JW view on therapy?

by damselfly 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  damselfly

  I'll start by saying a big Hello! to everyone on the board, I wish I had known about it when I was still a teenager in the religion.

  What I am curious about is the JW view on people getting therapy for mental/emotional disorders. In my old hall my parents were told that getting therapy for me would be ok IF the elders gave the therapist the OK! So I ended up going to see this one elder's wife's therapist ( who was "approved" because this elder saw the therapist before the wife met her and the therapist had been instructed to NOT talk about the religion in any way, shape or form and to focus only on the "problem".) I am rolling my eyes as I type that. This was about 10 years ago.

  So does anyone have any idea if there is an official stand on therapy or not?T

  Thanks!
• 

  Billygoat

  From my personal experience, the JWs I knew, did NOT like the idea of anyone seeing a therapist. My parents were like that too. When I was DFed, I started seeing a therapist, on the recommendation of a JW friend. (He was DFed too and seeing the same therapist.) I couldn't believe how much help it was. But when my father found out, he went ballistic. How dare I "air dirty laundry to a complete stranger! What would the elders think if they knew!" I screamed at my dad, "Who cares what they think. I'm not living my life for a bunch of men who don't talk to me anymore. I've gotten more out of a month of therapy than I ever did being counseled by those men and my therapist isn't even a Witness!" Within just a few minutes, I was kicked out of my family's house for good.

  I haven't been back since. And I've seen my family only a handful of times since then.
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  Honesty

  Informing elders in the apostate JW cult that you are seeing a therapist is almost as bad as telling them the disciples worshipped Jesus.
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  blondie

  The official WTS view currently says it is your choice but to choose your therapist carefully, making sure it isn't one who will say your religion is your problem.

  Unofficially, JWs are suspicious of anyone in the health care industry; too many elders think they are equipped to handle mental illness without any formal training; there is still a lot of prejudice against mental illness in the world at large and non-JWs are reluctant to seek help as well.

  Blondie
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  damselfly

  I know that if an elder's wife hadn't been in therapy then I wouldn't have been either. But if an elder says it's ok it must be right? I only went to 2 or 3 sessions and then quit, I knew my problems were as a result of the religion and how they had handled various situations in my life so to be forbidden to discuss the JW's seemed counter productive.
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  greendawn

  They don't like psychologists but they can be of great help to some people. A good religion should be the psychologist (good loving priests or elders) but the jws are obviously worse than worthless on that. They create psychological problems rather than heal them.
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  trevor

  Damsel fly

  Modern therapy does not dwell so much on the past but looks at what is out of balance in the present. Most people who go to a therapist have an unresolved conflict or unacceptable contradictions in their present lives.

  A Jehovah’s Witness is almost certainly going to find out that their religion is at least part of the problem. For this reason they will either end therapy or leave the religion. It is not surprising that the Watchtower sees therapists as a threat and tries to make out that therapists are some how working for the devil!
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  PaNiCAtTaCk

  For years it was viewed as being very wrong to go to a therepist or psychologist. They reasoned something along the lines of " Would someone from the nation of Israel go to a pagan for help?" <-- Something like that. Its an easy qoute to find on the wt-cd. Anyways when i was confessing my great anxiety and panic attacks to an 80 year old in the cong that had suffered depression for many years she told me that going to see a therapist really helped her and that she felt it would also help me. She then added that at first it was very difficult for her to break down and go because for years she had been taught by the org that it would be like going to pagans for help. She then said that after the first visit the guilt was gone and she benefited tremendously! I couldnt help but feel sorry for her. All those years refused the therapy that she needed because of the false reasoning of the society. Since Ive started seeing a therapist in the last 3 months I have felt better than ever. Its the first time in my life that Ive felt free and powerful. I have felt that I can make my own decisions and trust myself to do the right thing. It has given me the strength to stand up for myself for the first time. All of these feelings that Im describing are what the society warns against. The more I rely on myself the less I rely on the society and thats why they say its up to your on conscience but you need to be careful still. If anyone is thinking of seeing a therapist but afraid to, please do yourself a great favor and go. You will not regret it.
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  rebel8

  http://quotes.watchtower.ca/psychiatry.htm 5 yrs ago I was a psych social worker and ended up treating some jws (unbeknownst to them, I was an ex-jw). The thing I saw happen is the elders insisting upon access to the treatment plans (which was ok if the patient authorized it, and they always did), coming to therapy sessions with their bibles and telling the therapists they were all wrong....etc. They also interfered with aftercare planning because they felt it was not appropriate to continue outpatient care. Whenever we had a jw admitted, the staff braced themselves for constant interference from the elders. Basically they interfered with everything! I was already long out of the borg by then, but it just made me realize what a controlling cult they are. There were maybe 1 or 2 I can recall that listed jw as their religion but did not involve their elders. At the time, I assumed they hadn't notified the elders of their admission.
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  talesin

  Hi, damselfly

  who was "approved" because this elder saw the therapist before the wife met her and the therapist had been instructed to NOT talk about the religion in any way, shape or form and to focus only on the "problem".)

  This is unethical, and the therapist should be reported for misconduct to the professional association in your province.

  Always nice to see another Cdn. on the board! Welcome.

  tal