Working
with clients who have a religious faith – a multi-faith approach.
We live in both a multi-faith and secular non-religious country where on the
one hand religious belief is regarded as all important, central to life, underpinning
decision and action and on the other totally irrelevant, antiquated, unscientific
and inferior. To a secular, scientifically trained, positivist counsellor
religious issues may be avoided, ignored or regarded as inferior in some way.
For a counsellor with religious beliefs but of a different faith, false assumptions
about similarity between faiths are easy to make. What is important is that
if a client has a religious faith, opportunity should be made for it to become
a part of any counselling process.
The session will focus on the counselling process and offer key examples from
several different faiths of how religious material can impact, contribute to
and support the client in the counselling process. Practical examples
of interventions and ways of working and assessing will be offered which do
not require the counsellor to have prior knowledge of the client's faith but
which provide the client with opportunity to positively refer to their faith
or reject it if they wish. A simple framework will be offered identifying
the aspects of different faiths that are relevant to mental health issues.
Spirituality, Islamic Psychology & the Psychotherapeutic Space. An
insight into working with Muslim clients
The aim of this presentation is to provide an insight and understanding of
issues to consider when working with clients from Muslim communities experiencing
psychological distress.
Concepts of Islamic psychology will be presented and examples of how these
can be integrated into current psychotherapeutic models will be explored.
An overview of the complex area of language and expression will be explored.
Cultural metaphors and the language of distress are important factors to consider
than working with diverse communities that do not present in accordance with
the Eurocentric model of mental health.
Insight into the impact current political and media events have had on the
Muslim psyche as well as psychotherapeutic space.
Over the past 20 years, counselling/psychotherapy
has moved from being a largely secular pursuit (with some honourable exceptions)
to a discipline in which spirituality s taken far more seriously. However,
many therapists sense themselves as being remote from the religious traditions
of many of their clients, and perhaps a little intimidated by this area of
life. Hence, the area of the spiritual is prone to be excluded from the therapeutic
conversation. Richard aims to explore the meanings of ńthe spiritualī and how
two key metaphors can illuminate it experientially. The metaphor of the journey
aims to find a common language amid varied beliefs and experience. The metaphor
of the Other, following the thought of Martin Buber and of Emmanuel Levinas,
will explore the possible commonalities between theists and non-theists. Throughout
the workshop will run the question as to how we think of spirituality and religion
as psychologically functional or otherwise.
Dimensions of the Sacred – Spirituality and the Therapeutic Encounter
This seminar will offer an opportunity to reflect on the role of religion,
faith and spirituality in our lives and those of our clients, and how we as
therapists might seek to engage with this dimension in our therapeutic work.
I believe that in order to do this, we need also to have engaged in spiritual
exploration ourselves, and to be able to offer spiritual intimacy, spiritual
mutuality, and spiritual self-awareness. We need to be able to articulate our
own spirituality, and to recognise the frame of reference of those we aim to
accompany, including the social, political, cultural and environmental framework
within which they and we are operating. I will draw on my work as a trainer
and facilitator with counsellors and trainees, in order to see how this dimension
might be included in the in the training and personal development of therapists.
Biographies
Veronica Williams
Ph.D. M.A. M.A. B.Ed. Dip. Hist. Art. Dip. Humanistic Counselling, Cert. Supervision,
Cert. Life Coaching.
I am a BACP accredited counsellor, trainer and qualified supervisor, working
in private practice with a range of clients from diverse backgrounds, who come
via their employment provider, medical referral, counselling course or self-referral. I
am an early-retired university and college lecturer, teacher, research director
and author in the field of religious studies, have a good working knowledge
of several different faiths. My published work includes a series of books for
young people exploring beliefs and values. My PhD entitled 'The silent eye' is
a cross-cultural study of the impact of spiritual imagery on the inner world
of the viewer. I have travelled extensively in India, Nepal and Egypt.
Salma Khalid
Salma Khalid is an integrative counsellor, clinical supervisor and trainer
in cultural competency working for Pennine Care Mental Health Trust in Rochdale. She has also led extensive development work promoting mental
health within BME communities. Salma has recently been appointed to work within
the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) within Pennine Care
to improve access of BME children and families to mental health services.
Richard Worsley
Richard Worsley is a person-centred therapist,
supervisor and trainer. He works in the University of Warwick Counselling Service, and has in the past been the director
of a BACP accredited diploma course. He is interested in spirituality and the
existential dimension, the philosophy of counselling, client process and group
work. He has published books on the theology of evil, person-centred process
work and person-centred psychopathology. He is also an Anglican priest with
a particular interest in faith and work issues.
Caroline Kitcatt
Caroline Kitcatt is the Centre Director of the Norwich Centre and Managing
Director of Norwich Centre Projects Ltd. She is an associate tutor on the Postgraduate
Diploma in Counselling at the University of East Anglia where she co-ordinates and contributes to the module on
spirituality and counselling. Her interest in spirituality led her to
train initially with Brian Thorne on the UEA Diploma course and she has continued
to be deeply committed to exploring spirituality in her own life and in the
therapeutic encounter.
