Dworkin and Gutierrez

gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients. We also hope that this special issue will help in the training of more sensitive counselors.

A project of this magnitude could never occur without the help of many people. We wish to thank all of the authors for their time, energy, knowledge, and cooperation; members of the journal's editorial board for their input into this issue and for their reviews of articles; Rodney Goodyear and Charles Claiborn for their valuable assistance and incredible support; and last, but not least, Deborah Budge, a graduate student of counseling at California State University-Fresno, who spent the extra time to help with this project just for the experience.

REFERENCES

Alexander, R. (1986). The relationship between internalized homophobia and depression and low self esteem in gay men. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California-Santa Barbara. American Association for Counseling and Development. (1988, March). Ethical standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Buhrke, R.A. (1987, August). Counseling psychology training: Lesbian and gay issues. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York, NY.

Cartrell, N. (1984). Combating homophobia in the psychotherapy of lesbians. Women and Therapy, 3, 13-29.

Davison, G.C., & Wilson, G T. (1973). Attitudes of behavior therapists toward homosexuality. Behavior Therapy, 4, 686-696.

Elam, S. (1968). Acculturation and learning problems of Puerto Rican children in mainland schools. In F. Cordasco & E. Bucchioni (Eds.), Puerto Rican children in mainland schools (pp. 344-351). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Garfinkle, E.M., & Morin, S. F. (1978). Psychologists' attitudes toward homosexual psychotherapy clients. Journal of Social Issues, 34(3),

101-112.

Glenn, A.A., & Russel, R.K. (1986, March). Heterosexual bias among counselor trainees. Counselor Education and Supervision, 26, 222-229. Gonsiorek, J. (1985). Introduction: Present and future directions in gay/lesbian mental health. In J.C. Gonsiorek (Ed.), A guide to psychotherapy with gay and lesbian clients (pp.5-7). New York: Harrington Park Press.

Graham, D.L.R., Rawlings, E.I., Halpern, H.S., & Hermes, J. (1983).

Therapists' needs for training in counseling lesbians and gay men. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 15, 482-496. Gutierrez, F. (1985). Bicultural personality development: A process model. In E. Garcia & R. Padilla (Eds.), Advances in bilingual education research (pp. 96-124). Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Gutierrez, F. (1987, March). Gay men and lesbian women as an ethnic group. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Association for Counseling and Development, New Orleans. Herek, G.M. (1984). Beyond "homophobia": A social psychological perspective on attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In J.P. De Cecco (Ed.), Homophobia: An overview (pp. 1-21). New York: Haworth. Herron, W.G., Kinter, T., Sollinger, I., & Trubowitz, J. (1985). Psychoanalytic psychotherapy for homosexual clients: New concepts. In J.C. Gonsiorek (Ed.), A guide to psychotherapy with gay and lesbian clients (pp. 177-192). New York: Harrington Park Press. Hooker, E. (1957). The adjustment of the male overt homosexual. Journal of Projective Techniques, 21, 18-31.

Human Rights Committee. (1987). Position paper of the human rights committee of the American Association for Counseling and Development. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Klein, C. (1986). Counseling our own. Renton, WA: Publication Service,

Inc.

Kroeber, A., & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.

Martin, A. (1982). Some issues in the treatment of gay and lesbian patients. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19(3), 341–348. McDermott, D., & Stadler, H.A. (1988). Attitudes of counseling students in the United States toward minority clients. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 11, 61-69. Meredith, R.L., & Riester, R. W. (1980). Psychotherapy, responsibility, and homosexuality: Clinical examination of socially deviant behavior. Professional Psychology, 11(2), 174-193.

Royce, J. (1981). Alcohol problems and alcoholism. New York: Free Press. Thompson, G.H., & Fishburn, W.R. (1977). Attitudes toward homosexuality among graduate counseling students. Counselor Education and Supervision, 17, 121-130.

Sari H. Dworkin is an associate professor in the advanced studies department, California State University-Fresno. Fernando Gutierrez is a psychologist in private practice in San Jose, California. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Sari H. Dworkin, Advanced Studies Dept., California State University-Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740-0003.

JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 VOL. 68

Moving Through Loss: The

Spiritual Journey of Gay Men

and Lesbian Women

KATHLEEN Y. RITTER and CRAIG W. O'NEILL

This article describes losses of gay men and lesbian women relative to their relationship with traditional religion and the mental health profession. By helping their clients reframe these losses into opportunities for transformation, counselors can facilitate spiritual integration both within and beyond the context of Judeo-Christian spiritualities.

rom birth, all human beings embark on a journey that entails a series of losses at every stage of life. Just as there

also losses that are frequently a part of the lesbian and gay experience in our society. As they move through their lives, gay men and lesbian women often turn for renewal in the same directions as heterosexuals, namely, to traditional religion and to mental health professionals. In the course of looking to these. groups for enabling and understanding, they can sometimes find their pain intensified.

Representatives and followers of traditional religion have often hurt lesbians and gay men by weaving a moral and historical tapestry of guilt, shame, and repression rather than by providing validation and inspiration for their inherent goodness. Additionally, some mental health professionals, by being ignorant of the pain and unique searchings of the gay or lesbian soul, may miss the opportunity to provide support and healing as well as possibly short-circuit the journey toward identity synthesis and self-actualization.

The purpose of this article is to help counselors better understand the deep losses of lesbian and gay clients relative to both their sexuality and their religious faith and to provide guidance in helping clients work toward spiritual integration. Although some gay or lesbian people feel a profound alienation with regard to organized religion, others who have never bonded with a faith tradition experience an inner void that can only be called spiritual. We hope this article can provide counselors with the perspectives not only to appreciate the spiritual losses of many gay and lesbian individuals but also to take clients developmentally beyond mere acceptance of the loss to an internalization of the concept that inherent in their experience is the basis for a truly transformed and transforming spirituality.

Crucial to an understanding of this article is the current research by Money (1987, 1988), who pointed to the notion that sexual orientation is strongly influenced by prenatal brain hormonalization as well as postnatal socialization. As is true for all learning, this early learning (often within the first months of life) involves changes in both brain chemistry and structure. As

Money stated: "When nature and nurture interact at crucial developmental periods, the residual products may persist immutably" (1987, p. 398). Despite this evidence that sexual orientation is biologically intrinsic in each human being, however, many individuals, churches, and much of society in general persist in believing otherwise. Even well-meaning individuals can fall into this trap and, despite good intentions, inadvertently violate the inherent sacredness of gay or lesbian people, perhaps even terminating their journeys toward whole-

ness.

TRADITIONAL RELIGION

Because most of the core norms, values, and structures of American society have evolved from the Judeo-Christian heritage, it is important to initiate the discussion of the losses of persons of same-gender orientation from the perspective of traditional organized religion. Commonly accepted scriptural interpretation, custom, doctrinal pronouncements, and historical tradition (Boswell, 1980) have heaped accusations of shame, contamination, and sinfulness upon the heads of lesbian and gay people that, in turn, have established the framework of society's attitude toward them. It is no wonder then that many gay men and lesbian women have found their experience in traditional religion to be something less than viable. Some contend that for a religious experience to be viable it must be philosophically reasonable, morally helpful, spiritually illuminating (James, 1928), and communally supportive (Callahan, 1985). The discussion of traditional organized religion that follows will examine the experience of gay men and lesbian women from each of these perspectives.

Philosophically Reasonable

Two of the major tenets of the Judeo-Christian tradition are the unconditional goodness of the human being and the unfailing love of the Creator for each person. These two fundamental principles do not always seem to apply to gay and lesbian people. One major religion has recently described same-gender orientation as "objectively disordered" and "inclined toward evil" (Ratzinger, 1986), which can leave the impression in the minds of lesbian women and gay men that there are conditions on their goodness. Furthermore, to attain that evidence of God's unfailing love, which much of traditional religion defines as salvation, individuals of same-gender orientation often try to do what they believe is necessary to be lovable to the Creator (i.e., to be either heterosexual or repent or repress their homo-

JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 VOL. 68