Counseling the
“Mormon”/LDS Client
A Multicultural Training
PRESENTED BY:
KYLE OSWALD, LCSW -C
COUNSELING MANAGER
MD, PA, DC, WV
A large part of what makes this
population different, and therefore
reluctant to seek therapy from a nonLDS provider comes from:
• Values/belief system.
• Culture (that which is not doctrinal, but
contributes to population identity).
 Answers
to Prayer and Revelation
• Members believe God speaks to them, answers
their questions and responds to their needs.
• Leaders in ecclesiastical roles can also receive
heavenly guidance as to how to assist members.
 Strong
Family Orientation
• Marriage is seen as a Covenant, and is honored
with great (often tenacious) commitment.
• Gender plays important part in family roles.
 Clear
Moral code.
• Chastity/modesty (regards: sexuality, mode of
dress, code of conduct, etc.)
• Complete fidelity in marriage,
 Includes abstinence from pornography.
 Health
Code (called the “Word of
Wisdom”)
• Prohibits consumption of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Coffee, Tea, and illegal (non-prescribed) drugs.
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Ward
Stake
Bishop
Relief Society
Celestial Marriage (also referred
to at times as a “Temple
Marriage”)
Priesthood
Repentance
Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching
Temple worship
Covenants
Ordinances
Sacrament meeting
Book of Mormon, Doctrine and
Covenants, Pearl of Great Price,
and the King James Bible.
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Primary
Mutual, Young Men/Young
Women programs
Family Home Evening
Patriarch
Disciplinary Council
Excommunication/ Disfellowship
Stewardship
Calling
Agency
Prophet
Apostle
General Authority
Celestial Kingdom
Bishop
Young Men’s
President
Males ages 12-18
Young Women’s
President
Females ages 12-18
Primary President
Children Ages
18mo-12 yrs
Elder’s quorum
President
Adult men ages 18undetermined
High Priest Group
leader
Adult men who are
in, or have served
in high-leadership
positions.
Relief Society
President
Adult Women, ages
18 on
Each of these leadership roles consists of a president, and two “counselors.”
All three serve as members of the presidency (much like a 3 person board
with one chairperson), with a “first” and “second” counselor hierarchy.
 Nearly
all adult members receive a “calling”
(job within the church organization) that will
require some time contribution (some of which
may be substantial) and usually relates in some
way to serving and caring for others.
 No calling is paid for services.
 This local congregation system becomes, for
most members, a major source of social
connection and support (i.e. it becomes their
community).
Most Professional Ethics codes include a
portion similar to the following:
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ACA Code of Ethics, Section A.4,b: “Counselors are
aware of their own values, attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors and avoid imposing values that are
inconsistent with counseling goals. Counselors respect
the diversity of clients…”
Most LDS clients will present with two primary goals:
(1) treat the case-specific problematic symptoms, while
(2) supporting
the religious value/belief system.
Some common and damaging ways in which
world-view incompatibility/ imposition of
values occur include:
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Assigning activities inconsistent with beliefs (i.e. pornography
use, sex out of marriage, responsible drinking as a means of social
interaction, etc.).
Therapist valuing marriage less than client does (e.g. “Maybe you
should consider divorce,” when clients desire otherwise).
Undermining, questioning, or focusing on religious beliefs as the
source of, or contributing factor to the problem.
Failing to include the family in treatment.
Active members of the LDS church will
usually indicate their church affiliation to
you very early on in treatment.
• This is because church membership is often a large
part of the individual and family identity.
• That first disclosure of church membership may be
their way of probing: “can I trust this person with
my belief system?”
As soon as you learn of their church membership it’s
usually helpful to show interest by asking some
questions about it.
Examples can include:
• Can you tell me a bit about what membership in your
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church means to you?
How important a role does your religion play in your life?
What are some of the important things I might need to
know about your religion to better help you?
What do you find meaningful or important in your faith?
Are there things that worry you about seeing me (a nonLDS member) for counseling?
 ACA
Code of Ethics, Section E.5,b: “Counselors
recognize that culture affects the manner in
which clients’ problems are defined. Clients’
socioeconomic and cultural experiences are
considered when diagnosing mental
disorders.”
