BELIEFS ABOUT THE PREVALENCE OF DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER, SEXUAL ABUSE, AND RITUAL ABUSE AMONG RELIGIOUS AND NONRELIGIOUS THERAPISTS

Four hundred ninety-seven Christian therapists and 100 members of the American Psychological Association returned questionnaires indicating the prevalence of dissociative identity disorder ( DID), sexual abuse, and ritual abuse in their clinical practices. There was a low rate of diagnosing DID and ritual abuse among all respondents. Christian psyc hologists were slightly more likely to diagnose ritual abuse than othe r psychologists, but they were no more likely to diagnose DID or sexua l abuse. No differences were observed in diagnosing ritual abuse or DI D between Christian psychologists, other licensed Christian therapists , nonlicensed Christian therapists, and lay counselors. Licensed Chris tian therapists who are not psychologists reported a greater prevalenc e of sexual abuse among their clients than nonlicensed Christian thera pists and lay counselors. Implications for clinical practice are discu ssed.