Maastricht sends the jobless to reincarnation therapy
The municipality of Maastricht has pressurised unemployed people to follow reincarnation therapy. Uncooperative welfare recipients were told that their attitude could have consequences for their allowance, local newspaper De Limburger reported Friday.
The Social Services, which grants allowances and attempts to get recipients back to work, urged at least one unemployed resident of Maastricht to accept the guidance of a reincarnation therapist. Returning’ to a previous life, would supposedly help them regain their balance and enhance their chances of finding work.
The local newspaper was tipped off by local councillor John Steijns. As leader of a local party, the politician came across documents revealing the alleged spiritual tendencies of the Maastricht government apparatus.
The responsible alderman Luc Winants (Social Affairs) did not wish to dismiss the initiative for now. “It might very well be true that reincarnation therapy is a means to get people back to work”, said his spokesman Joep Delsing.
Winants is a member of the Christian democrats (CDA). Delsing said the case is to be inquired into “with the highest possible priority and at the highest possible level”.
Psychotherapist Marcus Huibers, who is senior lecturer in clinical psychology at Maastricht University, is baffled. “We are speaking here of an entirely obscure therapy that does not even merit the term therapy”.
According to councillor John Steijns, “the therapy would involve ten sessions of 90 euros each. In total we are thus speaking of 900 euros in tax payers’ money”.
Source: NIS News, 13 April 2008
and i went...
