Reciprocal maturities: Spirit and psyche in pastoral counseling and spiritual direction

This article uses a model for integrating spiritual and psychological maturity (Conn, 1989) in theological anthropology to contend that there is a reciprocal relationship not only between spiritual and psychological maturity but also between pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. I review Christian spirituality in terms of maturity in relationship: to self, to others, and to God. Next is an examination of the prevailing attitude in pastoral counseling toward spirituality and spiritual direction. Then Conn's integration is assessed — of spirituality with psychology, of spiritual direction with pastoral counseling — as a combination of spiritual and hermeneutical perspectives on the maturing self.     

Everyday mysticism: Spiritual development in later adulthood

Most cultures contain a belief that aging, with its long span of life experience, can lead to spiritual growth or development. Theories of spiritual development have focused primarily on stages of spiritual growth, with less attention to its relation to the cultural life course. This paper posits that contemplative, mystical experience is the primary psychological dynamic that enables the qualitative change in life perspective that we associate with spiritual growth. While theoretically possible at any adult age, this shift in perspective is correlated with physical and psychological aging, with the relaxation of social demands that typifies the life stages of later adulthood, and with the simple, close-to-home lives led by many individuals after age 75.     

Maternal spiritual health as a predictor of psychological well-being and resilience of her young adult offspring

The unique bond between a mother and her child has drawn the attention of many researchers through the years. Yet, there is a dearth of studies that inquire maternal spiritual health and its potential manifestation through the mother–child bond. Since associations between spiritual health, resilience and psychological well-being have been established through literature, it would be interesting to study how spiritual health of a mother might be a potential source of influence in the life of her child. The current study inquires whether maternal spiritual health can predict psychological well-being and resilience in her young adult. Sample data for the study were collected from 205 families (205 mothers along with their respective young adults, N?=?410). Results indicate maternal spiritual health is a significant predictor of psychological well-being (p?p?相似文献   

The Spacious Mind: Using Archetypes for Transformation Towards Wisdom

The spacious mind model combines Hindu and Buddhist philosophy on spiritual maturity with the Jungian view on psychological maturity to delineate how archetypal work can spur the development of wisdom. Both psychological and spiritual development defuse the ego's hold on reality to create a spacious mind that has contact with the spiritual Self. To explain such a transformation, this article discusses 5 parts of the mind: the ego, the conscious, the unconscious, the archetype, and the Self. The innovative features here are an integrated view of spiritual and psychological development, and the insight that archetypal work can be a mechanism for growth in both domains, because an archetype resides in the energetic plane with the Self and in the conscious mind with the ego.     

In Search of a Paradigm for Psychological and Spiritual Growth: Implications for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction

This article presents categories, drawn from the work of Abraham Maslow and Paul Tillich, which can be used to explore the similarities and differences in psychological and spiritual growth. While both dimensions of growth are interrelated, they are neither synonymous as terms nor fused as processes. Models for psychological growth cannot be superimposed onto spiritual growth because of some significant differences in the way in which self-awareness, spirit, and self-transcendence are defined and used by psychology and theology. It follows that psychotherapy and spiritual direction make unique contributions to human growth and need not be perceived as synonymous or competitive. There is a point at which psyche and spirit, psychotherapy and spiritual direction, meet: the place of healing.     

Social media addiction and psychological adjustment: religiosity and spirituality in the age of social media

Previous research indicates a significant association between social media use and psychological adjustment. The present study investigated whether religiosity/spirituality mediates the relationship between social media intrusion and psychological adjustment. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Spirituality Index of Well-Being, the DASS-21 Scales, and the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, which was altered slightly to include all types of social media. Results revealed that social media intrusion was significantly positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and negatively correlated with spiritual well-being and the self-efficacy component of spiritual well-being. Furthermore, the self-efficacy dimension of spiritual well-being partially mediated the association between social media intrusion and psychological stress. From these results, it may be inferred that higher social media intrusion may have the ability to decrease specific aspects of spirituality, which may, in turn, negatively impact psychological adjustment. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

A Systematic Review of the Biopsychosocial–Spiritual Health of Active Duty Women

Women make up approximately 15% of today’s active duty (AD) military. Not only are more women volunteering for military service now than ever before in America’s history, but due to recent policy changes, they are also allowed to apply for more jobs. Therefore, since the number of women in the military is continuing to rise and there are more job opportunities for women in the military, it is important to understand the unique health effects they experience that differ from civilian women and AD males. Although there is current literature on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual health of veteran women, few researchers have explored the biopsychosocial–spiritual effects of military service on AD women. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to explore the existing research on the biopsychosocial–spiritual health factors associated with military service in AD women. The results of this study indicated that there is more data on the biological health compared to the psychological and social health of AD women. There is even less research demonstrating the interconnectedness among biological, psychological, social, and spiritual health with AD women. Future research recommendations and policy implications are provided.     

