Latter-day Saint temple ordinances and fast offerings

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines

What it is

This is an observance, not a therapy. It covers two connected parts of Latter-day Saint religious life. Temple ordinances are rites the Church performs only in its temples: for the living, the endowment (whose first part is the initiatory) and the sealing of husband and wife and of children to…

Format

• Sources give no session count or phase model for this work; the sequence below is, built from the CFI and the clinical sources cited.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Fear of consequences for children; intimate-partner abuse framed in religious terms.
• Proxy work or family history becoming compulsive; family conflict over who may attend ordinances; complicated grief.
• Collusion with a client's views because they match yours; avoidance of religious material because it is uncomfortable.
• Avoiding renewal altogether (avoidance compulsion) versus a genuine, values-based choice not to renew; treat these differently.
• Relief when the boundary is named; anxiety that disclosing feelings is itself a breach (which may be a scrupulosity symptom, 4.6).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.