Impact of the Counsellor's Faith in Their Work With Clients

Impact of the counsellor’s faith in their work with clients
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Impact of the counsellor’s faith in their work with clients
1.0 Introduction
Faith has become a more and more visible subject in the counselling literature. Both counselling practitioners and researchers are recognizing the significance of addressing faith with their clients. Faith plays a vital role in ways that lots of people clarify their values, make meaning, and even try to solve their problems (Adams et al. 2015). Counsellors basically have a duty to consider their clients holistically, and they should try to understand their spiritual beliefs. Faith and religious issues in psychotherapy and counselling, a previously ignored topic, is currently a very hot issue in the field. Spiritual and religious resources can be very effectual in fostering better physical as well as psychological health of the clients, promote effective coping, and deepen meaning in their lives (Bienenfeld & Yager 2009). A lot of clients are subjected to poor treatment of spiritual and religious issues in psychotherapy. Hoffman (2009) pointed out that there are counsellors who deliberately and unintentionally impose their beliefs on their clients, some are doing a lot of harm, and some individuals practice outside their competencies resulting in many awkward and unproductive moments in therapy. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the impact of the counsellor’s faith in their work with clients.
2.0 Theory and arguments relevant to the issue
2.1 Fowler’s Faith Development Theory (FDT)
This theory is often cited as one which counsellors and therapists can find useful in addressing spiritual and religious issues. The Faith Development Theory is essentially a multileveled description of different patterns through which people commit to and make sense of transcendent values and reality as an individual develops through the lifespan (Parker 2009). In 1981, theorist James Fowler described 7 phases of faith that human beings can undergo as their ways of making meaning as well as relating to other people become more comprehensive and complex. This theorist defined faith as a universal human activity of meaning making. According to Fowler, faith is grounded in particular structures which shape the way people interpret their world and interact with others and with self (Heywood 2009).
The 7 phases include the following: (i) Undifferentiated Faith (infancy) – this phase is developed as a caregiver attends to the needs of vulnerable infants, and in so doing starting the notions of trust, hope, faith, and love (Fowler 2010). (ii) Intuitive-Projective Faith (occurs in early childhood) – this phase is characterized by the child’s imaginative and egocentric visualization of faith stories, as well as the actions of grownups who are significant in their world who leave long-term emotional impressions (Fowler 2010). (iii) Mythical-Literal Faith (occurs during school years) – this phase allows the child to start taking ownership of the rituals and beliefs that would help him or her to enter into their community (Sutherland 2011).
(iv) Synthetic-Conventional Faith (occurs during adolescence) – this phase takes place as an individual begins to look beyond his or her family to peers as well as other influences for starting individuation. A synthesis starts between information and values that would be helpful in formulating identity (Coyle 2011). (v) Individuative-Reflective Faith (occurs during young adulthood) – this phase has a twofold constituent in which a person is trying to comprehend the way his faith, devoid of the influence of other people, contributes to identity. This new identity, at the same time, allows a person to use his individuated worldview in interpreting actions of other people in the same faith system (Gathman & Nessan 2010). (vi) Conjuctive Faith (occurs during midlife and past midlife) – this phase enables one to have an integration of individual faith identity as well as worldview so as to go further than one’s individual faith doctrine to see the connectedness and relativity of faiths besides one own, and adapting an individual’s worldview to understand the experiences of others. (vii) Universalizing Faith (uncommon and many people never attain) – in this phase, a person understands the universality of humanity and they are actually not bound to comprehend faith by way of social conventions (Fowler 2010).
2.2 Strength of Fowler’s Faith Development Theory
This theory is useful since the 7 phases offer a guide which could assist counsellors and therapists in understanding some of the faith and value conflicts that clients come across during the lifespan (Coyle 2011). Similar to other developmental models, counsellors and therapists have to understand that the worldview and life experiences of their clients cannot be construed singularly by exploring development in terms of phases. Rather, it is the clients’ description of their incongruence and conflict that provides life to the duty of assisting clients to resolve issues. Counsellors can examine their level of faith phase development and then explore the way that this understanding could be exploited and used for positive, strength-based strategies to resolve incongruence in everyday functioning (Coyle 2011). According to Parker (2009), this theory can also be used in assessing where counsellors stand in their faith development and the way their stance might impact their therapy and counselling sessions. This assessment may be utilized to help counsellors continue growing in their development so that they can be able to address spiritual issues in counselling sessions (Parker 2009).
2.3 Weakness of Fowler’s Faith Development Theory (FDT)
FDT reduces faith to a psychological as well as cognitive process without recognizing that The Lord can work in ways that one cannot observe or analyze using psychoanalytic procedures. Critics also claim that this theory favours men over women because of its heavy highlighting on seeing faith development as cognitive progression (Heyward 2009). Moreover, the theory’s structural approach is incompatible with the Christian notion of divine grace. According to the structural approach, faith development is in fact a human attainment that is influenced very much by the person’s psychological and cognitive abilities. However, from a Christian point of view, faith is actually a divine from The Lord and an individual’s response to the grace of God (Gathman & Nessan 2010).
