Reimagining Therapy as a Means for Social Change: Religion-Inspired Occupational Activism Among Psychologists

• In Event: 40226 - Reimagining and Reconstructing Occupational Work and Identities in Changing Environments

Abstract

Contemporary society faces mounting pressure to address "societal grand challenges" – persistent, complex problems that resist conventional solutions. While scholars have focused primarily on structural and behavioral approaches to these challenges, less attention has been paid to how professionals transform their core identities and values in response to societal problems. Based on ethnographic research among licensed psychotherapists who integrate Buddhist or Jewish traditions into their clinical practice, we examine how practitioners within an individually focused profession engage in values-centered occupational activism to transform their practice as a means for broader social change. Our findings illustrate how psychologists engage in religion-inspired moralizing work across three interconnected levels while navigating professional boundaries: with peers, they build alternative moral therapeutic communities while maintaining anchors in prestigious institutions; with patients, they adopt an inside-out approach that reframes individual therapy as socially transformative without compromising professional standards; and in public spaces, they leverage their professional status to articulate and promote a social vision while carefully managing religious references. These psychologists, working within and through their profession's institutional structure and individual focus, build outward from the micro level – transforming themselves, their therapeutic relationships, and professional communities into exemplary models of a more connected and morally engaged society. Their approach demonstrates how professionals can become agents of social change while maintaining legitimacy, suggesting new avenues for addressing societal challenges.

Authors

• Michal Pagis, Bar Ilan University

• Orly Tal, Bar Ilan University