Christian life quietly and with charity is far better than promoting and announcing myself as Christian in a loud voice. That may have to do with my Pa Dutch upbringing in which one keeps the faith and quietly lives up to their own beliefs without advertisement or billboards. Just my own thoughts, not meant to intrude on others beliefs. I continue to keep the faith.

One of my t's was actually Lutheran minister and licensed pastoral counselor. (And I'm Lutheran). He never brought up religion in our sessions. I doubt this will really be an issue for you.

Why do you assume that a Christian doctor would "shove religion down your throat?" I think the choice to advertise the way he does may be to allay fears of those who are unsure about psychiatry in the first place. That his care will be compassionate, etc. It's a bit misguided on his part IMO, but it seems to be a current trend in advertising. Even my car mechanic advertises as Christian (I guess the implication that he won't rip you off).

I've never had a doctor or therapist of any kind "preach" to me, be they Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, etc. If they did, that would be the last time I saw them (including if a Christian preached to me -- I'm a Christian).

I'm surely interested (and very hopeful) in how the appointment goes.

I counseled many without even mentioning Christ. The point of view is opposite from what many have suggested here: so many secular therapists suggest treatment that is directly against what the Holy Bible "says" ... and thus those of Christian faith don't want to have to be concerned that what they are trusting the therapist for is against God's Word [I think some suggestions from therapists such as "go have an affair" would be met by many clients as intolerable, whether of faith or not.]

Many people truly don't understand psychotherapy, and even Christians don't often know what God says about something ... so it's a matter of trust with and in the therapist. When someone strong -any- faith can see someone also of the same faith, it allows for a basic layer of trust, which we all need at such times.

I'm glad that those who do counsel "only" from God's Word let potential clients know, for all concerned. But there are many licensed doctors who are strong in their faith, and use it to guide THEM in what ways to go with a patient, yet never mention it even with the patient.

Hopefully, the topic here has expanded greatly beyond what you will experience when you meet with the good doctor.

One good thing about this insurance mess, althought I'm a little upset at my psych nurse now....

My psych nurse's rates are a bit high. She knows I'm broke, yet even when I'm meeting my deductible she never reduces her rates for me. Just says I can pay her in monthly installments whatever I can afford. (which means I'll be paying off a debt to her forever...I was working on a deductible to my husband's insurance Jan-April then had to start all over with my new insurance deductible in April because of my job benefits change).

Anyway, this new insurance only authorized her for medication management only, not therapy. So she can only bill me at a lower rate! So I get to see her for 4 sessions, not just 3, to meet the deductible. So I won't see this new psychiatrist until late July, early August.

She'll probably still toss in a little therapy just not bill me for it. I don't know how she's going to do it.

The psychiatrist never did email me back and I'm too chicken to call him about this! I'll just see how it goes in the actual sessions. Maybe he doesn't use that email anymore.

Personally, I think that's the way to use faith: to guide yourself by, not to get someone else to agree with what you believe. To the extent that you do find your faith useful to you this way, you'll get better results. Whoever you work with is likely to learn something from your example -- to do more of whatever you do, if it works for them, or to do less of it if it doesn't.

What I mostly learned from that faculty advisor I mentioned earlier was that what he was doing didn't work well for me, that I didn't want to do that to anyone else (Look, the Golden Rule in action!!! It's a fundamental principle of many religions, btw.)... and that I wanted to steer clear of anyone else like him.

Martina - Some P'docs are too busy to look at their emails.

It will be interesting to see how you go with your first appointment.

Please let us know.

Hello Martina
My psychiatrist is very Christain he has Jesus pictures all over and all that. I also have some Christian beliefs and suprisingly, it's never brought up. He knows my beleifs are based mostly on First American religion and he don't shove the whole Christianity thing down my throat either. I agree with the one post he's probably advertising his beliefs so that if there is a person having troubles and has the same beliefs that they will feel more comfortable. If he's med managment only then it's probably not a big deal to him about that. I hope you get the care you need. My insurance also dropped alot of the p-docs in my area and it's hard as hell finding someone.

Fool Zero, I think there's a good chance you and I live in the same area. This is the message that would be sent in my area too, if a practitioner included his/her religion in an advertisement.

Many people with "Jewish" last names are not practicing Judaism. Jewish is cultural, not just religious. Many people with such last names are atheists, agnostics, or even Christians. People get their last names through marriage too. I would never assume anything about a person's religion based on their last name. BTW, in my area the "vast majority" of lawyers are not Jewish.

I have never had a health care provider do this either. I don't think it's typical. I'm glad it turns out you get 4 more sessions instead of 3. I hope you can wind things down in a meaningful way for yourself and reflect back on your time together. Endings are hard.

If he does turn out to be pushing his religious beliefs, I wonder if you could confront the insurance company about this. Seems like maybe you could have a potential legal case if the insurance won't provide someone in town to you at in-network prices who doesn't shove their religious beliefs - this seems discriminatory. I don't know though.

Hope it works out!

We aren't Christian either, but we sent our son to a Christian therapeutic school for his issues. It wasn't as bad as we thought. It was tough for us to send him there when we didn't totally share the beliefs of everything they taught, but our son enjoyed it in the end.. and at least being Christian would be better than what he was before.. which was hating everything.

How did this go Martina?

I was sent to a therapist where all three partners at the practice were die hard Christians and they all made it publicly known. Hell, the name of the institution was a bible reference in itself. At the time I was agnostic and that was asked in the very first session and never brought up again unless it was me bringing up problems I was having with my religious exploration because, while not believing I still felt the capacity to believe in something and adamantly searched (and still do) for whatever that would be. The therapist never guided these discussions and kept his religious beliefs private unless I requested them and even then he was hesitant.

Well the religion part turned out to be fine, he does have some religious sayings in his office but when something came up in the appointment he said something that eluded to the fact that it won't be a problem.

So, we're fine there.

He just has no emergency coverage on the weekends. So I can't see him. I need to have some kind of urgent coverage if I screw up my meds and need to ask a question that is not worthy of going to the E.R. over.

?**Trigger**? Religion referrence

Thanks Martina for letting me know...The only problem I would have (thought about this last night), is that having a mental illness and being Gnostic/Pagan I could be told that it was my "religion" causing the problem...we all know what the bible says about mediums and witches etc..My concern would be that a christian therapist would try to tell me I was possessed or something...(I've been called that in online communities) I would just not cope with that...

I am Gnostic Pagan but that doesn't make me uncelan or untouchable as the bible suggests...but again I don't want this to be a religious debate. It is the aspect of how far do these therapists take their faith? They are entitled to it and I readily accept that; I just wouldn't want it referred to in any way if I was seeing a christian therapist

Rhiannon