Rectified Scottish Rite

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Rectified Scottish Rite (Régime Écossais Rectifié, RER) as its current governing bodies describe it publicly: the Grand Priory of the Holy City of the Rectified Scottish Rite of England and Wales (Knights Beneficent of the Holy City, KBHC) and the French Masonic overview at frenchfreemasonry.org, with history from Serge Caillet (Presses universitaires de Lyon, 2021) and the Encyclopædia Universalis entry. Where these differ (number of degrees, entry requirements), both versions are named.

This is an initiatory Christian order within Freemasonry, not a therapy. The guide therefore does two things: it describes the Rite as its bodies publish it (structure, degrees by name and stated purpose, governance, entry rules), and it sets out the psychotherapist's work with a client who is a member, is considering joining or advancing, is leaving, or is a family member of a member. No oaths, passwords, signs, grips, degree-ritual content, secret words or initiation procedures are given here, and the therapist should not seek them from clients.

What it is, as published. The Rite was devised by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz (1730–1824), a Lyon silk merchant and lifelong Freemason, who combined the Masonic tradition of his day with the theosophical doctrine of his teacher Martines de Pasqually [source: Universalis; Caillet 2021]. Willermoz had joined the German Templar Strict Observance (founded by Karl von Hund) and, at the "Convent of the Gauls" in Lyon in 1778, reformed it into a "Rectified" Scottish regime in which he taught Martines's doctrine [source: Caillet 2021; frenchfreemasonry.org]. An assembly at Wilhelmsbad, Germany, in 1782 consolidated this reform as the Rectified Scottish Rite [source: KBHC]. Willermoz wrote most of the rituals between 1778 and 1809 [source: frenchfreemasonry.org]. Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, who taught the Lyon brethren in 1774–1775, is counted with Willermoz and Martines among the Rite's "spiritual Fathers" [source: Caillet 2021; frenchfreemasonry.org].

Core idea (attributed). The doctrinal background is Martines de Pasqually's unfinished Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings, which reads human history from the Garden of Eden as a fall and a path of return ("reintegration") [source: Caillet 2021]. The Rite frames Masonic symbolism within this Christian theosophy; its 1778 regulatory code sets the Order's practical aim as the "relief of humanity" through charity, hospitality, peacemaking and civic virtue [source: frenchfreemasonry.org, General Regulatory Code 1778]. These are theological and moral teachings, not empirical claims; the Rite makes no healing, predictive or paranormal claims in the sources consulted, so no evidence rating applies.

How change happens in therapy here. Change is not the Rite's goal in therapy; the therapist helps the client understand what membership means in their life (identity, faith, belonging, duty, family), separates spiritual meaning from any clinical problem, and supports the client's own decisions about involvement [synthesis].

Current bodies (as published). After the French Revolution the Independent Grand Priory of Helvetia (Switzerland) was for a time the only surviving body and became the Rite's sovereign authority, seated in Zurich [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org]. In France: the Grand Priory of the Gauls (GPDG, created 1935, independent since 2000, administering its craft lodges through a National Directorate) and several other Grand Priories attached to different French obediences, including a Feminine Grand Priory of France established in 2008 [source: frenchfreemasonry.org]. In England and Wales, the Grand Priory of Helvetia granted letters patent in 1937; the body meets annually at Mark Masons' Hall, London; Grand Priories also exist in the USA, Belgium and elsewhere [source: KBHC].

2. Framework

2a. Structure of the Rite, as published

The degrees are given by name and stated purpose only [source: frenchfreemasonry.org; KBHC].

