Café Inquiry (Online) – Atheism in Mental Health Counseling

This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

Post Event Addition – Here is a link to a study of atheism and psychology provided by Shane – for those of you who might be interested.

Atheists, agnostics, and non-religious or non-spiritual individuals aren’t irrational in suspecting that counselors may hold implicit bias toward a Christian, Eurocentric worldview. When non-believers seek mental health counseling, they navigate the options and wonder if their worldview will be accepted and validated. Or will the counselor believe that non-believers suffer negative consequences without religious-spiritual belief?
In 2009 the American Counseling Association (ACA) updated competency guidelines for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling (ASERVIC). The good news is that agnosticism and atheism appear in the competency guidelines. The bad news is that there is scant academic literature on agnosticism and atheism, whereas the literature on religion and spirituality is robust and ever-growing. Ostensibly, academic research favors the religious and virtually ignores the significant demographic of non-believers.
In this discussion, led by Shane VanOosterhout, we will take a deeper look at agnosticism and atheism in the counseling profession––what does the available research say about us? What experiences have you had, if any, when receiving professional counseling? And what are the best ways to navigate finding a counselor in our dominant Christian culture?

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month on the second and fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.