I was reading a post on Nairaland, in which a guy asked if counselling was a good course. Someone said most people would rather run to pastors and Alfas for counselling than meet a psychologist.

What he said is 100% true. But does being a pastor/Alfa automatically qualifies you to be a counselor? A strange question indeed for a religious folk.

Let us first know the job of a clerics. A pastor/Alfa is trained to handle spiritual matters and counsel. Let us say if you are having spiritual problem based on your faith, it is natural to meet a spiritually matured individual for counsel. But the question again is, do all our problems have a spiritual origin? The answer is No. Again do all problems have a spiritual solution? The answer is still No.
If you do not agree with the last two questions it is advisable you stop reading from here.

When clerics don't have the right words or enough therapy to give an individual, they just use their trump card of "let us pray" as therapy for an individual. Quite professional isn't it?

Most problem like depression, marriage/ relationship instability, addiction, mental imbalance, PTSD, social anxiety, phobias, personality disoder, psychotic disorder, believe it or not your religious cleric is not qualified to help you deal with this.

20%-30% of Nigerians are suffering from mental disorder
According to https://www.anmjournal.com/article.asp?issn=0331-3131;year=2016;volume=10;issue=2;spage=47;epage=48;aulast=Suleiman

According to wiki a A psychologist is a person who studies normal and abnormal mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by experimenting with, and observing, interpreting, and recording how individuals relate to one another and to their environments
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologist

why then do we entrust our mental health with people who have no training whatsoever to solve your mental challenges?

Man Know Thyself

The reason why most people in Nigeria will not visit a therapist is because

1. Trust issues. They feel talking to a stranger about their life challenges isn't right. Revealing deep things about oneself is degrading.

2. Most Nigerians cannot afford weekly visit to therapist.

3. Most Nigerians believe most of all their problem as some spiritual origin and solution.

4. They can't just accept the fact they have a mental health issue and need help.

5. Methods used for therapy might be against their religious faith.

Since most people feel comfortable around their clerics, people find it easy to pour out their feelings, even the deep things to their clerics; why can't the church or government capture this advantage and find away to make it compulsory for clerics to have a degree in psychology?
This will go a long way to treat Nigerians and fight mental illnesses in the Country. People are really loosing it in this country daily, depression is on the high side, so also suicide.
If clerics are professionals, believe me, it will not only be free therapy for Nigerians, but also easy access for mental assessment.
So my people what do you think?

This is the most short-sighted post I have ever seen on this forum.

Those seeking guidance from their spiritual leader, did they tell you their problems remained? Even the psychiatrist and pathetic psychologist, how many problems have they solved? Mtchww....yeye

Just tell us you want to save your job by assuming people have imaginary ailments. Nonsense quacks

Following

Ammishaddai:
This is the most short-sighted post I have ever seen on this forum.

Those seeking guidance from their spiritual leader, did they tell you their problems remained? Even the psychiatrist and pathetic psychologist, how many problems have they solved? Mtchww....yeye

Just tell us you want to save your job by assuming people have imaginary ailments. Nonsense quacks

From this your post I can make a diagnosis for you.
But your problem falls in Number 3 and 4 reason why Nigerians will not visit a psychologist.
Note visiting a psychologist doesn't mean you are mad or crazy. I think you misunderstood the post or don't know the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist.

[s]

soundOsonic:


From this your post I can make a diagnosis for you.
But your problem falls in Number 3 and 4 reason why Nigerians will not visit a psychologist.
Note visiting a psychologist doesn't mean you are mad or crazy. I think you misunderstood the post or don't know the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist.

[/s] Just tell us you are trying to save your job from going extinct and your sins will be forgiven.

People like you reject God, yet you want to forcefully subvert our rights to serve a God which you openly reject. That is stupid and wicked.

Ammishaddai:
[s][/s] Just tell us you are trying to save your job from going extinct and your sins will be forgiven.

