Re-authoring to Reconcile Religious Beliefs with Affectional Orientation: A Narrative Study

Understanding Conflict Between Religious/Spiritual and Queer Identities: A Framework for Counselors

“…The rich empirical and conceptual literature within counseling and related disciplines informs ethical and intentional practice with individuals attempting to integrate R/S and queer identities. Researchers have explored various perspectives: the influence of R/S contextual factors (e.g., Dahl & Galliher, 2012a, 2012b; Levy, 2012; Levy & Reeves, 2011), experiences negotiating and integrating (e.g., Dahl & Galliher, 2009), negotiation of integration during the coming‐out process (e.g., Gold & Stewart, 2011; McGlasson & Rubel, 2015), potential identity outcomes (e.g., Barton, 2010; Beagan & Hattie, 2015; Crockett et al, 2018; Parker et al, 2019; Yarhouse & Carrs, 2012; Yarhouse et al, 2009), therapeutic perceptions (e.g., Buser et al, 2011), and spiritual identity construction over religious identification (e.g., Hart et al, 2019).…”

“…Specifically, we consider the ways in which counselors can assist these individuals in navigating the difficult integration of these identities, given the prevalence of antiqueer abusive messaging generated by some theologically conservative segments of the religious and/or spiritual community (Crockett et al, 2018; Gold & Stewart, 2011; McGlasson & Rubel, 2015; Parker et al, 2019; Yarhouse & Carrs, 2012). We recommend self‐categorization theory and the continued influence effect to conceptualize identity processing, and a social cognitive perspective to consider ties between self‐concept, values, and norms and one's identified groups.…”