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FINAL REPORT OF THE ENQUETE COMMISSION ON "SO-CALLED SECTS AND PSYCHOGROUPS" |
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Minority Opinions Minority opinion submitted by Commission members: Dr Jürgen Eiben, Professor Dr Werner Helsper, Dr Angelika Köster-Lossack, MP, Professor Dr Hubert Seiwert with regard to Chapter 4.2.1 "Need for Information and Counselling from Non-governmental Centres". When analysing the relationship between self-help groups, voluntary counselling and professional counselling in the field of new religious and ideological communities and psychogroups, it is necessary to differentiate more clearly between areas of competence and responsibility. The strong points and advantages of "lay" and "self-help" groups are also problem zones for which we have to decide how to prevent the individuals concerned from being overtaxed or drawn into dynamic conflict situations and how we can prevent individuals," who seek advice and help from being instrumentalised. Not until this relationship has been established can the self-help and lay help initiatives realise and exploit the possibilities open to them without themselves running an increased risk of becoming constitutive elements in generating problems -- contrary to their own intentions -- or joining in conflicts unknowingly. In principle, similar risks also exist in the professional sector; extensive precautions in the form of professional self- supervision and outside appraisal are required in order to prevent or at least minimise them. These risks are less likely to occur in the field of everyday counselling and information; they are more acute with regard to involvement in ideological conflicts and when counselling and support is offered to individuals with major problems rooted in their personal history. If high standards of abstinence, (self) appraisal, a balance between proximity and distance and systematic "outside appraisal" are rightly demanded for professionals, there is a need to think about additional forms of stabilisation, (self) appraisal and "counselling for counsellors" for the lay and self-help sector that often represents a high level of involvement, participation and similar experience on the part of those offering their services. This requires co-operation and mutual reference between professional and self-help groups, enabling professionals to make use of the lay and self-help organisations' on-the- spot experience and the latter to fall back on the professionals' competence in support and outside appraisal of their activities. In this way, lay helpers, self-help groups and professionals complement each other in a co-operative relationship. Some of the wording of the present text (Chapter 4.2, especially the section on lay helpers) creates the impression of emphasising the strong points of self-help without discussing the problems and potential mistakes involved in such activity and its limitations. However, such a discussion is just as necessary as the improvement and structuring of professional counselling in order to strengthen these networks of everyday support in the long term. One-sided emphasis of the strong points of lay and self-help without similarly considered reference to the problems may have the -- unintentional -- effect of discrediting this field of activity or at least failing to promote it by means of critical support. For in the long term it must be in the interests of action groups initiated by the persons affected to consider the potential problem areas of their own efforts to help and advise. This is doubtless easier to achieve in cooperation with a structured and well developed professional counselling system in the field of new religious and ideological communities and psychogroups.
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