Psychotherapy with nonreligious clients: A relational-cultural approach.

Abbott, Douglas A.

doi:10.1037/pro0000392

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(90 reference statements)

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“…Our study provides data related to unique explicit or implicit stereotypes of women atheists, specifically, psychotherapists and trainees may hold and of which they should be aware, such as interpreting atheist women’s sexual behaviors as immoral. Likewise, given expectations of Christian norms were a primary source of distress for our participants, clinicians should be aware of the ways in which they may contribute to the unwelcome infusion of faith and hegemonic Christianity into therapy, such as attributions of events to a higher power (e.g., “Everything happens for a reason”) or questions and assessments that assume religious belief/identity as the default (Abbott, 2021; Bishop, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, women in our study desired connection with other atheists but found it difficult to access other women atheists and/or fulfilling nonreligious groups. Thus, if congruent with fostering the therapeutic alliance, woman-and/ or atheist-identified therapists may choose to disclose their nonreligiousness to the benefit of the client and their therapeutic growth (Abbott, 2021).…”

Section: Practice Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Breaking Free”: A Grounded Theory Study of Atheist Women in the United States

Abbott

Anaya

2022

Psychology of Women Quarterly

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Using a critical, grounded theory approach, we interviewed 31 atheist-identified women to ascertain the ways in which women develop and navigate an atheist identity and how their experience is influenced by patriarchal, hegemonic Christianity in the United States using a concealable stigmatized identity framework. Qualitative analysis resulted in six core categories: (1) Embracing Atheism as Liberation, (2) Escaping Christian Patriarchy, Challenging Atheist Patriarchy, (3) Low Identity Salience Provides Protection from Anti-Atheist Discrimination, (4) Expectations to Conform to Christian Norms, (5) Disclosure Requires Thoughtfulness and Purpose, and (6) Connecting with Other Atheists is Valuable and Elusive. Although atheist women experienced sexism within atheist communities that made connecting with other atheists challenging, participants viewed atheism as liberating them from religious patriarchy. Anti-atheist discrimination was common early in women’s atheist identity development, but not as frequent or salient over time. Rather, Christian hegemony and the expectation to adapt to Christian norms were more distressing than individual acts of anti-atheist discrimination. Therefore, concealment and disclosure were used to reduce personal discomfort and protect others’ feelings, rather than to avoid overt anti-atheist stigma. Integration with previous concealable stigmatized identity and atheism literature is discussed. In the interest of more equitable and healthy atheist communities for women atheists, community members and leaders are encouraged to dismantle patriarchy within secular organizations and center women’s voices and experiences. Clinicians and researchers can increase awareness of how hegemonic, patriarchal Christianity influences their professional work and the women they serve and eradicate such bias from their methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practice Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%