I Am Developing As Defined By My Research Findings

Hawkins and Clinton (2015), stated that using the knowledge of counseling and incorporating it in the theology and spirituality, delivers a deeper counseling session with clients seeking a closer connection to God and a sense of hope (p. 8). Psychological issues apart from spiritual issues are presented in the text. Hawkins and Clinton (2015) argue the “overcoming the faith gap” as an issue, and state that the most challenging part for clients seeking services is doubting the fact that, incorporating theology/spirituality counseling may not fulfill their needs (p.

The Faith, Importance and influence, Community, and Address in Care (FICA) Spiritual History Tool provides a way for “the clinician to efficiently integrate open-ended questions into a standard medical history and can be used by any health care professional” (Borneman, Ferrell, & Puchalski, 2010). The FICA tool explores the presence of faith, the importance of spirituality, the influence a person’s spirituality has on their health care decisions, the involvement in a spiritual community, and the interventions to address spiritual needs (Borneman et al., 2010).

Week’s Work: This week was a discovery of my personality, strengths and weaknesses, and spiritual gifts. Before taking administering the various assessments, I spent a great deal of time reading on the importance of the emotional health of a leader by Peter Scazzero. Additionally, I performed the emotional assessment from both of Scazzero’s books, The Emotionally Healthy Church and The Emotionally Healthy Leader. Each assessment focused on the various aspects of emotional health. I was challenged by the results of the assessments. According to Scazzero’s assessments, I function as an emotional adolescent. However, in the area of embracing grief and loss, I am an emotional child. The finding forced me to evaluate how I handle

The benefits of religious counselling is it’s proven efficacy Nathaniel (2005) that illustrates clients as experiencing a greater feeling of closeness within the

4. Hodge, D. (2001). Spiritual assessment: a review of major qualitative methods and a new framework for assessing spirituality. Social Work , 203-214

Across cultures, common experiences after a child’s death such as disconnectedness from friends and family, abandonment of faith, isolation, and guilt can create multiple dilemmas for families. Shaking their belief in the order of the world, this type of traumatic loss often fosters a sense of total helplessness. Spirituality can play an important role, across cultures, in helping families to heal and discover meaning after a child’s death. In many Native American tribes, soul-searching, meditation, and ancestor prayer may play a role in providing an altered state of consciousness that is necessary for some to discover meaning in the loss. The social worker can do the following to encourage and facilitate an open dialogue that enables, empowers, and engages Native American families:

I stumbled through the first thirty-eight years of life attempting to mask the hurts caused by myself and others. I was my own worst critic fueled by raging addictions and chaos; searching to find a perfection that could never be achieved. Life was a hurricane of madness and at the center of that storm was the Father waiting for me to give Him my whole heart. The purpose of this paper is to show through those who have been studied, the textbooks that have been read and my own opinions; the counseling methods and

Parker, M., Lee Roff, L., Klemmack, D. L., Koenig, H. G., Baker, P., & Allman, R. M. (2003). Religiosity and mental health in southern, community-dwelling older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 7(5), 390-397.

In 2011 Mark McMinn updates his book on Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, which discloses three important perspectives of Christian counseling. This recently evolving frontier for Christian counselors is what McMinn calls interdisciplinary integration. The relationship between psychology and theology is not the vital key component, but it’s how Christian faith is practiced in counseling. Bringing religion into the counseling office will bring challenges but with personal spiritual training and professional development it can be accomplished. McMinn shares a theoretical map on the prospective values and dangers of using religious interventions in counseling. In the first two chapters McMinn establishes a framework on the variety of religious interventions like prayer, the use of Scripture, forgiveness, and so on. Theses chapters would be part 1 of a 2 broad part that lays down a foundation for the rest of the book. The chapters that follow would be part 2 that explains the indispensable components in McMinn’s methodology to the integration of psychology, theology, and spiritualty in counseling. Psychology, theology, and spirituality is highlighted in the sessions of Christian counseling by guiding the person who reads an insightful understanding of integrating stages of: prayer, scripture, sin, confession,

The Cokesbury United Methodist Church grief support group follows a thirteen-week curriculum from GriefShare, however, new members can join in at any time as each week has a “self-contained” lesson. The topic for the week I attendee focused on the “why” of losing a loved one. Through following this curriculum, the group seeks to equip members with “essentials to recover from the hurt of grief and loss.” (GriefShare, n.d.) The group focuses on helping members rebuild their lives after they experience tremendous loss and grief through facing the challenge together. (GriefShare, n.d.)

Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling by Mark R. McMinn (McMinn, 1996) covers a Christian counselor's life in and out of counseling sessions. McMinn's book is dedicated to recognizing and developing the relationship between counseling and Christian faith rather than a dry Theology. This resource work divides the discussion into 8 chapters, each addressing a vital aspect of Christian psychological counseling and each having a section outlining challenges, methods and anticipated outcomes. The first chapter is co-written with James C. Wilhoit and stresses the importance of the counseling/faith relationship while presenting various challenges confronting the counselor and possible approaches to facing those challenges. The second chapter enumerates the Christian faith's major

The mental health field has a heritage of 100 years of ignoring and pathologizing spiritual experiences and religion (Lukoff, 2000). In 1994, a new diagnostic category called “Religious or Spiritual Problem” was introduced in the DSM–IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). For the first time, there is acknowledgement of distressing religious and spiritual experiences as nonpathological problems. As a co-author of the new category, Lukoff and Turner (1995) indicated that adequate training is not proved by most graduate programs and internship sites to prepare them to deal with religion and spirituality issues.

As we experience aging, we may face more life changes and increasing the risk of diseases. Eliopoulos (2014) stated that strong spiritual beliefs facilitate health and healing. Therefore, some older adults can overcome their health problems easier with a strong faith. In addition, spiritual not only gives the older adult a sense of meaning and purpose of their life but also give them a chance review their life. Eliopoulos

The support services that can be beneficial for Kesha is joining a religious based women’s group that can attend and relate to other women. Stanley, Bush, Camp, Jameson, Phillips, Barber, Zeno, Lomax, and Cully (2011) reveal that individuals who attend forms of religious/spirituality coping organizations, have lower stress/depression, less mortality, and higher health benefits. By offering a facility that aims towards women and incorporates Kesha’s religious beliefs, it can reduce her anxiety and depression, have a support groups, and use her religion as a treatment.

When using the FICA spiritual History tool (Pulchalski, 2006), M.L. discussed both spirituality and social support (Appendix H). M.L. considers herself to be spiritual, but not religious. Being close to nature, her family, and her pets gives her life meaning. She prays to God, but feels deviated from a church environment and does not want to belong to a church. She did not want to disclose further information, but summarized her preferences by having a past of traumatic experiences regarding her family’s Catholic following and her education in a Catholic school environment.