Americans United: Iowa Supreme CourtRulingOnMarriageUpholdsReligious Liberty, Says Americans United

[Douglas Laycock]

Good point.  I think this is a reason to require disclosure up front.  Counselors that can't or won't counsel gays where sexual orientation is or may be part of the issue, or won't counsel evangelicals where religion is or may be part of the issue, should disclose that before a counselee invest time in the process.  We need to think about the best time and way to do that.  But disclosure, despite its possible awkwardness, is a better solution than banning from the helping professions anyone who holds strong values on one side or the other. 

Quoting "Brownstein, Alan" <aebrownstein at ucdavis.edu>:

> I think cases involving counselors, therapists, and health care 
> providers may be more difficult in at least some situations than Doug 
> suggests. In many cases, it is difficult for the person seeking help 
> about very personal matters to discuss their problems with the 
> counselor or therapist at the initial meeting. Often a relationship 
> has to develop over time before the person seeking assistance fully 
> confides in the counselor. To have the counselor refer the patient to 
> another therapist at that time imposes serious burdens on the client. 
>  In some cases, there may be a way for counselors to provide 
> information to prospective clients so that they can make choices to 
> avoid this predicament. But that possibility may not always be 
> feasible.
>
> Alan Brownstein
>
>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713
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