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From: Paul
Date: 10/5/02
Time: 5:02:23 AM
Remote Name: 193.217.132.23
Hi, Dick. (Besides being a non-Christian [Jewish] person who stutters, I also have an education in the speech-language pathology field and have some clinical experience.) I'd like to start with your last few questions first. You ask about what one should do if a client from a different religious perspective brings up his/her religious beliefs during a clinical session. "Do I let this go or do I introduce my perspective in this discussion?" I think each of these alternatives represents a course of action on different extreme ends, and the proper course lies in between. It seems to me that if religious faith is important to a client, and he/she wishes to find a place for it within the context of therapy, the clinician can incorporate this within speech/language counselling in a general way without imposing his/her (the clinician's) own religious beliefs or theological or Scriptural interpretations into the client's way of religious thinking. A client from a different religious faith, even one who is strongly religious and wishes to bring this perspective into the therapeutic process, does not come to a speech/language clinician for a lesson on comparative theology or for a theological discussion. The clinician's own particular religious beliefs or Scriptural interpretations should have absolutely no bearing on therapy. But it is fine for the clinician to fuse the general idea of faith (if this is what the client wishes) into counselling as a supplementary ingredient to aid in motivation in working on speech/language issues, developing confidence in one's abilities, building self-esteem and courage, and providing comfort in times of difficulty. It is fine for a client to draw on his/her own religious beliefs as an extra tool to aid in the therapy process, but it is absolutely improper (to my way of thinking) for clinicians to talk about THEIR own particular religious beliefs, and to bring these into the therapy room. I think similar principles should hold even if the clinician and client come from the same religious perspective and share similar beliefs. Here there may be a bit more leeway than in the previous situation discussed, but still the therapy session should NOT turn into a theological discussion or a session of interpreting passages of Scripture. Even if the client and clinician are from the same religious background, it is very possible (if not likely) that the two would have somewhat different ways of religious thinking and of Scriptural interpretation. These particular differences are not a proper focus for speech/language therapy. The clinician should not attempt to mold the client's mode of religious thinking to more closely resemble his/her own.