Is it a psychologist’s job to address false beliefs?

By Catherine Robertson Souter
February 3rd, 2022
Rebba Schwartz-Mette, Ph.D, associate professor of psychology, University of Maine.
Rebba Schwartz-Mette, Ph.D, associate professor of psychology, University of Maine.

With the massive amount of disinformation floating around, from political to medical, most therapists will come face-to-face with questionable beliefs spouted by patients.
One client may insist that COVID is no more serious than the flu and the reports of the dead are grossly inflated. Another may claim that the vaccines are not safe, not effective or necessary. And then there are political conspiracies, from claims of massive voter fraud to beliefs in the existence of a highly-connected child sex trafficking ring.
While it is in everyone's best interest during a pandemic to insist on masking, distancing or remote therapy, at what point is a therapist responsible for educating a client on information that has no basis in scientific fact?
It...

Want to keep reading this great article from New England Psychologist?

Login below or subscribe today!

Posted in Articles, Leading Stories, Practical Practice, Subscribers | Comments Off on Is it a psychologist’s job to address false beliefs?