I study chemical engineering. And psychologist jobs can't go extinct in Nigeria because it don't exist in the first place.

soundOsonic:

I study chemical engineering. And psychologist jobs can't go extinct in Nigeria because it don't exist in the first place.

They exist oga. Just tell us you are not aware

Lalasticlala; let's hear others view about this.

i am not a psychologist but don't you think Maybe naija spiritual leaders don't really like providing spiritual solution? although if they study psychology, cash out will be more proper

Very beautiful article.

That Ammishaddai of a fellow reasons like a pre-socratic being. Disgusting.

"...do all our problems have a spiritual origin? The answer is No. Again, do all problems have a spiritual solution? The answer is still No..."

If you agreed to those affirmations, then you're simply dumb for criticising the write-up.

@soundOsonic, well written piece as you captured my mind and for someone into chemical engineering and writing such, what a deep insight! You reminded me of an undergrad course, Integration of Psychology, Christianity and African beliefs.

I studied Counselling Psychology and now practising. I remember seeing Nigerian Catholic Priests and Rev.Sisters doing their postgraduate studies in different specializations of Psychology such as Counselling Psychology, Psycho-spiritual Therapy, Addiction Counselling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Child and Adolescent Psychology etc. In my interactions with them, they shared that things have really changed and they needed to upskill to meet today's reality as they needed to be skilled in psychological assessment and intervention to better help those who come to them.

soundOsonic:
I was reading a post on Nairaland, in which a guy asked if counselling was a good course. Someone said most people would rather run to pastors and Alfas for counselling than meet a psychologist.

What he said is 100% true. But does being a pastor/Alfa automatically qualifies you to be a counselor? A strange question indeed for a religious folk.

Let us first know the job of a clerics. A pastor/Alfa is trained to handle spiritual matters and counsel. Let us say if you are having spiritual problem based on your faith, it is natural to meet a spiritually matured individual for counsel. But the question again is, do all our problems have a spiritual origin? The answer is No. Again do all problems have a spiritual solution? The answer is still No.
If you do not agree with the last two questions it is advisable you stop reading from here.

When clerics don't have the right words or enough therapy to give an individual, they just use their trump card of "let us pray" as therapy for an individual. Quite professional isn't it?

Most problem like depression, marriage/ relationship instability, addiction, mental imbalance, PTSD, social anxiety, phobias, personality disoder, psychotic disorder, believe it or not your religious cleric is not qualified to help you deal with this.

20%-30% of Nigerians are suffering from mental disorder
According to https://www.anmjournal.com/article.asp?issn=0331-3131;year=2016;volume=10;issue=2;spage=47;epage=48;aulast=Suleiman

According to wiki a A psychologist is a person who studies normal and abnormal mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by experimenting with, and observing, interpreting, and recording how individuals relate to one another and to their environments
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologist

why then do we entrust our mental health with people who have no training whatsoever to solve your mental challenges?

Man Know Thyself

The reason why most people in Nigeria will not visit a therapist is because

1. Trust issues. They feel talking to a stranger about their life challenges isn't right. Revealing deep things about oneself is degrading.

2. Most Nigerians cannot afford weekly visit to therapist.

3. Most Nigerians believe most of all their problem as some spiritual origin and solution.

4. They can't just accept the fact they have a mental health issue and need help.

5. Methods used for therapy might be against their religious faith.

Since most people feel comfortable around their clerics, people find it easy to pour out their feelings, even the deep things to their clerics; why can't the church or government capture this advantage and find away to make it compulsory for clerics to have a degree in psychology?
This will go a long way to treat Nigerians and fight mental illnesses in the Country. People are really loosing it in this country daily, depression is on the high side, so also suicide.
If clerics are professionals, believe me, it will not only be free therapy for Nigerians, but also easy access for mental assessment.
So my people what do you think?

The idea sounds good in theory but I have to say it is not for the good of all. So, no, because then they would become professional thieves and even worse manipulators.

Kobojunkiee:
The idea sounds good in theory but I have to say it is not for the good of all. So, no, because then they would become professional thieves and even worse manipulators.

