超越心理健康:精神健康的追求

区别于一般心理概念的、狭义的精神概念有三个特征:终极关怀、内发自生以及自由意志.诸如精神信仰危机、生活目标迷茫等区别于传统心理问题的精神问题已经成为现代人的顽疾.现代心理健康标准开始关注并尝试吸纳精神健康.精神健康是21世纪的健康主题,现代人不应仅仅满足于生理和心理的健康,还应寻求更高层次的精神健康.     

一个中国人的精神学

精神系统的健康与和谐是人类生活水准的一大指标.精神学的建构正是为人们追求健康的精神生活开辟道路.刘文英先生在全面系统地研究中国古代精神理论的基础上,通过分析批判、吸收利用现代西方精神分析学的理论成就,创造性地提出了精神系统的结构模型,创建了"一个中国人的精神学",为精神学的研究,为现代人追求健康的精神生活找到了一个独特的视角,具有多方面的启示意义.     

群体心理现象——一种后现代的公共精神卫生问题

探讨以群体心理为基础的公共精神卫生问题的概念、重要性,以及发生的病理机制。认为当代公共精神卫生问题所具有定性模糊、文化边缘化等后现代的特点都与群体非理性心理的性质有关。     

中国传统精神哲学论纲

中国传统精神哲学包括精神形上学和精神修养学两大部分,其旨趣在于人的精神提升与精神超越。儒、道、佛三家分别以道德心、自然心和清净心作为精神生活的基点,并提出入世、隐世和出世三种精神超越之路。这些学说虽有历史的局限性,同时亦包含普遍性与恒久性的思想成分,对于现代精神哲学的理论建构和现代人的精神修养具有重要价值。     

群体心理现象--一种后现代的公共精神卫生问题

探讨以群体心理为基础的公共精神卫生问题的概念、重要性,以及发生的病理机制.认为当代公共精神卫生问题所具有定性模糊、文化边缘化等后现代的特点都与群体非理性心理的性质有关.     

当代精神中“人”的可能性之释义

人是什么?汉语文化语境中道家观念中的人是与自然融合,进而理想自然化为真人,即神人;佛家的人与动物的串杂轮回则有人与物不分之嫌;儒家有道德为人物之分的圭臬;基督教精神中的人的释义是超越东方精神的,显著地区别于整个物质世界,是具备精神释义的。     

大学生心理健康的标准和特征

一个人的心理是否健康，虽然国内外心理学家对这个问题认识各异，但是，如果根据心理测验、观察、主观体验以及精神心理诊断等几方面的材料进行综合分析，还是能够作出比较科学准确的判断的。国内学者认为，要区别大学生心理健康与否，应着重考虑以下4个方面因素：     

能力健康概念及其启示

能力健康概念认为健康是个体在面对社会、生理和心理挑战时的自我管理和适应能力,判断一个人是否健康,要看他是否具备相应的生理、心理和社会能力以履行他所属的社会共同体赋予他的社会义务,并从中确立和实现自身的价值。这个概念既克服了生物医学健康概念把人等同于一般生物的简单性,也克服了世界卫生组织健康概念的理想化、难以操作化的不足。在老年病、慢性病以及其他不可治愈的疾病占据疾病谱主要位置的今天,能力健康概念启示我国健康服务业需要把帮助患者重建生存和发展能力纳入发展的重点。     

关于现代精神的道德反思

现代化既具有创造性又具有破坏性 ,人类走入生存困境 ,这已是一种共识。人类社会如何既能发展现代化又能有效地避免现代化的弊端 ?这是现代人所不可回避的问题。这一问题的解决离不开对现代精神的反思 ,本文从道德的角度思考了现代精神的基本特征 :一是物欲的盛行 ,二是主体的膨胀 ,三是超越者的丢失 ,四是精神的放逐。而现代精神从最深层的意义上讲是无根的 ,因此 ,人类要走出困境就必须在更高的层次上实现精神的回复 ,去重新发现能够给人类存在赋予意义的合理的精神基础     

儒家自由主义何以可能？——狄百瑞儒家“人格主义”的实质及现代意义

为区别于西方自由主义、个人主义等概念,狄百瑞提出儒家"人格主义"一说,来阐发儒家之于个人、社群和国家的自由主义精神。狄氏认为,儒家自由主义精神昭显于孔子仁学一期,经宋明新儒家发展为由本心而发的道德实践,形成了一套关于个人自我养成(为己之学)、社群自治(修己治人)的理论表达范式和实践经验,与西方"个人主义""社群主义"相比具有一定优异性。再者,中国古代虽没能发展出现代意义上的公民国家,但儒家思想中并不缺乏公民意识,东亚社会现代化的成功转型,在一定程度上彰显了儒家政治文明构想及其现代价值。因此,在狄百瑞看来,儒家自由主义精神贯穿于为己之学、修己治人与政治文明之中,具有一整套异于西方自由主义的自洽方案。     

