Religious Therapy Vs Secular Therapy

It is often assumed that psychiatrists should be able to relate to their patients in faith; however, this may not be necessary. According to the study done by Sonia Greenridge and Martyn Baker, Christian conservatives find it easier to talk to a fellow Christian therapist, but they would appreciate the ability to have any professional therapist. As long as the secular therapists evolve to the religious requests of the client, secular therapy can be just as effective. Someone suffering from mental illness just wants any professional therapist who knows what they are doing to help them. For some people religion is not the motivating factor for the selection of a therapist. Even if the therapist is uncertain about incorporating religion themselves

Some believe their physical or mental illnesses are inflicted upon them purposefully by God, because they have done wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, these individuals “felt that God was punishing them, had deserted them, or did not have the power to make a difference, or felt deserted by their faith community” (Koenig, 2009, p.287). Therefore, they conclude that God is angry with them, and they deserve the punishment. They may feel shunned or neglected by God. Many believe that as a result of this, God will not heal their mental illness through any form of religious therapy. They feel that they have to find their own way apart from God to rid themselves of their suffering. So, to incorporate religion into sessions with individuals with this negative mindset, usually worsens their mental illness symptoms. Someone may also feel that they are being neglected or mistreated by their religious community; therefore, many are eager separate themselves from religion. When a person is struggling in faith, religious therapy proves to negatively affect the individual and worsen their mental