• Versions differ. The English body describes six degrees and does not mention the Profès class; French sources add it [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org].
• Entry rules differ by jurisdiction. In England and Wales, membership is by invitation only and the qualification is being a Knight Templar (itself a Masonic order) [source: KBHC]. French sources require members to be Christian or to accept the Rite's Christian character "without reservation" [source: frenchfreemasonry.org].
• Time intervals published. In England and Wales, two years as a Scottish Master before becoming Worshipful Deputy Master; at least two years' service before Squire Novice [source: KBHC]. Other bodies' intervals [uncertain: not verified].
• Costs. RER bodies' fee schedules are not published [uncertain: not verified]. For general Freemasonry in England, UGLE's published Questions and Answers describes an initiation fee, purchase of regalia, an annual subscription, dining costs and voluntary charitable giving, with costs varying by lodge [source: UGLE, Questions and Answers]. Membership of several orders multiplies these.
• Leadership. Office titles published in England and Wales include Grand Master, Grand Prior and Deputy Grand Master, and Regional Grand Prefects over Prefectures [source: KBHC]. The 1778 code's historical scheme ran Provinces, Great Priories, Prefectures and Commanderies, with Masonic lodges administered through "Scottish Directorates" [source: General Regulatory Code 1778].
• Women. The English body draws on Knights Templar (male); France has a Feminine Grand Priory recruiting from the Feminine Grand Lodge of France [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org].
• Religious tension. Because of its Christian character, the Rite's Paris lodge left the Grand Orient of France in 1913 [source: frenchfreemasonry.org]. The Catholic Church forbids active membership of Freemasonry; in November 2023 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed the 1983 Declaration on Masonic Associations, under which Catholics who join are in grave sin and may not receive Communion [source: Catholic Telegraph, 2023]. This matters for Catholic clients and families drawn to a Christian rite.

2b. Phases of the therapist's work [synthesis]

No source sets session counts or durations for this work; pace by need.

1. Engagement and consent. Goals: clarify why the client has come (the Rite may be incidental, central, or a source of conflict); agree how lodge matters will be discussed, including that the client need not disclose anything they have promised to keep private. Move on when the client knows the therapist will not probe confidential material and the presenting concern is named.
2. Cultural and clinical assessment. Goals: Cultural Formulation Interview with the Spirituality, Religion, and Moral Traditions module; risk, mood, psychosis, OCD/scrupulosity and trauma screening; mapping time, money and family impact. Move on when there is a shared formulation that distinguishes spiritual meaning from clinical problems.
3. Focused work. Goals: whichever of section 4's interventions fit (family conflict, religious conflict, decision-making, leaving, grief, religious trauma, treatment of a co-occurring disorder by its own evidence-based protocol). Move on when the client reports the agreed goals met or a stable decision.
4. Consolidation and ending. Goals: relapse-prevention or support plan, community and clergy links if wanted, referral where needed; pretermination counselling as the APA Ethics Code requires [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code].

3. Guiding principles

• Describe, do not judge. Treat the Rite as the client and its bodies describe it; its doctrine of reintegration is a theological claim, neither affirmed nor dismissed. Practical meaning: use the client's terms ("Inner Order", "Knight Beneficent") with curiosity, and avoid conspiracy framing of Freemasonry [synthesis; respect and non-discrimination on grounds of religion: APA Ethics Code Principle E].
• Respect confidentiality the client owes others. The Rite's 1778 code requires discretion about the Order's affairs; UGLE says the private elements are traditional recognition methods [source: General Regulatory Code 1778; UGLE, Questions and Answers]. Practical meaning: never ask for ritual content, words or signs; work with the client's experience, not the secret.
• The therapist is not an initiator or spiritual director. Practical meaning: no interpretation of degree symbolism as "what it really means"; refer doctrinal questions to the client's own teachers or clergy [synthesis].
• Competence with religion. Where religion is essential to effective work, get training, consultation or supervision, or refer [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code; Vieten et al. 2013].
• Manage dual relationships. A therapist who is a Freemason, a member of an RER body, or of a church opposed to Freemasonry has a potential multiple relationship or conflict of interest. Practical meaning: assess it under Standard 3.05 and as a possible conflict of interest; disclose only if it serves the client; consider referral if you might meet in lodge [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05; self-disclosure guidance is synthesis].
• Assess without pathologising. Symbolic, mystical or chivalric language is normative in this setting. Practical meaning: look for clinical features (functional decline, fixed idiosyncratic beliefs outside the tradition, mood elevation, compulsions), not unusual content [synthesis; CFI].
• Client self-determination. Practical meaning: the therapist neither recruits for nor argues against membership; decisions about joining, advancing or leaving are the client's [source: APA Ethics Code Principle E].
• Family voices are welcome but not decisive. Practical meaning: hear partners' concerns about secrecy, time and money as real, without making the therapist an arbiter between client and lodge or church [synthesis].
• Use the right code for spiritual distress. A religious or spiritual problem is listed as an inclusion term under ICD-10-CM Z65.8 [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM]. Practical meaning: record faith-related distress without forcing a mental-disorder diagnosis. DSM-5-TR's own wording for this category [uncertain: not verified].

