Many clients will ask their therapist, "What religion are you?" I think there is a more important question to ask your therapist about their religious beliefs. What should you ask? Why is it important?
I think one of the most important things to ask a potential therapist concerns religious or spiritual issues in therapy. However, I do not think that asking the therapist what their religious beliefs are will sufficiently answer this. Why?
Let's say that both the client and the therapist identify themselves as Christian. Does that really tell you anything? In fact, this may be totally misleading if they both assume that by "Christian" they both hold the same beliefs. What if one is Southern Baptist and the other Roman Catholic? What if one is Mormon and the other Jehovah's Witness? Just because they practice the same religion does not mean they share the same viewpoint. Even within the same denomination you will find some practitioners who are more fundamentalist and some who are more liberal.
Likewise, I have seen therapists who were rejected for being a different religion than the client. This is equally misleading. Just because a therapist has different beliefs than the client does not mean this will affect their work together. How can this be?
Other therapists choose not to reveal their religious beliefs. Why do they withhold this information? They ask you to be open with them, but they will not be open with you about their religion. Why is that?
Ethically, a therapist should not bring their religious views into the therapy session. Therapeutic work should be about you and should work from within your paradigm. A person's religious beliefs are some of the most important and core beliefs they hold. They are not to be trifled with. And any therapist who takes this lightly is being at least irresponsible if not unethical. This is why a therapist's own religious beliefs are not usually relevant. They should not be imposing them upon a client. Nor should they be bringing them into the therapy room without making that perfectly clear to the client and with the client's permission.
A therapist who is practicing their own spirituality in their therapeutic sessions is required to notify the client of this up front and in writing. The most common term used to describe this form of counseling is "pastoral counseling" which usually includes an element of Christianity. At this point it becomes important to determine which denomination of Christianity the therapist is using and clarify some important points of doctrine.
Therapists who do not practice their own spirituality in the therapeutic session often refuse to discuss their religious beliefs because it distracts from the topic at hand - the client. The therapeutic session should always be about the client, not the therapist. Therapists working from this point of view would prefer to discuss the client's concerns about their own religious viewoint; how it will be handled, whether it will be respected, whether they will be exposed to contradictory viewpoints, etc. This is often the real question behind such inquiries.
One final note on therapeutic ethics. If a therapist becomes aware that either a client's religious beliefs or the therapist's religious beliefs are causing a conflict within the relationship or within the therapist, they should make the client aware of this and discuss with the client how to handle it. If the conflict is serious enough, the therapist may need to refer the client to their religious leader or another therapist who can better deal with the issue at hand.
With that said, how can you determine your therapist's views on religious issues in therapy? It's important to be up front if you have any concerns about the therapist's handling of spiritual or religious issues. Be open with what your concerns are. If you aren't a spiritual person and are afraid it will be "dropped" on you unexpectedly during therapy, say so. If you are a very spiritual or religious person and fear that your particular viewpoint will not be honored in therapy, say so. The therapist is obligated to address this issue and tell you straight out if they cannot or will not be able to handle it. What else can you ask of your potential therapist? Here are a few suggestions:
How does the therapist work with spiritual or religious issues in therapy?
Does the therapist bring their own spirituality into the therapeutic session. If so, how and in what form?
Does the therapist work from your religious viewpoint or theirs?
How does the therapist work with religious viewpoints contrary to their own?
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