Theoretical Paper - The Elephant in the Room: Implications of the on-going conflict between religion and science, and what pluralism offers working with the (in)visible

Abstract

Content & FocusClient religiosity proves one of the diversity issues in the therapy room which, until recent years, has remained unattended and strongly prejudiced. Since science and religion were drawn into war on the grounds of rational versus irrational, observable versus untouchable truths, major school of therapies either ignored or pathologised religiosity to a great extent. In this paper, I aim to consider the major drawbacks of this old debate and call for attention to the existing regulatory ethical codes. I would emphasise the importance of the issue to counselling psychologists, given the fact that the profession’s roots are embedded in humanistic and progressive philosophy alongside its scientific base.ConclusionFollowing the literature on secular and religious-accommodative approaches, I discuss a possible resolution of scientific and subjective perspectives of client religiosity by means of using the pluralistic approach to counselling, proposed by Cooper and McLeod (2007). Finally, I also consider the implications of the discussion for practitioner training settings.