4. Intervention inventory

The Rite itself is not delivered in therapy; its degrees, ceremonies and teaching belong to its own lodges and teachers [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org]. The inventory below is the psychotherapist's work with members, prospective members, former members and families. All steps and wording are [synthesis] unless a source is named. Example language is illustrative.

4.1 Setting the frame for lodge-related material

• Purpose / when: first session in which the Rite comes up; prevents the client feeling pressed to break promises and keeps the therapist out of the initiator role.
• Steps: (1) Ask whether membership is relevant to what brought them. (2) State that you will not ask about ritual, words, signs or ceremonies and that they may decline any question. (3) Agree that you will work with their experience (feelings, relationships, meaning, time and money) rather than content. (4) Note confidentiality limits under your own code [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code]. (5) Ask whether you belong to anything they need to know about (prepare your answer in advance; see 4.13).
• Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to tell me anything you've promised to keep private. What I'm interested in is what this means to you and how it's affecting your life."
• Watch for: relief, or conversely testing ("Are you a Mason?"); a client who over-discloses ceremony details out of anxiety (gently redirect to the feeling). Working when the client discusses lodge life freely without distress about secrecy.

4.2 Client-led exploration of meaning

• Purpose / when: whenever membership is part of identity, faith or the presenting problem.
• Steps: (1) Invite the client's story: how they came to Freemasonry and to this Rite, who sponsored or invited them (invitation-only in England and Wales [source: KBHC]). (2) Explore what the Christian chivalric framing gives them: belonging, moral discipline, charity, a spiritual path. (3) Use their own terms (Scottish Master, Squire Novice, Knight Beneficent, reintegration) and ask what each means to them. (4) Ask how the Rite fits with their church life and private prayer. (5) Reflect values back, without interpreting symbols.
• Example language (illustrative): "When you talk about becoming a Knight Beneficent, what does that say about the kind of person you're trying to be?"
• Watch for: the therapist drifting into explaining symbolism or doctrine; idealisation or bitterness that signals an unprocessed issue. Working when the client links membership to explicit values and goals.

4.3 Cultural Formulation Interview with the religion module

• Purpose / when: assessment phase, especially when faith, family and lodge pull in different directions.
• Steps: (1) Use the core CFI's four domains: the client's definition of the problem; perceived causes, stressors, supports and the role of cultural identity; past self-coping and help-seeking; current help-seeking and concerns about the clinician relationship [source: APA CFI]. (2) Add Supplementary Module 5, Spirituality, Religion, and Moral Traditions: traditions belonged to (church and Order), practices and how they shape daily and family life, involvement with leaders and communities and whether they have helped, whether the tradition has helped or contributed to the problem, and faith-related distress, discrimination or disagreements with others [source: APA CFI Supplementary Modules]. (3) Use the informant perspective with a partner if the client agrees. (4) Write a short cultural formulation for the record.
• Example language (illustrative): "Some people find their lodge and their church a great support, and some find they pull against each other. How is it for you?"
• Watch for: a client minimising conflict to protect the Order's reputation; spouse and client giving very different accounts. The CFI supports clinical judgement and is not by itself a basis for diagnosis [source: APA CFI].

