ABSTRACT
The web of relationships between minority religions and counselling is dense and fascinating. In some cases, there are antagonism and suspicion between them, with each side accusing the other of being hostile. More often the relationship is one of ignorance, especially as counsellors and other mental health practitioners tend to avoid paying much attention to religion in general or to their clients' religious views and commitments. Minority religions or new religious movements (NRMs) are anything but uniform or monolithic. Their diversity and changeableness are beyond doubt. And so is their tendency to be caught up in a range of controversies which put them in the headlines from time to time. Journalists and programme makers typically portray NRMs as controversial for reasons that include authoritarian forms of leadership, economic exploitation of members, sexual abuse by leaders, political intrigue and abuse of members' children.