Spirituality and Religiosity in the Aftermath of a Natural Catastrophe in Italy

The aim of this study is to assess the influence of spirituality and religiousness on the psychological traumatic effects of a catastrophic event in a population that had been exposed to an earthquake compared with a control population that had not been exposed. A total of 901 people have been evaluated using: (1) Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality; (2) Impact of Event Scale and (3) Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report (TALS-SR). Self-perceptions of spirituality and religiousness were used to rank the samples, distinguishing between spiritual and religious, spiritual-only, religious-only and neither spiritual nor religious groups. The sample that had experienced the earthquake showed lower scores in spiritual dimension. The religious-only group of those who were exposed to the earthquake demonstrated TALS-SR re-experiencing and arousal domain scores similar to the population that was not exposed. A weakening of spiritual religiosity in people having difficulty coping with trauma is a consistent finding. We further observed that the religious dimension helped to buffer the community against psychological distress caused by the earthquake. The religiosity dimension can positively affect the ability to cope with traumatic experiences.     

Bridging Psychology and Theology When Counseling Older Adults

SUMMARY

Seniors raise many questions for counselors; some of these questions directly impact what can be called spiritual concerns. Yet, finding a consistent definition of what a “spiritual concern” is has challenged all of the major counseling professions. In this paper the author calls upon the work of Paul Tillich in dialogue with that of Viktor Frankl to bridge the theological definitions of spiritual concern with psychological intervention.     

The Only Way Out Is Through: The Peril of Spiritual Bypass

Given the increased attention to spirituality in the counseling literature, with a primary emphasis on helping clients find their spiritual path, it is important for counselors to be aware of one potential pitfall of the spiritual path, namely spiritual bypass. Spiritual bypass occurs when clients seek to use their spiritual beliefs, practices, and experiences to avoid genuine contact with their psychological “unfinished business.” The purpose of this article is to define spiritual bypass, discuss the necessity of healing at the cognitive, emotional, and physical levels, as well as at the spiritual level for holistic wellness, and provide examples of clients in spiritual bypass.     

Content Analysis of Suicide Notes as a Test of the Motivational Component of the Existential‐Constructivist Model of Suicide

A sample of 40 suicide notes were analyzed for motivational content in relation to an existential‐constructivist theory of suicide. Results generally supported the 4 theoretical categories of somatic, relational, spiritual, and psychological motivations, with 39 notes having content that could be classified according to the aforementioned categories. Psychological motivations were found to be the most prevalent, followed by relational, spiritual, and somatic concerns. Notes of completed suicides included more relational motivations than did those of suicide attempters, and older writers of notes showed more psychological and fewer spiritual motivations than did younger writers. Recommendations are offered for revising the theory to provide a stronger meaning‐based understanding of suicidal behavior.     

Influence of religiosity on self-reported response to psychological therapies

There is a lack of research exploring the influence of religious or spiritual beliefs on response to psychological therapies. Our aims were to confirm the positive relationship between religiosity and psychological wellbeing, and investigate the potential synergistic impact of religiosity on self-reported response to psychological therapies. Participants were 118 adults (33 male, 85 female) aged 18 to 78 (M?=?40.01, SD?=?15.41); data was collected via online survey. Religious and psychological variables were assessed using a range of standard measures including the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale. Atheists reported less psychological distress and increased personal wellbeing; participants with higher levels of religiosity experienced greater ongoing benefits from therapy in domains of coping and social functioning. Results suggest that mental health practitioners should consider the religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours of their clients in their interventions.     

Balance,wholeness, and healing in christianity

The nature of the spiritual journey inevitably leads us to examine our fears, doubts, and conflicts, in life and in our spiritual communities. Psychology and a true spiritual theology acknowledge an unconscious part of ourselves that is the reservoir for suppressed fears, pain, and anger. Unless these conflicted emotions and related experiences or imaginings are sought out and examined, an authentic spiritual search is denied. The result will be a superficial cognitive belief-system, predicated exclusively on shoulds, oughts, and constant accommodation. To make free, intelligent, mature decisions in our search, we need always to ascertain what we want that will bring fulfillment and spiritual and emotional freedom. This can only be done if we truly own the repressed, hidden, negative memories and behavior that often become self-destructive unconscious determinants. The psychological reality is that unless we look at the shadow part of ourselves, the part that is repressed, denied, hidden and which we often find discomforting, it will surface eventually in a more unhealthy, destructive fashion.     

