Ask a Trauma Therapist: Can My Ecclesiastical Leader Be My Therapist?

You have found yourself facing some difficult challenges that you feel you need some help addressing. You have considered going to a therapist, but you wonder if your ecclesiastical leader can just help you with this instead of going to a therapist. Here are three reasons why an ecclesiastical leader can not replace a good therapist.

Expert trauma therapist responds: Therapists and ecclesiastical leaders are not the same.

The roles of therapist and ecclesiastical leader come with very different dynamics. Your relationship with your therapist will be one-sided where the focus is entirely on helping you reach your goals. This one-sided dynamic is what makes the therapeutic relationship successful. Once you have reached your goals in therapy, the relationship will end whereas your relationship with an ecclesiastical leader won’t. 

The dynamics within the relationship you have with an ecclesiastical leader can be quite different from the relationship with a therapist. Although they still play a role in helping you, their role also comes with other responsibilities. There may be times when they might need you to help meet responsibilities within the congregation. This means the relationship takes on a somewhat give-and-take dynamic that doesn’t happen within the therapeutic relationship.  

Trauma Therapists have special training.

Mental health professionals are required to receive special training that ecclesiastical leaders do not receive. Many therapists are then required to pass an exam as part of becoming licensed in the field of mental health. Even then, they are not done receiving special training. In order to maintain a professional license, mental health professionals are required to receive additional training usually bianually in order to remain current on the most up-to-date interventions. Trauma therapists receive even more specialized training to be able to treat trauma.

Most ecclesiastical leaders do not receive any such training in how to counsel members within their congregations. This makes it rather difficult for an ecclesiastical leader to know how to help you. Instead, they can provide you with sufficient resources to meet the needs of the members under their stewardship.

Trauma Therapists are trained in self-care.

There are many hats that each person wears within each of the various areas of our daily lives. While some ecclesiastical leaders are employed in their role as spiritual leaders within their congregations, others are asked to serve their congregations by volunteering their time. Those who are volunteers must learn how to function within their role as volunteer ecclesiastical leaders while maintaining some type of employment through other means to meet the financial needs of providing for themselves and their families. Even those who do have some training on how to counsel members won’t have nearly as much as a professional therapist and certainly not the specialized training needed to treat trauma.

To expect them to take on being your therapist too, would require that they receive all the training necessary to become a therapist and to keep current on effective interventions. This would be similar to maintaining a second full-time job and could potentially lead to burnout. Even a therapist is less effective when they are burnout. Therapists are trained in self-care and I regularly implement strategies to guard myself against burnout. An ecclesiastical leader cannot and should not replace a good therapist.

I hope this helps clarify why your ecclesiastical leader can’t be your therapist. If you still feel you need therapy, feel free to call me at (678) 744-5369 or click here to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation. I specialized in working with adults struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, toxic relationship recovery, attachment, and raising a traumatized child. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and discuss how I can help.