from Hacker News

The Secular Therapy Project

by adamzerner on 9/25/21, 11:19 PM with 10 comments

• by trees101 on 9/26/21, 1:14 AM

  The false promise of "secular" therapy is that it will give you the view from nowhere. A scientific, independent perspective untainted by beliefs or bias. Unfortunately, anyone who has met a person knows that this kind of independence doesn't and can't exist in real life. So a "secular" therapist will still have all the same individual bias and beliefs, but they won't have them articulated and enumerated in a creed or a body which can be scrutinised. It will all be pushed down into the subconscious, with just as much impact but far less accountability and visibility.

• by soco on 9/27/21, 9:28 AM

  I only met three therapists in my life (so far) and none had anything to do with "spirituality". Of course they asked where I stand but they definitely didn't push anything towards supernatural. The meetings happened in two (different) European countries so I might wonder, is this "spiritual therapist" an US phenomenon?

• by phnofive on 9/26/21, 12:50 AM

  From their FAQ:

  > While being religious in no way means someone cannot be a good therapist, far too many therapists integrate or insert spiritual, religious or New Age ideas into therapy, even when they know their client is not religious.

  > We cannot make any assurances about therapist qualifications or experience. [...] We would advise you to look carefully at a therapist’s qualifications, licenses, etc. once you have made a connection and the therapist has provided you with their contact information.

  So why all the cloak and dagger? Why not just get a bunch of therapists to sign a pledge or join a public registry?