The sessions will be free of course like every church counselling. The pastor can't extort money from them since it is a counselling/therapy session.
We can't know for sure if it won't work if we do not try.

soundOsonic:
The sessions will be free of course like every church counselling. The pastor can't extort money from them since it is a counselling/therapy session.
We can't know for sure if it won't work if we do not try.

Pastors/Imams already extort money as-is from church goers. Some churches charge a fee for their counseling sessions as is.. what makes you think that by further training them to use professional skills in their manipulation, things would become better for those who seek them out for counseling?

Kobojunkiee:
Pastors/Imams already extort money as-is from church goers. Some churches charge a fee for their counseling sessions as is.. what makes you think that by further training them to use professional skills in their manipulation, things would become better for those who seek them out for counseling?

Any church collecting money for counselling is not a church but business center.
Only the learned pastor will go for this training and the this will filter off those pastors that are not learned.
Counselling session is different from deliverance or prophecy section. Counsellors/therapist don't instruct people on what to do or what not to do. They just make people identify their problem/weakness and same people will figure out how to solve this themselves. They are allowed to give advice and suggestions.
So it is not a time of sowing seeds. 70% of churches doing counselling don't extort money from people. Neither do they judge people.

Kobojunkiee:
Pastors/Imams already extort money as-is from church goers. Some churches charge a fee for their counseling sessions as is.. what makes you think that by further training them to use professional skills in their manipulation, things would become better for those who seek them out for counseling?

Any church collecting money for counselling is not a church but business center.
Only the learned pastor will go for this training and the this will filter off those pastors that are not learned.
Counselling session is different from deliverance or prophecy section. Counsellors/therapist don't instruct people on what to do or what not to do. They just make people identify their problem/weakness and same people will figure out how to solve this themselves. They are allowed to give advice and suggestions.
So it is not a time of sowing seeds. 70% of churches doing counselling don't extort money from people. Neither do they judge people.

Kobojunkiee:
Pastors/Imams already extort money as-is from church goers. Some churches charge a fee for their counseling sessions as is.. what makes you think that by further training them to use professional skills in their manipulation, things would become better for those who seek them out for counseling?

soundOsonic:
Any church collecting money for counselling is not a church but business center.
Only the learned pastor will go for this training and the this will filter off those pastors that are not learned.
Counselling session is different from deliverance or prophecy section. Counsellors/therapist don't instruct people on what to do or what not to do. They just make people identify their problem/weakness and same people will figure out how to solve this themselves. They are allowed to give advice and suggestions.
So it is not a time of sowing seeds. 70% of churches doing counselling don't extort money from people. Neither do they judge people.

News flash! Your churches are nothing but "glorified" business centers. Glorified in the sense that those who run them use the name of God as a tool to lure in gullible butts to fill seats in their pews and extort at every possible avenue through doctrines and traditions which really have nothing to do with God Himself.

So, enabling them with a degree in psychology only serves to embolden them in further exploiting the already vulnerable in more ways than they already do. What next? Are you going to suggest they all become doctors too so all those who already frequent their lair of deceit then basically throw it all in the hands of their pastors and imams too?

Kobojunkiee:
News flash! Your churches are nothing but "glorified" business centers. Glorified in the sense that those who run them use the name of God as a tool to lure in gullible butts to fill seats in their pews and extort at every possible avenue through doctrines and traditions which really have nothing to do with God Himself.

So, enabling them with a degree in psychology only serves to embolden them in further exploiting the already vulnerable in more ways than they already do. What next? Are you going to suggest they all become doctors too so all those who already frequent their lair of deceit then basically throw it all in the hands of their pastors and imams too?

That's enough, you are not here to reason. Your post is already bias. You have killed the actual purpose of the thread. No need to reply this message. Have a wonderful night.

soundOsonic:
That's enough, you are not here to reason. Your post is already bias. You have killed the actual purpose of the thread. No need to reply this message. Have a wonderful night.

Killed the purpose of the thread by stating the facts as they currently present themsleves?