Clergy v. Therapy: there’s a difference

From Utah-

Slowly but surely, the mental health epidemic among today’s college-age population is getting more and more attention.

Utah abounds in addiction and suicide rates. Common mental health struggles include depression, anxiety, bipolarism, disordered eating, suicide ideation, addiction and many more. 

Many Utah residents can benefit from professional therapy, but fail to see it as an option under the cultural or religious circumstances.  While a bishop, priest, pastor, or rabbi can offer love, companionship and a prayer of strength, they cannot offer the clinically proven expertise that a professional can, said Steve Sturgeon, an Episcopal priest who serves at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Logan. 

“In the training I received to become an ordained clergy member in the Episcopal Church, there was a strong emphasis on the fact that in the pastoral care and counseling that we might give to members we always needed to remember and to communicate the fact that we are not therapists,” Sturgeon said.

More here-

http://usustatesman.com/clergy-v-therapy-theres-a-difference/