Knowing through the felt-sense: a gesture of openness to the other

In the discussion of children’s spirituality and education, David Hay and Brendan Hyde place emphasis on the felt-sense. Originally identified by the psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin, the felt-sense is a way of knowing that involves attentiveness to the body and body wisdom. Although emphasised by Hay and Hyde, the felt-sense does not feature strongly in the academic discussion of children’s spiritual education. This article compares Gendlin’s use of the term ‘felt-sense’ with that of Hay and Hyde, and discusses understandings of the felt-sense and body wisdom gathered through interviews with focusing, shiatsu and yoga practitioners, and through the author’s encounters with these practices. The article considers synergies between the notions of ‘felt-sense’ and ‘bildung’, as described by Gadamer, and concludes that their shared openness to the other points to ‘a way of being’ for the educator which may hold the greatest value for spiritual education, given the complexity of post-secular spiritual identity.     

Measuring attitude towards Buddhism and Sikhism: internal consistency reliability for two new instruments

This paper describes and discusses the development and empirical properties of two new 24-item scales – one measuring attitude towards Buddhism and the other measuring attitude towards Sikhism. The scale is designed to facilitate inter-faith comparisons within the psychology of religion alongside the well-established Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity. Data were obtained from a multi-religious sample of 369 school pupils aged between 13 and 15 in London. Application of the two scales demonstrated that adolescents had a more positive attitude to Buddhism than Sikhism. The findings confirm the reliability of the scales and commend them for further use.     

Effect of Islamic psycho-spiritual therapy in managing craving,withdrawal symptoms,and mental health problems among cannabis users

ABSTRACT

The present study is an examination of Islamic psycho-spiritual therapy in managing craving, withdrawal symptoms, and mental health problems among cannabis users. Homogeneous purposive sampling was used in the selection of the sample. The therapy and administration of three scales (Marijuana Craving Scale Short Form; Cannabis Withdrawal Scale; Mental Health Inventory) were undertaken among 40 Muslim male cannabis users whose age ranged between 14 and 37 years on pre- and post-test analysis. The results highlighted the significant differences in the respective dimensions of the Craving and Withdrawal Scales and the Mental Health Inventory such as compulsivity, emotionality, expectancy and purposefulness, withdrawal intensity and negative impact of withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, depression, loss of behavioural/emotional control, emotional ties, life satisfaction, psychological distress, psychological well-being, and mental health index.     

Physio Kundalini syndrome and mental health

The increasing practice of traditional eastern philosophies within the modern society has highlighted the difficulties of assimilation of these traditions within Western culture. This invariably results in difficulties on the part of the practitioners to integrate these practices into their daily lifestyle. The reasons for these are often complex. One of the contributing factors could be insufficient understanding or acquisition of a superficial interpretation of the eastern tradition or philosophies. The Kundalini concept comes from the yogic philosophy of ancient India and refers to mothering intelligence behind yogic awakening and spiritual maturation. We describe a case of a young male who presented with functional deterioration experiencing psychotic symptoms, which he describes as his Kundalini awakening.     

Spiritual well-being,burnout and trauma in counsellors and psychotherapists

Burnout represents a potential risk for counsellors and psychotherapists in their work with distressed clients. In the research reported here, the relationship between spiritual well-being and burnout was explored, with attention paid to clinicians’ perceptions of trauma. Eighty-nine Australian counsellors and psychotherapists (71 females and 18 males) completed a demographic survey, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Spiritual Well-Being Scale. It was found that existential well-being accounted for some of the variance in MBI subscale scores, and buffered the effect of trauma on emotional exhaustion. In addition, clinicians who reported high levels of existential well-being reported being better able to avoid emotional exhaustion when working with severely traumatised clients.     

Hidden Treasures in Theological Education: The Writing Tutor,the Spiritual Director,and Practices of Academic and Spiritual Mentoring

Mentoring is an important but often overlooked resource in theological education and students' academic and spiritual formation. This essay profiles the mentoring practices and postures of the writing tutor and the spiritual director as exemplars of academic and spiritual mentoring. An extended probe of this analogy affirms the integration of academic and spiritual formation as a core value in theological education; identifies mentoring in theological education as a hidden treasure fostering this integration and warranting attention as a theological practice; and re‐envisions the theological practice of mentoring under the traditional rubric of the “care of souls,” embracing the relational, educational, formational, spiritual, and rhetorical dimensions of this practice.     

Miracles in Sport: Finding the ‘Ears to Hear’ and the ‘Eyes to See’

Paralympic Games (PG), involving people with disabilities (PWD), are a manifestation of excellence in sport. They show that athletics performed by PWD counts as genuine sport. They also support a wider meaning of the term ‘health,’ understood not just like a utopian state of perfection, but like the ability to realize oneself in the projects and activities of one’s own choosing. Notwithstanding these virtues, PG—in their current form—may paradoxycally reinforce social prejudice against PWD. This is due to the fact that PG and Olympic Games (OG) are now two distinct events. In this article, I argue that PG should be integrated in the OG, just like women’s and ‘minor’ sports, because the separation of PG and OG indicates a morally arbitrary separation between people with and without disabilities. I also propose to remove the word ‘Para-lympic’ because it stigmatizes the sport performed by PWD as an appendix of ‘normal’ sport. Athletes with disabilities deserve special attention because they have special needs; but they also deserve an arena where their excellence is offered to the public, and this arena should not be different from that of normal-bodied athletes.     

The Personal and Social Correlates of Spiritual Well-Being Among Primary School Teachers

A sample of 311 primary school teachers completed the Spiritual Health in Four Domains Index alongside the abbreviated revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and measures of religiosity. The data demonstrate that higher levels of spiritual health are found among older teachers who record low scores on the psychoticism scale and who practice religious faith through church attendance and personal prayer.     

Spiritual Development Across the Adult Life Course: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Longitudinal data spanning early (30s) and older (late 60s/mid-70s) adulthood were used to study spiritual development across the adult life course in a sample of men and women belonging to a younger (born 1928/29) and an older (born 1920/21) age cohort. All participants, irrespective of gender and cohort, increased significantly in spirituality between late middle (mid-50s/early 60s) and older adulthood. Members of the younger cohort increased in spirituality throughout the adult life cycle. In the second half of adulthood, women increased more rapidly in spirituality than men. Spiritual involvement in older age was predicted by religious involvement and personality characteristics in early adulthood and subsequent experiences of negative life events.     

Toward a Psychology of Religion, Spirituality, Meaning-Search, and Aging: Past Research and a Practical Application

The current work is a combined review of several major theoretical issues in religious gerontology and of related research findings. It is intended to briefly inform, rather than to serve as a comprehensive review of the literature. The current author's primary goals are to put-forth points of information about contemporary terminology, to conceptualize motives for meaning-search at any age, to synthesize a few major findings and associated flaws in the research, and to describe a practical approach to the psychology of religion and spirituality (i.e., coping outcomes research). Within the current work, the reader is directed to sources of extensive reviews of data and of broader theoretical debates.