4.4 Differential assessment without pathologising belief

• Purpose / when: when the client reports intense mystical experience, preoccupation with esoteric doctrine, scrupulosity, or when a family member says the client "has changed".
• Steps: (1) Separate content from form: belief in a Christian theosophy of fall and return is normative here; assess instead for loss of functioning, sleep change, pressured speech, grandiosity beyond the tradition, fixed self-referential beliefs the client's own brethren would not share, hallucinations, or compulsive rituals. (2) Ask the client (with consent) how their lodge or church would view the experience; a tradition-congruent experience others recognise points away from psychosis. (3) Screen for OCD and scrupulosity (fear of having broken a promise, of sin in joining against one's church, repeated reassurance-seeking from clergy or brethren); if present, use ERP as the International OCD Foundation describes it [uncertain: not verified]. (4) Screen for depression, grief, alcohol use (dining culture) and trauma. (5) If psychotic or manic features are present, refer for psychiatric assessment.
• Example language (illustrative): "I'm not questioning your faith. I'm asking about sleep, energy and whether others who share your faith see this the same way, because that helps me know whether something else is going on."
• Watch for: the therapist's own views about Freemasonry or esotericism shaping the judgement; under-recognising illness because the content is religious. Working when the formulation names any disorder separately from the belief system.

4.5 Religious-conflict mapping

• Purpose / when: client caught between the Rite and a church (notably Catholic), or between the Rite's Christian requirement and a non-Christian or secular partner or family.
• Steps: (1) Draw a map of each commitment: church, Order, family, personal conscience. (2) Establish the facts each authority actually states (e.g. the Dicastery's 2023 reaffirmation that active Masonic membership is forbidden for Catholics [source: Catholic Telegraph, 2023]; the Rite's Christian requirement in French bodies [source: frenchfreemasonry.org]); do not interpret canon law or Masonic constitutions yourself. (3) Explore what each loyalty means emotionally (belonging, fear of exclusion, guilt). (4) Identify who the client could consult within each tradition (parish priest, lodge officer) and offer 4.11. (5) Support a values-based decision (4.8).
• Example language (illustrative): "It sounds as if both your church and your lodge matter deeply, and right now you feel you'll be disloyal whichever way you turn. Let's lay out what each is actually asking of you."
• Watch for: guilt and scrupulosity loops (see 4.4); the therapist becoming a theological referee. Working when the client can state their own position and the cost of each option.

4.6 Partner and family concerns

• Purpose / when: a spouse, adult child or parent is worried about secrecy, evenings away, spending, exclusion (many bodies are single-sex), or religious change; or the member feels the family is hostile.
• Steps: (1) With consent, offer a joint session. (2) Have each person name concerns in concrete terms (nights out per month, money spent, what is kept private). (3) Share what bodies publish: the private elements are described as recognition methods and lodge affairs, and members' promises of mutual support yield to duties to family and law [source: UGLE, Questions and Answers; General Regulatory Code 1778]. (4) Negotiate what the member can share (time, cost, charitable work, who the people are) versus what they keep private. (5) Agree practical limits (calendar, budget). (6) If the partner is curious, mention family events or ladies' or open evenings only if the client says their lodge holds them [uncertain: practice varies].
• Example language (illustrative): "The ceremonies can stay private. What your partner is asking about is time, money and whether they still come first. Those we can talk about openly."
• Watch for: secrecy used to cover something else (affair, gambling, alcohol, debt); a partner's fear fed by conspiracy media; children affected by a parent's absence. Working when both can describe the agreement and feel heard.

