Atheist vs.Religious Therapists: Perceptions Examined.

                            The prupose of this study was to exai.nine whether negative perceptions of atheists/nonbelievers  extend to the therapeutic reahn. TI1e current literature has found that atheists aJ.1d nonbe    lievers, a growing segment in the United States' population, report various fom1s of discrimination  as a result of beingconsidered members of fill "ou"t group, thus affecting their mental health. The  counseling literature has examined the importai.1ce of addressing value differences ai1. d 
 potential effects within the therapeutic dyad, but most of the focus has been on race, gender,  sexual identity, aJ.1d reli  giosity, with ahnost no attention given to how nonbelief might also  play a role in value conflicts.  TI1is study addressed tlus gap in the literature by assessing  whether atheist tl1erapists were rated less favorably aJ.1d lesslikely to be sought out thai.1  religious identifying therapisst.