LDS (as well as other) church-member clients may
understand or define their own mental health
symptoms from within the religious belief system.
They may even distort their understanding of the
belief system to fit or incorporate symptoms (e.g.
OCD, anxiety, dissociation, etc).
This can sometimes make it difficult for the mental
health provider to distinguish one from the other.
Please see the “doctrine, culture, and symptoms”
handout for further reference as applied to LDS
church-members.
General Guidelines for Choosing Treatment
Approach
 LDS Members tend to value short-term over longterm treatment3.
 As church culture values self-reliance and personal
responsibility, members will usually EXPECT
assignments and homework1.
 Treatments that promote choice, and active selfdirected learning and change are generally
preferable1.
 Any treatment enhanced or augmented by a family
systems view/approach will be more widely
accepted and effective for the LDS client.
Some examples of treatments fitting these
guidelines include (list not exhaustive):
 Structural, trans-generational , conjoint, or
other family therapy/systems theory.
 Solution-Focused.
 Emotion-Focused
 Choice Theory/ Reality therapy (Glasser)
 Cognitive-Behavioral
 Adlerian (where kept short-term)
 Interpersonal
 Gottman’s “Marriage Clinic”
A Note Regarding the inclusion of Family/
Marriage in the Counseling Process:
LDS church members often expect, and/or prefer, that
part or all of their family will be included at some point
in therapy.
As it turns out, research has demonstrated that the
effectiveness of this approach is actually superior in
some cases (see references 4-6), while proving at least as
effective as traditional individual approaches in most
other cases (see references 5,6).
Thus, the LDS clients’ cultural tendency to prefer family
intervention in therapy presents a viable therapeutic
option that should always be carefully considered in
treatment plans for this population.
ACA Code of Ethics, Section A.1,d: “Counselors
recognize that support networks hold various
meanings in the lives of clients and consider
enlisting the support, understanding, and
involvement of others (e.g., religious/spiritual/
community leaders, family members, friends)
as positive resources, when appropriate, with
client consent.”
“The inner self is entwined inextricably with
social context: they form a single unit. To
separate one from the other is to stop the music
in order to hear it more clearly. It disappears!”
-Salvador Minuchin
For the LDS client, the lion’s share of their community,
or social context, is concentrated in (1) the family,
and (2) the “ward” or local congregation. (see previous
slide regarding ward/congregational structure)
Both of these are readily accessible to the therapist.
The first of these, the family, usually expects some
form of involvement, as was previously suggested,
and will usually respond to requests to attend
session(s), and will usually accept support
assignments you may give them.
The second of these “contexts,” the ward, is also readily
accessible through the Bishop.
A few important facts about ward Bishops:
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The bishop-ward member relationship, like other clergy,
includes fairly strict confidentiality.
The bishop, like other clergy, is seen as the father, shepherd,
or spiritual leader of the ward.
Bishops contribute a great deal of time in this capacity, and
are not paid for their services (thus they have a day job
elsewhere).
As the “father” of the ward, the bishop is in a position to
make assignments/ requests from others (family members,
leaders, ward members, etc.), that can help to strategically
alter this context to better support therapeutic goals.
A few important facts about ward Bishops (continued):
 Bishops are not trained in counseling, and usually look to you
for help in this regard, thus they are generally very responsive
to the therapist seeking to consult with them.
 Members will often expect this therapist-bishop consultation
to occur.
 The bishop can become a key ally in helping you, the non-LDS
mental health provider, tease out symptom from doctrine (i.e.
when a client says something odd about the belief system, you
can check their understanding against the bishop’s
explanation. Not only will his often make more sense, but in
this way it becomes the bishop, and not you, who can take the
role of challenging the client’s irrational understanding of their
belief system, alleviating you of the burden of appearing to
“attack” their religion).
 Thus, the
therapist wishing to maximize
therapeutic gains, and solidify change with an
LDS client will engage the 2 social contexts by:
• Engaging the family in the process of therapy.
• Engaging the ward through the LDS member’s
bishop.
Counseling the
“Mormon”/LDS Client
A Multicultural Training
PRESENTED BY:
KYLE OSWALD, LCSW -C
COUNSELING MANAGER
MD, PA, DC, WV