4.7 Time, money and commitment review

• Purpose / when: financial strain, over-commitment to several orders, or pressure to take office or advance.
• Steps: (1) List all Masonic and chivalric memberships, with subscriptions, dining, regalia, travel and charitable giving [cost categories: UGLE, Questions and Answers]. (2) Total annual cost and hours. (3) Compare with household budget and family time; UGLE states that membership should not harm family life or responsibilities [source: UGLE, Questions and Answers]. (4) Identify pressures to take office (the KBHC describes minimum service periods before further degrees and offices [source: KBHC]) and whether the client wants them. (5) Plan changes: fewer bodies, declining office, a giving limit.
• Example language (illustrative): "If you add up subscriptions, dinners and travel across all your lodges, what's the yearly figure, and how does it sit with you?"
• Watch for: shame about money; giving beyond means as a sign of status-seeking or mood elevation. Working when spending and time match the client's stated priorities.

4.8 Decision support: joining, advancing, stepping back

• Purpose / when: the client has been invited to the Rite or to the Inner Order, or is unsure whether to continue.
• Steps: (1) Gather what is publicly known: degrees by name, entry rules (Knight Templar prerequisite in England and Wales; Christian character in French bodies), minimum service periods, the existence of a non-public class in some jurisdictions [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org]. (2) Encourage the client to ask the inviting body directly about costs, time and what will be expected, before any ceremony. (3) Values clarification: what do they hope it will give them; what would they lose. (4) Check fit with their church's position and their family (4.5, 4.6). (5) Rehearse saying "not yet" or "no" to a respected sponsor if they wish.
• Example language (illustrative): "Before you decide, what would you want to know about cost, time and what's expected? Who could you ask?"
• Watch for: the therapist steering either way; a client seeking the Order to fill a loss (bereavement, retirement) that may need its own work. Working when the decision is informed and owned.

4.9 Screening for high-control dynamics

• Purpose / when: any time a client describes pressure, fear or isolation linked to a group. Court, regulator, independent-investigation or major-news findings of coercive control specific to the Rectified Scottish Rite: none found in the sources consulted; the published regulations themselves limit obedience to what is lawful and consistent with civil duty [source: General Regulatory Code 1778] and UGLE says promised support yields to duties to God, law and family [source: UGLE, Questions and Answers]. Screen without presuming.
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask about freedom to leave without penalty, to talk about lodge matters with family in general terms, and to disagree with officers. (2) Ask about financial demands beyond published subscriptions, personal loyalty to an individual, pressure to cut off outsiders, or teaching that outside sources are forbidden. (3) Ask about fear of harm or shunning on leaving. (4) Distinguish an ordinary hierarchical, ceremonial body from control by an individual or clique. (5) If control signs are present, move to safety planning and specialist resources; if crime is alleged (fraud, assault), discuss reporting.
• Example language (illustrative): "If you decided tomorrow to stop going, what do you think would happen?"
• Watch for: the client's own discomfort being dismissed by the therapist because the body is respectable, or exaggerated because of conspiracy narratives. Working when risk is clearly named or clearly excluded.

4.10 Leaving and transition

• Purpose / when: the client has decided to resign or has drifted away; or they were refused advancement or excluded.
• Steps: (1) Clarify the practical route: resignation procedures are set by each body's constitutions; the client can ask their lodge secretary [uncertain: procedures not verified for any RER body]. (2) Plan what to say to friends in the lodge; decide which friendships to keep. (3) Return regalia or arrange outstanding dues as the body requires [uncertain]. (4) Address continuing confidentiality: the client may keep promises of discretion after leaving; respect that choice [synthesis]. (5) Grief work: loss of ritual, rank, brotherhood, and a spiritual path; mark the ending in the client's own way. (6) Rebuild belonging: church, charity, other civic groups.
• Example language (illustrative): "Leaving can mean losing friends, a weekly rhythm and a sense of purpose all at once. Which of those are you missing most?"
• Watch for: depression or isolation after leaving; guilt or fear of having betrayed oaths (scrupulosity, 4.4); anger that blocks moving on. Working when the client has new sources of meaning and contact.

