Dismissal of EMU counselor who refused gay student draws GOP fire

[Bozita]

http://www.freep.com/article/20110415/NEWS06/104150372/1001/NEWS/Dismissal-EMU-counselor-who-refused-gay-student-draws-GOP-fire

Dismissal of EMU counselor who refused gay student draws GOP fire
1:51 AM, Apr. 15, 2011
BY DAVID JESSE
DETROIT FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER


Some Republican state legislators are targeting Eastern Michigan University in the wake of its dismissal of a graduate student from a counseling program after she refused to counsel a gay student.

A measure attached to an appropriations bill would require universities with accredited counseling programs to report back to lawmakers about how they plan to protect students' "deeply held religious" beliefs.

The bill was approved on a party-line vote Wednesday in a higher education subcommittee.

EMU isn't mentioned directly in the measure, but lawmakers from both parties said it's no secret the measure stems from the dismissal of Julea Ward.

She sued EMU, saying she was dismissed because she declined to counsel a gay client looking for affirmation of his lifestyle. She said it was against her religious beliefs and offered to refer the client to someone else. EMU says she was dismissed because she refused to follow the American Counseling Association's code of ethics.

A federal court ruled for EMU in July. Ward has appealed that ruling.

more...

[Bozita]

1. Here's some background ...

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/28/counseling

The Conflict at Eastern Michigan

Ward, the plaintiff in the case, was admitted to the master's program in 2006, with the goal of becoming a high school counselor. Like many counseling graduate programs, the one at Eastern Michigan is a mix of coursework and practical experience, in which students engage in actual counseling.

Ward describes herself as an "orthodox Christian," the judge's ruling said, and was upfront in her courses -- both in discussions and papers -- about her view that homosexuality is "morally wrong." She also wrote in papers that it is "standard practice" for counselors to refer clients whose values they disagree with to other counselors (even though that's not standard practice or consistent with American Counseling Association ethics rules, which specifically require counselors to work in non-judgmental ways with clients whose values differ from their own). While Ward's suit alleged that she faced "disagreeable" reactions to her views from professors, she also earned excellent grades.

The dispute that led to the litigation started in 2009, when Ward was enrolled in the practicum in which she was to engage in actual counseling. Faced with an appointment with a client whose file indicated past discussion of a gay relationship, Ward asked to refer the candidate to another counselor rather than engage in any counseling that could "affirm the client's homosexual behavior." Since this was two hours before the appointment, the supervising counselor canceled the appointment, but set off disciplinary hearings that eventually led to Ward being kicked out of the program.

Eastern Michigan's counseling program -- like many others -- requires its students to practice in ways that are consistent with the counseling association's ethics code, including requirements that bar behavior that reflects an "inability to tolerate different points of view," "imposing values" on clients or discrimination based on a number of factors, including sexual orientation. The counseling association does permit referrals, but they are supposed to be for the good of the client, not for the comfort of the counselor. Typically, a referral that would be seen as legitimate might involve a counselor referring someone to a colleague with expertise on a particular problem.

Ametrano, the Eastern Michigan professor, who was on the review panel that expelled Ward, said that the requirements that counselors work with clients of a range of views and background are essential. She noted that counselors regularly work with clients who make decisions about such matters as birth control, sex, drug use, abortion and many other choices that a counselor may or may not support. And clients come from a variety of backgrounds and sexual orientations. A counselor can't be effective, she said, with litmus tests on who may be helped.

Further, she said that the ethics code is designed in part because Eastern Michigan is training counselors who will work in schools, colleges and social service agencies where referrals aren't possible. So the ability to help anyone, and to do so in a way that "is consistent with client values," is an important, relevant skill as determined by the profession.

more...

[MadHound]

2. This should follow her wherever she goes,

She is not fit to be a school counselor.

Fuck her deeply held religious beliefs and her orthodox Christianity(which means what, exactly, that she's Catholic?)

[DFW]

3. Just put Ms. J. Ward to work under a devout Sunni Muslim man.......

...who holds to the deeply held religious belief that all women should all be clad in a burqa, including her, and will refuse to let her continue to hold her job unless she wears one.

What? She doesn't want to wear a burqa? But what about "deeply held religious beliefs?" If she is within her rights to impose hers on others, then surely they are allowed to impose theirs on her, aren't they?

[Angry Dragon]

4. +1000

[Bozita]

5. Maybe to the Bachmann and Associates, Inc.? ... It's VERY *Christian* and takes govt $$$

Perhaps Ms. Ward thought counseling was more like this:

I've never done this before, but I feel compelled to go highlight the main parts.


http://minnesotaindependent.com/59781/bachmanns-christian-counseling-clinic-receives-state-funds

Bachmann’s Christian counseling clinic receives state funds
By Andy Birkey | 06.04.10 | 10:23 am

Bachmann and Associates, Inc., a counseling center that receives state funds and is owned by Rep. Michele Bachmann and her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, uses counseling methods steeped in fundamentalist Christianity, raising questions about its use of taxpayer money.

Founded in 2003, Bachmann’s clinic has taken in nearly $30,000 in state funds since 2007. Dr. Bachmann has said publicly that God heals people at his clinic and that Jesus Christ is the “Almighty Counselor.”

“We are distinctly a Christian counseling agency here in the Twin Cities,” he told KKMS radio in 2008. “We have 27 Christian counselors, Christ-centered, very strong in our understanding of who the Almighty Counselor is, and as we rely on God’s word and the Almighty Counselor, we have the opportunity to change people’s lives.”

He continued, “God heals people and if we give opportunity, if we are a willing vessel and we go according to what God’s word is, it works.”

The clinic applied for and received Rule 29 and Rule 31 licensing from the state in 2003. The rules allow the clinic to receive state money to treat low-income Minnesotans for mental health and chemical dependency problems. The clinic has earned $27,564 in state payments since 2007 — and likely received more, since the Minnesota Transparency and Accountability Project’s online data only goes back to 2007. Bachmann and Associates took $1,419 in public money in 2007, $13,140 in 2008, $12,493 in 2009 and $512 so far in 2010, according to the transparency project.

All of the clinic’s counselors identify as Christians. Among them is Marian E. Eckhardt, a licensed psychologist. Her mission statement says, “I believe that through knowledge, faith and dependency on God and His revealed truths one receives the strength and love to truly fulfill their life’s purpose.”

more (and it's worth the time) ...

[Bozita]

6. Meet the Bachmann counselors. WTF kinds of schools did these folks graduate from?

Help me out here. I've never even heard of 80% of these schools.

http://www.bachmanncounseling.com/meet-our-counselors/