Shaken to the Core: Spiritual Struggles as a Vital Topic for Clinical Practice and Research
Information
Recorded
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Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Identify six types of spiritual struggles encountered in clinical practice and research.
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Distinguish among six types of spiritual struggles encountered in clinical practice and research.
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Assess for the presence of spiritual struggles in the assessment process.
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Access four clinical resources to help people facing spiritual struggles reduce distress and achieve greater wholeness and growth.
Educational Goal
The educational goal of this workshop is to foster the ability of participants to understand and address spiritual struggles in the context of their clinical practice.
Description
Spiritual struggles are tensions, strains, and conflicts around sacred matters involving the supernatural, other people, and within oneself. Drawing on research findings, we will make several key points: a) spiritual struggles are commonplace across virtually every orientation to spirituality (including atheism), demographic groups, cultures, and various physical and mental health problems; (b) spiritual struggles have been robustly associated with greater distress and serious mental health and physical health problems; and (c) spiritual struggles have also been associated less consistently with reports of personal growth and transformation. We will then discuss how spiritual struggles can be assessed in the context of healthcare. We conclude by considering several ways healthcare professionals can assist patients experiencing spiritual struggles.
Target Audience
- Counselor
- Marriage & Family Therapist
- Medical Doctor
- Psychologist
- Social Worker
- Substance Use Disorder Professionals
Presenters
Kenneth Pargament, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of psychology at Bowling Green State University and adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Baylor Medical College. He has authored over 300 articles on the relationship between religion and mental health. He has written The Psychology of Religion and Coping and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy. Dr. Pargament is Editor-in-Chief of the two-volume APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. With Julie Exline, he has authored the recently released Working with Spiritual Struggles in Psychotherapy: From Research to Practice. He was Distinguished Scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. His awards include the Oskar Pfister Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 2009, the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Professional Chaplains in 2015, the first Outstanding Contribution to the Applied Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Award from Division 36 of APA in 2017, and an honorary doctor-of-letters from Pepperdine University in 2013. He was named one of the 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists.
Financially Sponsored By
- American Psychosocial Oncology Society