When Religion Enters the Therapy Room with Dr. Stevan Lars Nielsen

Dr. Stevan Lars Nielsen -- a Clinical Professor and psychologist at Brigham Young University, jointly affiliated with Counseling Psychology and Special Education and Counseling and Psychological Services at Brigham Young University -- joins the show!

Dr. Nielsen shares his journey into psychotherapy, emphasizing the importance of addressing religious beliefs in therapy. He highlights the challenges therapists face when discussing religion with clients, the impact of beliefs on emotional well-being, and insights from training at the Albert Ellis Institute, emphasizing the importance of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in helping clients challenge their beliefs and emotions. Dr. Nielsen explores the use of scriptures as tools to create cognitive shifts in clients, the impact of received wisdom on belief systems, and the role of acceptance in therapy. 

Links & Show Notes

Counseling and Psychotherapy With Religious Persons: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach

Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies

Stevan Lars Nielsen, “Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy and Religion: Don’t Throw the Therapeutic Baby Out With the Holy Water!” Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 13(4), 312-322.

Stevan Lars Nielsen & Albert Ellis, “A Discussion with Albert Ellis: Reason, Emotion and Religion” Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 13(4), 327-341.

A Practitioner’s Guide to Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy by Raymond A. DiGiuseppe et al.

Albert Ellis Institute

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