Ageing Health Care and the Spiritual Imperative: A View from Scotland

SUMMARY

This paper, given as a keynote presentation at the third international conference on Ageing and Spirituality 2004 in Adelaide, Australia, offers a perspective on ageing that makes central and fundamental the spiritual journey. Ageing is not confined to the old. We are all ageing all the time and whilst the imperative of ego integration (Erikson, 1986, 1982) is more pressing in old age, the march of time makes no exceptions. The paper starts with a consideration of the Scottish context and the current interest in Scotland in spirituality and health. Borrowing from the human developmental ideas of Frankl, Jung, Erikson, and Klein, the paper takes the view that we are all spiritual beings, and we are all trying to be successful, integrated reconciled and mature individuals. Ageing and spirituality is relevant to every individual. Successful ageing is fundamentally concerned with the successful self. The spiritual journey is bound up with the search for meaning. Ageing is part of the task of being human and it involves decline and loss. The spiritual journey–search for meaning–is unique to each one of us. The spiritual journey is made evident in the search for the ultimate destination of giving up self, transcending self. Remembrance and routine are methods by which the ageing and the spiritual journey can be facilitated. A successful ageing, according to this perspective, is therefore one that embraces and self-consciously embarks upon a spiritual journey. To take it further–the spiritual journey is bound up with ageing–and further still–ageing is a spiritual journey (Bianchi, 1984). The primary task of ageing is spiritual development. Spiritual development is helped by an appropriate societal context in which ageing as spiritual journey can flourish. This has implications for health and social care services.     

Spiritual Struggles and Health: Assessing the Influence of Socioeconomic Status

Growing evidence suggests that spiritual struggles may play a major role in explaining the relationship between religion and health. Even so, there are significant gaps in the literature. More specifically, researchers do not know enough about how spiritual struggles arise in the first place. This study has two major goals. The first is to see whether socioeconomic status is associated with spiritual struggles. The second is to see whether spiritual struggles are associated with physical health. A conceptual model is tested that contains the following core hypotheses: (1) individuals with lower levels of educational attainment are more likely to encounter chronic economic difficulties; (2) people who experience ongoing financial strain are more likely to live in rundown neighborhoods; (3) people who live in dilapidated neighborhoods will be more angry than their well‐to‐do counterparts; (4) people who are more angry will, in turn, be more likely to experience spiritual struggles; and (5) greater spiritual struggles will be associated with more symptoms of physical illness. Data from a recent nationwide survey (N = 2,146) provide empirical support for each hypothesis.     

Health,Finances, Religious Involvement,and Life Satisfaction of Older Adults

ABSTRACT

This study examines the patterns and relationships between twelve independent variables and the expressed subjective well-being of older adults within that classic community setting of the Lynds' “Middletown.” The twelve variables include measures of church attendance, religious activity, religious conservatism/liberalism, subjective health status, social participation, importance of leisure, participation in physical activity, age, sex, marital status, and level of education.     

A study of posttraumatic spiritual transformation and forgiveness among victims of significant interpersonal offences

Forgiveness and spiritual transformation, both gain and decline, may follow being victimised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of forgiveness in posttraumatic spiritual transformation following interpersonal offences. One hundred forty-six participants who had been “significantly wronged” by another person completed measures of event-related distress, forgiveness, and spiritual transformation. Results showed that spiritual growth was positively related to the personal importance of religion. Event-related distress and unforgiveness were positively correlated with spiritual decline. Regression analyses revealed that forgiveness did not uniquely account for a significant amount of the variance in spiritual growth after controlling for demographic variables, religious and spiritual importance, and event-related distress. Rather, religious and spiritual importance accounted for a significant amount of variance in spiritual growth. Unforgiveness uniquely predicted spiritual decline. This study suggests a complex relationship between spiritual transformation and forgiveness. Results are discussed within the context of implications for clinicians and researchers alike.     

