Psychologists reject wording that would limit treatment, referrals (due to "moral conflict")

[sabra]

Source: Lincoln Journal Star

Wording that would let psychologists not treat or not refer patients because of a moral conflict — opposing homosexuality, for example — met with skepticism Wednesday from the state board of psychology.

After 90 minutes of debate, the board chose not to endorse a proposal put forth earlier by Jim Cunningham, director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference.

...

Catholics did not propose the change in regulations in order to ignore patients’ needs, said the Rev. Christopher Kubat, director of Catholic Social Services for the Lincoln diocese. He added the proposal had been widely misconstrued.

If, for example, a homosexual client went to a Catholic therapist for help, Kubat told the board, it still would be improper for the therapist to deny treatment for depression or suicidal tendencies.

What the church seeks, Cunningham said, is to protect providers from complaints of discrimination should a psychologist refuse a request to, for example, make a person a more giving homosexual partner.


Read more: http://journalstar.com/articles/2009/06/25/news/local/doc4a42c11932258379442821.txt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. there is no reason one should refuse to refer, because they cant do a job

thats just literally saying, "i want you to suffer for your decisions"

[On the Road]

19. That Was My Response, Too

I can understand not wanting to treat -- that might even be a good idea. I wouldn't want to be counseled by someone who objected to me on fundamental grounds. There's no shortage of people in the profession. But referrals are another matter -- that's just common sense, professionalism, and general human concern.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. not if you want us to suffer. then its a good idea not to refer.

such assholes

[Irreverend IX]

2. Would a bigoted therapist be much help to a gay patient? nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. no, which is why they are supposed to REFER to someone else

and they dont want to do that

[No Elephants]

22. Only the bigots have the cure for homosexuality. Most other

therapists are sane.

[vadawg]

3. i f they cant treat due to a moral dilemma, then at least tehy should be able to refer

kinda dumb to not allow them to refer.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. they are allowed to refer. they want permission NOT to. so the gays and "sluts"

can suffer

[lindisfarne]

18. Kind of makes you wonder - but not at all surprising, given some of the "counselors" I have run into

It only takes a masters degree to call yourself a counselor or psychologist. There are many programs that just stop short of giving a degree for doing little more than paying tuition.

Don't assume they're all competent. Many are, but many aren't.
How someone without enough compassion to at least want to refer a person (when the counselor believes his/her own biases would impede his/her ability to provide treatment) could get a degree - or even want to get a degree - is beyond me.

[ejpoeta]

4. yes, let's not stop with folks refusing to fill prescriptions.... lets also

refuse treatment of patients because they are gay or whatever.... personally, i wouldn't want to have a therapist who is so judgemental in the first place.... espcially if i were gay and they were against homosexuality. But the idea that here we go again with trying to allow folks to refuse to treat someone because of these things.... uggh.

I don't know... i would fear that one of these anti gay therapists treating a gay person might try to tell them their depression is because they are going against god or something. I think maybe they should have to post their beliefs about things at the door for all to see so that we as possible clients wouldn't have to subject ourselves to people who think like this. I think i remember my sister telling me about a therapist she had seen who was against gays or homosexuality.... something like that. don't know how they got on that unless debbie was asking questions which I could see her doing.... and debbie got up and walked out or something.

[get the red out]

5. Religion and jobs

If your religion causes you to be unable to do your job according to the standards of the profession, get another job. This should be the moral principle we worry about.

I am so glad the right thing was done here. Someone could have really been messed up badly if they accidentally wound up with a psychologist who hated them because of religion.

Any psychologist who would treat a patient differently on the demand of his religion needs more counseling than the patient in question.

[beac]

6. Uh huh, because if someone wanted to become "a more giving homosexual partner"

the first place they'd stop by for advice is Our Lady of Perpetual Homophobia. :eyes:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. ...

:rofl:

[Lancer]

7. By all means let's protect providers from providing services.

In the local telephone book here many psychiatrists and therapists have display ads where they list their specialties, e.g., "marital and couples counseling," or "mood disorders," and some I've noticed now say "LGBT issues," or even simply "LGBT patients welcome." I am not gay but if I were I certainly would be thankful to see that.

[tomm2thumbs]

11. I know a girl being counseled by a secular therapist & wanted to discuss her recent abortion...

and her 'therapist' said 'you do know God considers it murdering a child'. WTF? There ought to be a clearing house for posting comments/reviews on therapists who do this kind of thing - ie. there ought to be a legitimate way to review people for care issues without violating their rights to practice or creating an attack forum. These are legitimate concerns.

People are vulnerable when first seeing a therapist so knowing a little of what is inside the wrapper would be helpful. (And no, she is no longer with that therapist, but it shows you what kind of nuts are out there with a certificate on their wall doing whatever the heck they please.) This kind of 'moral conflict' issue should be something that prevents them from being psychologists in the first place. This isn't about THEM - it is about the patient. If they want the degree, they should be filtered for their biases on some level because you will meet folks with all kinds of issues and they should not have to worry about being judged - they should be helped.

What's next? 'I broke my leg while protesting the war' - 'oh, I'm sorry, I can't fix your leg then. I support the war.'

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. love your example.

[zanne]

15. I second that. Excellent example .nt

[PassingFair]

13. They should have signs in their yellowpage ads....

I'd definitely call the "secular" therapist over
the "Christian Counselor"....

[Deep13]

14. Religious dogma has no place in the science of psychology.

If a psychologist can't follow scientificly established guidelines because of religious prejudice ("morality" here is a euphemism), then he or she should turn in his or her license. There is no scientific basis for the supposition that homosexuality is immoral.

[Moonwalk]

16. Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Do these religious bigots--

--not realize that this could just as easily work against them? "Sorry," says the therapist, "I can't help you to deal with being sodomized by your priest/betrayed by your minister so you can return to being happy in your religion, nor will I refer you to anyone who might do that for you. I think you should suffer for being of that faith."

Dumb asses! Like there's no gay or atheist or anti-Catholic therapists out there who, on moral grounds, might want to make Catholics and others of varying faiths suffer for being of that faith. Everyone flashes this "moral" objection thing as if it's going to serve them, and as the "majority" it likely would, but in the end, it's going to come back and bite them on the ass. It's the clearest example of a slippery slope I've ever seen. Which is what those who voted in Prop. 8 should have realized. If the religious right can push this through against gays, it's only a hop-skip-and-a-jump before we're back to outlawing interracial and/or interfaith marriages and setting up whites-only drinking fountains.

[Demeter]

17. Anyone who divides the world into Them and Us Is Unfit to Care

about anyone for anything. That's why the world is such a mess.

[AndyTiedye]

21. I Suppose They Want To Add Similar Language to the Hipporcratic Oath

Letting their personal bigotry interfere with their ability to do their jobs is most unprofessional. Wrapping it in the Cloth does not change that.

What the church seeks, Cunningham said, is to protect providers from complaints of discrimination should a psychologist refuse a request to, for example, make a person a more giving homosexual partner.

I don't think saying "I don't know" would ever be construed as discrimination under the current rules. For the therapist to respond abusively would almost certainly violate standards of professional conduct however, as it should.
Refusing to refer likewise is, and ought to be, a violation of their professional standards.

[No Elephants]

23. Please remind me. How is it pro-life to prefer to risk suicide of a patient than to

compromise your allegedly religious principles?


Aren't Nebraska Catholics on board with the Pope's pro-life agenda?

[JerseygirlCT]

24. That's attempting to draw some sort of line (the NCC excuse)

but it doesn't work. It's still discrimination, and if they hold that discrimination, I have wonder how good as therapists they could possibly be.