As a church minister and student counsellor, I found Michael Forster’s article in the March edition of therapy today very interesting and helpful. As part of my process of self-awareness, I have been reflecting deeply on the counselling process in the light of my faith, and vice versa. I have also been exploring ways in which Biblical stories and/or contemporary stories based on such Biblical imagery might be helpful in the therapeutic journey with those clients for whom this tradition is a part of their psyche and knowledge. Michael Forster’s article opened up some ideas for further reflection.

Having read Phil Lapworth’s letter (April 2007), I went back to the article to consider it in the light of his very strong negative reaction to it. It does seem that the last part of the article was written more for the benefit of the Christian community than the therapeutic community, with its appeal to the church to re-examine the use of power etc. However, the main body of the article was, I feel, a perfectly valid reflection on therapeutic practice from one particular perspective, and on a body of ‘stories’ from a therapeutic perspective. It opened up some imagery that could be generally useful (water, desert, journey). It also provided an outline of Christian tradition which would be of value to therapists who are less familiar with it, but who nevertheless might find themselves working with either a deeply committed Christian or someone whose thinking may be strongly influenced by the Christian tradition, whether for good or ill. My experience is that a therapist who understands this can help the client to shed those aspects of the tradition that bind them, and can work with those aspects that enliven.

Pamela Cram