4.11 Liaising with clergy or lodge officers (if the client wishes)

• Purpose / when: religious conflict, pastoral need, or practical questions only an officer can answer.
• Steps: (1) Only with explicit written consent [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code]. (2) Agree with the client exactly what will be shared (usually only that they are in therapy and the practical question). (3) Prefer the client making contact themselves, with rehearsal. (4) Do not share clinical detail with a lodge. (5) Review afterwards.
• Example language (illustrative): "Would it help to speak with your parish priest about this? We could plan together what you'd want to ask."
• Watch for: the client feeling pressured by the therapist to involve authorities. Working when the contact clarifies rather than escalates.

4.12 Religious or spiritual struggle and religious trauma

• Purpose / when: spiritual crisis after a conflict between church and Order, shame or fear after leaving either, or harm experienced within a religious setting.
• Steps: (1) Name it as a religious or spiritual problem where it is the focus (ICD-10-CM Z65.8 inclusion term [source: Unbound Medicine]). (2) Explore the client's image of God and of sin as it bears on their membership, using their language. (3) Separate harm by persons from the tradition itself, as the client sees it. (4) Use trauma-focused treatment where criteria are met, by its own protocol. (5) Draw on the client's chosen spiritual resources (prayer, scripture, pastoral care) for coping, if they want that.
• Example language (illustrative): "It sounds as if you're afraid God is displeased with you for joining. Can we look at where that fear comes from?"
• Watch for: the therapist offering theological reassurance; clinical depression presenting as spiritual struggle. Working when the client feels able to hold their faith with less fear.

4.13 The therapist's own position: dual relationships and self-disclosure

• Purpose / when: before and during work with a member, if the therapist is a Freemason, holds strong views about Freemasonry, or belongs to a church opposed to it.
• Steps: (1) Check for multiple relationships (same lodge, same Order, social network) and conflicts of interest [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05]. (2) Decide in advance how you will answer "Are you a Mason?": honestly and briefly, with the focus returned to the client [synthesis]. (3) Never recruit, sponsor or vouch for a client [synthesis]. (4) Consult or refer if objectivity is at risk. (5) Seek training in religious and spiritual competencies [synthesis; source: Vieten et al. 2013; APA Ethics Code].
• Example language (illustrative): "I'm not a member of any Masonic body, and I don't have a stake in whether you stay or leave. I'm here to help you think it through."
• Watch for: fraternal recognition between therapist and client changing the frame. Working when boundaries are explicit.

4.14 Referral and multi-agency work

• Purpose / when: psychotic or manic features, severe depression or suicidality, substance misuse, domestic abuse, or financial crisis.
• Steps: (1) Psychiatry for diagnostic clarification or medicines (the therapist does not advise on medicines). (2) Debt advice for financial strain. (3) Domestic-abuse services if secrecy masks control at home. (4) Specialist religious-trauma or high-demand-group counsellors if 4.9 finds control. (5) Pastoral care from the client's own church if wanted. (6) Pretermination counselling and alternative providers when ending [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code].
• Example language (illustrative): "I'd like you to see a psychiatrist as well, to make sure we're not missing something affecting your sleep and mood."
• Watch for: the client hearing referral as rejection of their faith. Working when the client attends and the formulation is shared.

Children and families

The Rite admits adults; its published sources describe no involvement of children [source: KBHC; frenchfreemasonry.org]. Children are affected indirectly (parental absence, family conflict over religion). Use ordinary safeguarding procedures if any concern arises [synthesis].

5. Handling problems

None of the Rite's sources address psychotherapy; all guidance in this section is [synthesis] unless a source is named.