Towards a model of influence of spirituality on leadership: empirical research of school leaders on Catholic schools in the Netherlands

What is spirituality? What is leadership? And what is their relationship? The article presents the concept of ‘discernment’ (Latin: ‘discretion’) as the link (tertium comperationis) between spirituality and leadership. Spirituality is a way of life in (the growth of) discernment towards human fullness, which is grounded in a moral universe (God, nature). Three elements are employed in discernment: spiritual traits (Cloninger), spiritual capital (Bourdieu) and spiritual transformation (Waaijman). The influence of spirituality on leadership is empirically tested in research among 97 leaders (principals) of Catholic schools in the Netherlands. The findings show three types of leadership, namely trustworthy guiding leadership, empowering leadership and autocratic leadership. Our model with three predictors of a spiritual life growing in discernment (spiritual traits, capital and transformation) is partially confirmed, and looks promising for future research. In the discussion, the authors reflect on trustworthy-guiding leadership from the concept of attestation of Paul Ricoeur.     

Retrospective spiritual narratives: exploring recalled childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences

This paper draws on a collection of retrospective narratives of childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences to explore the qualities and characteristics of the spirituality of the young. They recall a range of spiritual experiences that touch on death, mortality, visions, and perceptions and connections beyond the self. Their experiences include varying intensities of emotion and invoke a range of responses in them and others. The paper considers the social, emotional and familial context of these early life experiences and their impact on spiritual experience and the possibility/impossibility and freedom/lack of freedom to express, and integrate spirituality.     

“God is My First Aid Kit”: The Negotiation of Health and Illness among Christian Scientists

Christian Scientists’ rejection of conventional medical practices has generated considerable controversy. Using insights from theories of subcultural identity and cultural repertoires, we analyze elite discourse and adherent narratives from 20 Christian Scientists to examine how this nonmedicalized religion engages the challenges posed by the highly medicalized character of American society. The writings of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy primarily exhibit a critical posture toward conventional medicine, although conciliatory language is also evident in these same works. These discursive nuances provide Christian Science adherents with latitude in negotiating health and illness in their everyday lives. Interview data reveal that negotiated health practices are particularly evident in three domains: using prayer as a means of seeking divine guidance, developing metaphysical competency as a healer, and weighing options based on legal mandates for seeking medical treatment. We conclude by specifying the implications of our findings and identifying directions for future research.     

In defence of the concept of ‘spiritual education’: a reply to Roger Marples

In a paper published in Volume 11, no. 2, of this journal, Roger Marples argued that the term ‘spiritual education’ is at most superfluous and at worst entirely meaningless. He suggested that the use of the term is unhelpful and will continue to be so unless and until we can identify some body of spiritual knowledge and understanding, linked to experience, which is distinct from, and in some sense ‘beyond’, those of moral, aesthetic and other forms of experience.

This paper critique's Marples's thesis. It examines his ploy of admitting only certain forms of knowledge and understanding, and of privileging certain languages, when determining the rules of engagement with the concept of ‘the spiritual’. It is further argued that to require some empirical evidence in the form of personal experience before the words ‘spiritual’ and ‘spiritual education’ can be meaningful is fundamentally misguided. In conclusion, it is suggested that a willingness to embrace the spiritual as concept, experience and awareness is essential to the education of the child as a whole person.     

Recognition of seven spiritual identities and its implications on children

Seven spiritual identities are determined based on a study conducted on a group of 125 participants. The objective of the study was to examine (a) how spirituality is experienced individually and collectively; and (b) identify the commonalities and differences in spiritual experiences. The participants ranged in age from 17 to over 55, and were recruited from three sources. One group consisted of an on‐campus population of undergraduate students majoring in different disciplines. The second group consisted of faculty and students who attended annual seminars on ‘Spirituality and Children’. The third group consisted of participants at meetings and conferences who volunteered to participate in the study. Altogether they formed a self‐selected sample of 29 males and 96 females, representing different religious and non‐religious backgrounds. Based on the analysis seven spiritual identities are recognised and presented and broad classroom strategies for professionals working with children are discussed.     

Religious literacy or spiritual awareness? Comparative critique of Andrew Wright’s and David Hay’s approaches to spiritual education

On the basis of a comparison of the educational approaches of Andrew Wright and David Hay this paper illustrates the persisting problem of dichotomising cognitive and trans‐cognitive aspects of spiritual development and education. Even though both Wright and Hay speak of the same topic – spirituality and spiritual education – they define these terms very differently, and as a consequence, they draw altogether different practical implications, set different priorities, and warn of different dangers in spiritual education. The main question set in this paper is whether it is possible to make room in spiritual education for both of these perspectives and how to combine them in a more holistic way. With the help of the Wilber‐Combs lattice, which is one of the main heuristic devices employed by the integral philosophy, one possible way toward integrating cognitive and trans‐cognitive aspects of spritual development and education is proposed.