Christian Counselor Sacked, refused to treat gay couples Options

[PalePhoenix]

You should read the entire article first, as it discusses the national health services of the UK, which are very different from our own in the US.

"The claimant was not treated as he was because of his Christian faith, but because (Relate) believed that he would not comply with its policies and that it would have treated anyone else of whom that was believed, regardless of religion, in the same way."

Mr McFarlane's boss at Relate [the name of the national psychological healthcare service] had said during an earlier hearing that he had been sacked because he made it clear that he would not abide by its equal opportunities policy, which states that all clients must be treated in the same way, regardless of sexuality. (read more)

Perhaps, if it were a private practice, indulging only in Christian practices, Mr. McFarlane might yet be peddling his anti-psychotherapeutic wares. Certain practices in the States can get away with this, using the argument that there are always other services available elsewhere, but all this reminds me of is the new law that allows pharmacists and prescribers to refuse to dispense the Pill or other "morning after" medications.

It goes against the canon of ethics to which most every psychiatric professional in the US is bound, but would be more difficult to prosecute here because there are so many private practices that can do and say whatever they please, including "reparative therapy" for "ex-gays," another topic discussed heavily here at XM (just search for "reparative" or "conversion" plus or minus "therapy").

Personally, I'm glad the guy got fired and lost his lawsuit over it. Treating gays and gay couples--or any minority, really--requires special training and is especially needed in the psychotherapy industry. Not many specialize in it, and fewer still have it in their bag of psychological tools? What makes treating gay couples different from their heterosexual counterparts? Not a whole lot, save for the acceptance of the lifestyle in general.

There are sex issues, relationship issues, and other interpersonal conflicts, but they differ little from those presented by hetero couples. Gay couples are usually already "out" about their sexual identities (but, by no means, all couples, or both parties of the same couple), so that is commonly removed from the equation. It is more often single patients who are still coming to terms with their individual sexuality, making the focus of treatment much different than it is for couple's therapy. This is not to say the same issues don't occasionally arise in couple's therapy, but they are less likely to occur if both members are comfortable with their sexual identities, and are out about them.

[irishblessing]

"Therapists" like that should be shot, not sacked. They're an insult to their profession and plainly ignoring all they've been taught about unconditional acceptance of their patients' lives.

[Qweerty]

"Therapists" like that should be shot, not sacked. They're an insult to their profession and plainly ignoring all they've been taught about unconditional acceptance of their patients' lives.

The problem is that certain therapists get their post-masters training from some very suspicious places. When they're at that level, some schools can teach any program they want, and then there are plain old divinity schools or seminaries. Rather than become priests or nuns, they enter the field as therapeutic generalists and you'd never know the difference as long as they're licensed or board certified. You should always ask before you begin therapy with a particular doctor what they specialized in in college, what they did their Master's thesis in. Sometimes, the degrees on the walls just don't give you enough information.