The LDS Church is one of the fastest growing churches worldwide with a membership of over 14 million, including more than six million in the United States. Adherents (known informally as Mormons) follow theology proposed in the Christian Bible as well as the Book of Mormon and other writings that were revealed to founder Joseph Smith in 1823. Mormons are recognized for many unique qualities like their active missionary program, emphasis on family and maintaining a vice-free lifestyle. 

Derek Hatfield (Ph.D., Ohio University) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he teaches both undergraduate and doctoral-level courses. Derek's research interests include client deterioration in therapy, feedback systems alerting therapists to client deterioration, and clinical judgment and decision making. He's also a psychotherapist in private practice. Derek served a two-year mission in Osaka, Japan for the LDS Church after his freshman year at Brigham Young University. In his current church-related service, Derek has had the opportunity to council with members of the Church who struggle with various emotional and behavioral problems.

As I stated in the introduction, these responses are Derek's own personal views and should not be interpreted as official statements for the Church or representative of other LDS therapists. Having said that, enjoy these thoughtful responses from a faithful clinician:

What is the role of religion or spirituality in your clinical practice?

First, let me explain that I work as a traditional therapist in my role as a psychologist. If one of my clients does not want to discuss religion or spirituality, I do not force the issue with them (I find that this is often the case). However, when a client expresses interest in spirituality, I am willing to explore this with them. I have known therapists who will change the subject when these issues are raised, but I feel quite comfortable in these discussions. If a client talks about an experience with prayer, I accept it as a real experience and treat it as such. I view spirituality and religion as healthy and helpful aspects of life and I am supportive of clients who are pursuing this. I find myself taking extra caution to listen to the client's perspective on spirituality, to best understand their background and belief system. If the client has questions about their standing before God, forgiveness of sin, or similar matters, I believe it is best to encourage the client to counsel with their ecclesiastical leader. While I feel comfortable exploring spirituality if a client desires to, I do not believe that my role extends to that of the client's minister or spiritual advisor.

In the course of my service in the Church, I have had the opportunity to counsel with members who are struggling with depression, anxiety, and other "typical" clinical presentations. In this context, it is anticipated that I will council with them from an LDS perspective. In these situations I still utilize many of my normal clinical skills, but I will incorporate principles of faith in our discussions. Religion and spirituality are a major part of an active church member's life, and if these things are ignored, I would be missing a very important aspect of the individual's worldview. Latter-day Saints believe that God cares very much about our individual lives and that He can be intimately involved in our lives if we accept His invitation to be close to Him. So in this sense, helping members of the Church to draw closer to God would be an important aspect of counseling with them. This still leaves open the use of cognitive, humanistic, behavioral and other "traditional" interventions. I find that working with LDS people within an LDS perspective allows us to explore a more complete realm of the person's existence.

How does your technique or theory differ from mainstream psychotherapy?

As mentioned previously, techniques in my traditional clinical practice are fairly mainstream. I usually approach therapy with a cognitive conceptualization, frequently integrating client-centered techniques within this cognitive framework. I have also found contemporary psychodynamic interpersonal therapy to be helpful in some of my therapy cases. The differences between my techniques and mainstream psychotherapy are less stylistic or related to specific interventions.

Let me offer a specific example that will illustrate how my religious background influences my therapy work. Suppose a client discloses that he is cheating on his wife and feels guilty about his behaviors. He states that his wife does not fulfill all of his needs and that his mistress "fills in the gaps." I know therapists that would work at alleviating their client's guilt (I realize that not all therapists would do this, but I do know therapists that would). I believe that infidelity violates the commandments of God and I would not feel comfortable helping this client feel better about his behaviors. Rather than working to eliminate the feelings of guilt, I would explore with the client what meaning he derives from the feelings of guilt. After fully understanding the reasons he feels guilty, we could then discuss what he chooses to do as a result of it. It is sometimes the case that the client does not share my same moral values. As a therapist, I do not force my values on the client, so in situations in which the moral values differ between myself and the client, I usually take a non-directive therapy approach of self-exploration. My desire is to help my clients fully understand the choices they make, even if their value-system is different than mine.

In counseling with members of the Church from an LDS perspective, I would encourage them to make prayer an important part of their life. Studying the scriptures and serving others would also be recommendations for the individual to more fully incorporate into their lives. Clearly, these are not things that I typically talk about in more traditional therapy if the client has no interest in them.

Let me mention one other difference between my counseling with members of the Church and more traditional mainstream psychotherapy. Similar to many Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, allowing us to be redeemed from sin if we follow Him. We also believe that when He was atoning for our sins, He also experienced all of the sorrow and afflictions that each one of us have in our lives. Therefore, Jesus Christ knows exactly how we feel in any moment, because He has felt it too. This is very important in working with members of the Church. They never need to feel alone - if they will draw close the Lord. This is a strong source of support for an individual suffering and feeling that nobody understands what they are going through.

A new client comes to therapy reporting his main issue is feeling detached from God. How would you proceed?