Why I want to work with Mormons across the belief spectrum

Recently I became a member of the Mormon Mental Health Association. This was met with confusion from a few people I know, and I wanted to clarify my position regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known by many as ‘Mormons’ or ‘LDS church’), and how this relates to my therapeutic work as a counsellor.

I was a lifelong member up until the age of 23 where I experienced a belief paradigm shift or faith transition. I questioned many beliefs which I held relating to the church and the world I occupied and drew conclusions that made me choose a different life path. My beliefs wouldn’t allow me to engage in the religious aspect of Mormonism, however my love for the LDS people has never ceased.

Through my counselling training and personal therapy, I’ve reflected on my experiences in the church and identified periods where I might have benefitted with having someone to speak to. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by kind, well intentioned members of the church growing up, with some adults who I could be very open with. However, the mental health issues I experienced as a teenager required professional intervention.

I was taught that if I struggled with anything, spiritual or otherwise, I should speak to my Bishop. When I experienced intense periods of low mood, depression, and anxiety, it was easy for me to associate these feelings as symptoms of ‘unworthiness’, rather than a chemical imbalance, environmental/circumstantial issues, lack of emotional regulation or a heightened feeling of perfectionism and responsibility.

I know that I would have benefitted from speaking to a mental health professional who understood the complex world of Mormonism, with it’s beliefs, traditions, culture, policies, and provide a space where I could might have explored my relationship with my faith, as well as the emotional, social and psychological turmoil I experienced as a teen and young adult

I am certain that I would also have benefited from therapy during my period of faith transition, which was soul wrenching, terrifying, isolating, agonising and affected every area of my life. It was difficult for me to access help at that time and to have felt safe enough to be open about my issues with my faith and my general mental and physical health. To have had someone who has the background knowledge of my faith at the time, and who can empathise without judgement, and is an independent entity from my everyday life, would have been an invaluable resource and may have significantly reduced the harm caused.

For people who have chosen to step away from their LDS faith, experience loneliness, social isolating, and psychologically traumatising as one has to work out their beliefs and relationships which can come into conflict with family, friends and ward members. Sometimes relationships with people who remain active, believing members can become strained or even destroyed, and many marriages struggle to keep going. Counselling can help with that transition as you figure out how you want your life to look like, and how to navigate unchartered territories.

I am invested in anyone who has had association with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and want them to succeed in all areas of their life, from their relationships to their spirituality and their work life to their mental and physical health. For this reason, I would gladly work with anyone on the belief spectrum of Mormonism and happy to work with a variety of issues of their choice, providing those conditions necessary to creating lasting therapeutic change in the person’s life.