Advocating for Atheist Clients in the Counseling Profession

Abstract

Atheism is a controversial topic, with individuals who identify as atheist reporting high rates of discrimination. Despite increasing literature discussing religious/spiritual views and beliefs, few scholarly discussions of atheism in the counseling field can be found. Counselors need to be made aware of the issues facing atheist clients and educated on the best interventions to use in collaborative work with clients. Counselors should also be prepared to advocate for atheist clients in multiple domains. This article aims to explore the relevant literature around atheism, identify implications for counselors, and provide a path to advocacy for counselors in their work with atheist clients.

Poker-faced and godless: Expressive suppression and atheism.

“…First, as demonstrated in Study 2, ES may increase the likelihood that individuals will gravitate toward an atheistic worldview, and the consequences can be considerable. In the United States, for example, where atheists often top the list of most negatively perceived groups (Edgell, Gerteis, & Hartmann, 2006), Bishop (2018, p. 20, brackets inserted) noted that “many atheists hide the nonbelief aspect of their identities, making atheists in the general population virtually invisible,” in part because “[t]hose who do share their atheist identities have reported experiencing discrimination in schools, at work, and in the legal system, among other areas [such as the military].” Not surprisingly, such discrimination has adverse effects on atheists’ wellbeing (Doane & Elliott, 2015).…”

Psychotherapy with nonreligious clients: A relational-cultural approach.

“…RCT offers a framework particularly well-suited to psychotherapists’ work with nonreligious clients. Previous scholarship related to competence highlighted nonreligious clients’ rights to have their worldview honored and affirmed by their psychotherapist and called for clinicians to increase self-awareness, seek education and training, and advocate on behalf of nonreligious clients (Bishop, 2018; Sahker, 2016). RCT addresses each of these important ingredients for competence and offers a theoretical lens through which to conceptualize nonreligious clients’ concerns in the context of systemic oppression and power dynamics.…”

“…Dominant groups position nondominant group members as other, framing difference as deficiency (Jordan, 2018); theist dominance in the U.S. positions the nonreligious person as other, possibly resulting in shame and isolation for nonreligious clients. Therefore, psychotherapists' self-awareness about their own spiritual and/or religious beliefs and values in the context of working with nonreligious clients is essential (Bishop, 2018). For example, discomfort with a client's nonreligious identity may result in clinicians ignoring or invalidating clients' stories, thus perpetuating similar silencing and disempowerment in therapy as occurs by the Christian majority.…”

“…The number of religiously unaffiliated people in the United States (U.S.) is growing as the number of Christians declines (Pew Research Center, 2019), but scholarship related to the experiences and needs of nonreligious people in the U.S. remains sparse (Brewster et al, 2014). Despite calls for attention to religion and spirituality (R/S), broadly (Hage, 2006; Plante, 2014), and nonreligion and nonspirituality, specifically (Bishop, 2018; D’Andrea & Sprenger, 2007; Sahker, 2016), relatively few publications related to clinical training and practice focus on providing psychotherapy to nonreligious individuals or offer a theoretical lens through which to conceptualize the possible unique strengths possessed and challenges encountered by nonreligious clients in the U.S. Relational-cultural therapy (RCT) centralizes the role of “privilege, marginalization, and cultural forces” in psychological development (Jordan, 2018, p. 23) and posits personal and sociopolitical disconnection creates, maintains, and/or exacerbates mental health concerns. At the same time, people possess relational strengths and resilience born out of relationships with affirming others and navigating conflict within important relationships (Jordan, 2004).…”

Estimating nonbelief: Translation, cultural adaptation, and statistical validation of the Nonreligious-Nonspiritual Scale in a nationwide Greek sample

“…The positive impact of spirituality on overall health has been extensively documented in the literature (for a review, see Tabei, Zarei, & Joulaei, 2016), whereas among atheists, deleterious effects on health and well-being have been associated with religious variables (Coleman, Hood, & Streib, 2018). Yet the unique aspects of NR/NS typologies and distributions underlying these—as well as other related—empirical findings present a formidable problem for furthering our understanding of human functioning (Kapuscinski & Masters, 2010), and for refining our scientific insight into theism and atheism, in which belief/nonbelief typologies and intersections remain visibly underexplored, misrepresented, and often controversial (Bishop, 2018; Mrdjenovich, 2019; Sevinc, Metinyurt, & Coleman, 2017; Silver, Coleman, Hood, & Holcombe, 2014).…”