The Benefits of Spiritual Diaries: A Mixed-Method Study in Korea

Journal of Religion and Health - This mixed study examined the benefits of spiritual diaries in Korea. Quantitatively, differences in spiritual growth and psychological well-being were examined in...     

The changing relationship between psychology and contemporary spiritual direction

As recently as the late 1970's, the relationship between spiritual direction and psychology was tentative and cautious. During the last decade, however, psychological methods and perspectives have been increasingly utilized in spiritual direction. This article examines how clinical psychology, developmental psychology, the psychology of women, and professional psychology are becoming increasingly relevant to the contemporary practice of spiritual direction in the United States, and how, in the process, the relationship between psychology and spiritual direction is changing.     

Do Existential Variables Mediate Between Religious-Spiritual Facets of Functionality and Psychological Wellbeing

Religiosity has been related to psychological wellbeing outcomes. Although this relationship is primarily based on studies of church attendance or prayer and wellbeing, more recent work has focused on the potential mechanisms that may mediate the religion-wellbeing findings. One of the major function of religion is finding of meaning of life and improving hope. Recent studies have indicated that hope and meaning of life are the potential variables mediate between religion and wellbeing. It was hypothesized that one pathway through which religiosity may exert its positive influence on psychological wellbeing is through finding meaning of life and improving hope. One study was conducted examining the relationships among spiritual experiences, hope, meaning of life and psychological wellbeing operationalized as satisfaction with life, positive affect and negative affect. The following research tools were used: Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, Purpose in Life Test, Hearth Hope Index, Cantril Ladder, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Meaning of life and hope were noticed to mediate between spiritual experiences and satisfaction with life as well as between spiritual experiences and positive affect. Spiritual experiences were not related to negative affect. Both meaning of life and hope predicted negative affect. This study found meaning of life and hope to be an important factors in the religion-wellbeing relationship and related to positive psychological outcomes, including improved satisfaction with life and positive affect as well as reduced negative affect.     

Heart failure patients’ desires for spiritual care,perceived constraints,and unmet spiritual needs: relations with well-being and health-related quality of life

Little information is available about HF patients’ desires regarding having their healthcare providers address their spiritual concerns, feeling constrained in doing so, and the extent to which their spiritual needs go unmet. Nearly half of our sample reported high levels of unmet spiritual needs and reported moderately strong desires to have their doctor or other healthcare professional attend to their spiritual needs, and moderately strong feelings of constraint in doing so. Spiritual constraint and unmet spiritual needs were associated with poorer spiritual, psychological and physical well-being, but these effects varied, depending on patients’ desire to discuss spiritual needs. These findings have important implications for clinical management of HF patients.     

Yogicchakra symbols: Mirrors of the human mind/heart

This paper describes the classical understanding of the system ofchakras, or centers of spiritual energy, in tantric yoga. Eachchakra is presented in terms of its traditional understanding. Each is also discussed in the light of contemporary psychological stage theories of development, showing that thechakras can be seen as a model of spiritual development. The preoccupations, concerns, and attitudes associated with eachchakra are portrayed as a mirror of the human mind/heart when spiritual energy is concentrated at that location.She is also founder and chair of the board of Resources for Ecumenical Spirituality.     

古埃及医治心理疾病的方法透析

宗教文化是古埃及文明的重要组成部分,对古埃及心理医学产生了重要影响。为预防心理疾病,保障身心健康,古埃及人发明了一整套预防和医治心理疾病的方法。屏弃其中的迷信成分,这些疗法对于我们今天心理医学的发展、个人心态的调整与和谐社会的构建,仍有借鉴意义。     

Toward a meaningful spirituality for people of color: lessons for the counseling practitioner

This article attempts to capture a significant aspect of the counseling process for people of color: the spiritual dimension. It is argued that spirit and spirituality are relevant dimensions that should be integrated in counseling because spirituality is a key ingredient in the cultural upbringing and socialization of many people of color. Further, religious and spiritual beliefs are affected by experiences of racism and oppression, which then affects psychological coping. Reflective guidelines are offered to understand the essence of spirituality and cultural diversity, and lessons for the practitioner are recommended.