confession to Bishop or therapist and help/forgiveness

[Duncan]

When I say confession I don't mean like major stuff like adultery or counterfeiting money (stuff that would affect your standing in the Church) but what really is the difference if you told a therapist something as opposed to talking to your Bishop about things? God gives forgiveness but does it matter if a Bishop told you how to overcome whatever vs. a therapist telling you?

[Judd]

Do you have any specifics in mind? The role of the two is very different, as are the goals.

[The Nehor]

14 minutes ago, Duncan said:

When I say confession I don't mean like major stuff like adultery or counterfeiting money (stuff that would affect your standing in the Church) but what really is the difference if you told a therapist something as opposed to talking to your Bishop about things? God gives forgiveness but does it matter if a Bishop told you how to overcome whatever vs. a therapist telling you?

If it is not a sin that you have to confess to the bishop why would you worry about the distinction between a bishop and a therapist? I am confuzzled.

[Kenngo1969]

When I took Trial Advocacy to get the fabulous-looking diploma I have from law school, the lawyer/adjunct professor who taught the class mentioned a case in which the prosecution overcame confidentiality of the Priest-Penitent Privilege to prosecute the guy who confessed something (don't remember exactly what; sorry) to his bishop.  When he finished telling us what had happened, he said, "Moral of the story?  Confess to God, not to your bishop!"    

Which is, of course, completely irrelevant to the topic of the thread.  Sorry.    

[rpn]

Confession is owed to God and the person you hurt (except when that confession to them would cause new harm), and ultimately to yourself in the sense that until you own a sin, it is hard to resolve it.   It is owed to the bishop in the cases of serious sin.   I can't think of any case in which confession to a therapist has anything to do with confession to a bishop, though sometimes confession to a therapist helps you get to a place where you can/do confess a serious sin to a bishop.     I think that bishops are not trained in therapy or in strategies for overcoming mental health or behavioral difficulties.   If you need the tools of how to change your thinking /behavior, going to a bishop cannot get you those.  A properly trained a knowledgeable therapist might be able to give them to you.   Going to a therapist cannot get you institutional forgiveness from the Church.   (Neither the bishop nor the therapist can get you forgiveness of God.)

[Prof]

Rpn,

What is the purpose of institutional forgiveness (as compared to forgiveness by God)?

[CV75]

On 3/16/2019 at 12:42 AM, Duncan said:

When I say confession I don't mean like major stuff like adultery or counterfeiting money (stuff that would affect your standing in the Church) but what really is the difference if you told a therapist something as opposed to talking to your Bishop about things? God gives forgiveness but does it matter if a Bishop told you how to overcome whatever vs. a therapist telling you?

Is there a situation where a therapist's solution would result in someone doing something he should confess to a bishop?

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, Prof said:

Rpn,

What is the purpose of institutional forgiveness (as compared to forgiveness by God)?

For some serious sins discipline may be required to help the penitent come to grips with the sin including probation, disfellowshipment, or excommunication and that aids in seeking divine forgiveness. Most disciplinary councils I have attended are mostly teaching/ministering to the penitent on how to correct the error and repent.

Some sins also disqualify people from some or all callings, Priesthood advancements, Temple ordinances, and the like and the institutional forgiveness removes those restrictions.

[Jane_Doe]

On 3/15/2019 at 10:42 PM, Duncan said:

When I say confession I don't mean like major stuff like adultery or counterfeiting money (stuff that would affect your standing in the Church) but what really is the difference if you told a therapist something as opposed to talking to your Bishop about things? God gives forgiveness but does it matter if a Bishop told you how to overcome whatever vs. a therapist telling you?

A bishop is a Judge in Israel, and exists to help you get closer with the Lord.  

A counselor is like a hiking guide: they exist to help you get where you want to go.

These are two different purposes, though they can work hand in hand, and frequently a bishop would recommend a counselor to help out with things too (if you're striving to follow the Lord).  If the problem a person is dealing with involves sin or anything else that's distancing you from the Lord, going to see the bishop is the thing to do (and maybe a counselor too).  Other things are just mental health issues and just require a counselor-- like depression, there's nothing sinful about having depression.  In those cases, a bishop or other church member could help out in a support role with ministering / blessings / being a friend, etc.  

[pogi]

A therapist can't judge if you are worthy to participate in sacred ordinances.  

A bishop can't judge without confession. 

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, CV75 said:

Is there a situation where a therapist's solution would result in someone doing something he should confess to a bishop?

we were discussing this awhile back just after Church, as in if the bishop and therapist's aim was for you to overcome something (not serious) or help you feel better about yourself what really is the difference? Let's take having the ocassional coffee or you vape every once in a while, it could be habit or a bad habit but not really anything that would affect your membership but not necessarily healthy either or maybe you are having a 2 litre a day Pepsi habit

[CV75]

14 minutes ago, Duncan said:

we were discussing this awhile back just after Church, as in if the bishop and therapist's aim was for you to overcome something (not serious) or help you feel better about yourself what really is the difference? Let's take having the ocassional coffee or you vape every once in a while, it could be habit or a bad habit but not really anything that would affect your membership but not necessarily healthy either or maybe you are having a 2 litre a day Pepsi habit

I think it depends on who you think is more qualified, who you have more faith in, whether or how much you want to break the habit/behavior, how much spiritual power or secular secular technique is appropriate to focus on the issue, etc.Hopefully the therapist or the bishop would know whether and when to refer you to the other, or how to help you decide.