2.4 Other concepts and arguments related to the issue
It is very important to address the subject of faith in counselling. Cashwell and Young (2011) reported that faith is a critical aspect of human growth and change. Counselling is usually intended to assist clients with their problem-solving, personal development, as well as capacity to overcome stress, all of which call for an understanding of the psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive abilities. The counsellor should understand what his or her client values and how their clients actually make meaning in their life (Cashwell & Young 2011). Counsellors work to understand the belief system of their clients, constantly maintain respect for the clients and do their best to understand when values and faith issues are vital to the client and promote values-informed client decision-making during counselling. In essence, counsellors often share their faith orientation as a function of legitimate self-disclosure and when suitable to the clients’ needs, constantly upholding a posture of humility (Adams et al. 2015).
Counsellors who are of the Christian faith never withhold counselling services to any person of a different religion, faith, value system, ethnic group, race, or denomination. While counsellors who are Christian might expose their client and/or their community in general to their faith orientation, they never impose their religious practices or beliefs on clients (West 2012).
Willis et al. (2014) noted that the counsellor’s religious view actually impacts on his or her clients. West (2012) stated that even though therapists might carry their religious faith and belonging unconscientiously, it would impact on the values which strengthen and highlight their work with clients.
Counselling is a discipline which cannot be divided from its philosophical and moral origins (Clinton & Hawkins 2012). A key aspect of becoming a counsellor is being aware of one’s own values and having awareness of one’s influence in the process of counselling. According to Clinton and Hawkins (2012), counsellors’ recognition of their values and beliefs, where those values and beliefs originated from, and the reason as to why they have them helps to understand the way these values may or may not be imposed or exposed. Whether counsellors realize it or not, their values impact virtually all aspects of the therapeutic process such as intake and assessment, problem solving, goal setting, therapeutic technique, outcomes, as well as evaluation (Willis et al. 2014).
Clients and counsellors should understand and respect the rights of the client. For example, if one is a professional Christian counsellor and a client who is Muslim comes in seeking assistance for an issue relating mainly to his or her Islamic faith, it would be appropriate that the counsellor refers this client to a counsellor who is also Muslim. This would be important since the Muslim therapist would be able to address issues related to his faith more effectively than a Christian counsellor (Smith 2011). There has been substantial debate on this particular issue, particularly as it relates to seeing patients who value living a homosexual lifestyle. According to Clinton and Hawkins (2012), counsellors or therapists with faith backgrounds who feel conflicted with regard to counselling clients who live a gay lifestyle are ethically responsible to refer such clients to professional counsellors who are able to properly assist those patients obtain their therapeutic goals. On the other hand, if a client who is Christian is conflicted over same-sex behaviour and wishes to lead a celibate heterosexual lifestyle which conflicts with the practices and beliefs of a gay-affirming counsellor, the most appropriate ethic entails referring the patient to a competent professional counsellor who would affirm the client’s desires as well as religious beliefs. Whenever values conflicts are found in therapeutic relationships, competent referrals have to be made to mental-health experts who are able to properly assist patients to attain their goals (Smith 2011).
Significance of congruence: Clinton and Hawkins (2012) stated that even when the patient identifies herself or himself to be having similar religious denomination or background as the counsellor, the counsellor must not suppose that their religious beliefs are in fact exactly the same. Nonetheless, when these beliefs and values are agreed upon, respected, and explored, such value congruence between the client and the counsellor brings about richer therapeutic outcomes (West 2012). Imposing versus exposing personal values: in essence, the psychotherapeutic setting and climate has to be typified by a sense of safety, including absolute and unreserved positive regard for the value systems of clients. Within an environment that is safe, clients can express their behaviours, feelings, and beliefs freely without being ridiculed or judged. An effectual counselling allows for processing of these behaviours to be assessed basing on the quality of life of the patient (Adams et al. 2015). As professional counsellors, the objective of carrying out therapy must not be for the counsellor to impose his or her own values and beliefs on the client so as to get the client to believe what the counsellor thinks is right. The goal of therapy must be to help clients determine whether or not they are really living up to their own values and beliefs and whether or not those values and beliefs are resulting in behaviours which negatively affect their lives as well as their relationships with other people (Clinton & Hawkins 2012). Assisting clients to determine these behaviours basing on their own value systems might necessitate them to reconsider their core beliefs. Clients are able to delineate and refine their value systems, select their own actions, and then assess those actions basing on their therapeutic objectives. Psychotherapists would unavoidably expose their values basing on their own theoretical approaches, objectives for therapy, as well as evaluation of the client’s progress. However, they have to remain aware of their value system so that they do not impose their values on the client (Adams et al. 2015).
3.0 Cultural assumptions and processes of power in the selected issue
A professional counsellor should be able to describe the differences as well as similarities between religion and spirituality, including the fundamental beliefs of different spiritual systems around the world, major world religions, atheism, and agnosticism (Keller 2013). Moreover, professional counsellors are able to recognize that the beliefs of the client – or the client’s absence of beliefs – with regard to religion and/or spirituality are of major importance to his worldview and could influence psychosocial functioning (Keller 2013). For counsellors to be ethical and multi-culturally competent in practice, they should be actively expanding their understanding of the diversity amongst clients with whom they work. Knowledge about spiritual and religious issues brings about increased sensitivity to spiritual concerns. It also leads to increased understanding and respect towards client diversity (Hoffman 2009). In essence, increasing competency in diversity issues starts with a counsellor increasing his or her awareness regarding their own values and beliefs. If counsellors do not recognize their own religion and spirituality, they may unknowingly proselytize or impose their own religious beliefs and values on their clients.
It is notable that increasing one’s self-awareness in areas of spirituality and ...