• Client refuses to discuss the Order at all. Respect it; confirm you are not asking for secrets; work on the presenting problem and return only if the client links it to lodge life. Reframe: "We can talk about how it affects you without talking about what happens there."
• Client starts describing ritual content. Gently interrupt and redirect to feeling and meaning; this protects the client from later regret and keeps the therapist out of the initiator role (4.1).
• Stuck in ambivalence about advancing or leaving. Use a two-column cost/benefit exercise for staying and for leaving, then a values card or ranking task; set a date for a provisional decision; normalise that "not now" is a decision (4.8).
• Resistance rooted in suspicion of therapists. Some members expect professionals to share popular hostility to Freemasonry. Name your neutrality, show interest in the client's account, and avoid any conspiracy framing (section 3, first principle).
• Partner and client polarised. Shift from "secret society" debates to concrete agreements on time, money and openness about non-confidential matters (4.6). If one partner uses the dispute to control the other, see the other individually and screen for domestic abuse.
• Overwhelm from religious conflict (e.g. a Catholic member after the 2023 reaffirmation). Slow down; separate facts from fears; encourage a pastoral conversation with their priest; treat scrupulosity with ERP if criteria are met (4.4, 4.5) [source for Church position: Catholic Telegraph, 2023].
• Non-adherence to agreed limits (spending, nights out). Review without blame; check whether lodge life is serving as escape from home stress, low mood or alcohol use; adjust the plan or the target.
• Rupture: client feels judged for membership, or for leaving. Acknowledge directly, ask what you said or did, repair, and restate your neutrality. If the rupture is about your own known affiliation, discuss referral (4.13).
• Mystical or visionary experience. Assess form and function, not content; if tradition-congruent, supportive and non-impairing, no clinical action is needed; if features of psychosis or mania appear, refer promptly (4.4).
• Exclusion or grievance within the Order. Help the client use the body's own internal procedures where they wish (the 1778 code provided for internal arbitration of disputes between brethren before civil courts [source: General Regulatory Code 1778]); make clear that this never prevents them using civil law or the police where a crime is involved.
• Pressure to keep a lodge secret that conceals wrongdoing. Duties of discretion do not extend to crimes; UGLE describes promised support as subordinate to law and family duties [source: UGLE, Questions and Answers]. Support the client to seek legal advice or to report.
• Therapist discomfort with esoteric or Masonic material. Seek supervision or consultation; refer if you cannot remain neutral [synthesis; source: APA Ethics Code].
• Grief after leaving. Treat as a real loss of community; plan new belonging; watch for depression and isolation (4.10).
• Suicidal thoughts in the context of loss or religious shame. Use standard risk assessment and safety planning; involve crisis services as your local protocols require.

Sources

Web sources:

• Rectified Scottish Rite (RÉR), Franc-Maçonnerie Française
• General Regulatory Code of the Order of the Knights Beneficent of the Holy City (1778), Franc-Maçonnerie Française
• Knights Beneficent of the Holy City, Mark Masons' Hall
• Écossais rectifié (rite), Encyclopædia Universalis
• Caillet, S. (2021). Marténisme, willermozisme et martinisme à Lyon. Presses universitaires de Lyon (record)
• United Grand Lodge of England. Questions and Answers (UGLE publication) [uncertain: edition not verified].
• Vatican doctrine office reaffirms that Catholics cannot be Freemasons, The Catholic Telegraph (2023)
• DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview, American Psychiatric Association
• DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview Supplementary Modules, American Psychiatric Association
• ICD-10-CM Z65.8 (Unbound Medicine): Z65.8 "Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances" (includes: religious or spiritual problem)
• Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists, Institute of Noetic Sciences publication page
• Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, American Psychological Association

Books and papers cited:

• Caillet, S. (2021). Marténisme, willermozisme et martinisme à Lyon. Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon. DOI 10.4000/books.pul.10725.
• Vieten, C., Scammell, S., Pilato, R., Ammondson, I., Pargament, K. I., & Lukoff, D. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 5(3), 129–144.
• Martines de Pasqually, Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings (unfinished; 18th century), as described by Caillet 2021 [edition uncertain].