Spiritual empathy is to be able to feel and understand what another person is feeling or trying to communicate. As social workers, we work with clients who are going through a life crisis. A life crisis would be anything that threatens the clients well being. Stress and anxiety can lead to health problems and damaging dysfunctional behaviors. To best serve our clients we have to show spiritual empathy. Spiritual methods of therapy are controversial among workers in the health field including social workers. Many are not comfortable using spiritual interventions. Being spiritually empathetic can help the social worker notice signs of spiritual need. I believe that spiritual empathy is crucial in order to help the client’s needs. In this paper I will go over the importance of spiritual empathy, recognize spiritual needs, and interventions.
Spiritual empathy has been said to be the key element in providing spiritual care for the client’s spiritual well-being (Chism, 2007). The idea of spiritual empathy is to feel another person’s spiritual needs regardless of religious beliefs or not. This is different from sympathy whereas one is able to understand what another is going through. Buddhist believes in spiritual direction. This is a teacher student relationship where the teacher uses empathy and wisdom to be a spiritual friend. Spiritual direction’s are said to be able to provide a deeper level of empathy. A spiritual director is able to tell a student aspect of their feeling that they did not even realize. This act can be done by anyone who has a heighten level of empathy.
There is evidence suggesting that attention to one’s spirituality influences the ability to cope with illness, help in the prevention of illn...
... middle of paper ...
..., 48(11), 597-605. (Document ID: 1901771251).
Cicirelli, V. (2011). Religious and Nonreligious Spirituality in Relation to Death Accptance or Rejection, Death Studies, 35:2,124-146. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2011.535383
David E Balk. (1999). Bereavement and spiritual change. Death Studies, 23(6), 485-493. Retrieved from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 44525258).
Dhamani K., Paul P., and Olson K. J., (2011) “Tanzanian Nurses Understanding and Practice of Spiritual Care,” ISRN Nursing, vol. 2011, Article ID 534803, 7 pages, 2011. doi:10.5402/2011/534803
Walsh, K., King, M., Jones, L., Tookman, A., & Blizard, R., (2002). Spiritual beliefs may affect outcome of bereavement: Prospective study. British Medical Journal, 324(7353), 1551. Retrieved July 6, 2011, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 134151571).
Weaver, Andrew J. and Kevin J. Flannelly. “The Role of Religion/Spirituality for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers.” Southern Medical Journal 97 (December 2004): pp. 97-98. 1210-1214. Spiegel, David. The 'Standard'.
Cunningham, M. (2012). Integrating Spirituality in Clinical Social Work Practice: Walking the Labyrinth (1 ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.
A Biopsychosocial spiritual assessment (BPSS) is vital to use when providing a framework for the client’s presenting problems. It serves as a guide to help Social Workers determine how the client’s biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions affect their overall functioning. The BPSS assessment allows the Social Worker to view the client holistically, examine barriers that prevent the client from receiving proper treatment, and the ways the client’s interacting systems have an impact in their life. For the purpose of this paper, I will complete a biopsychosocial assessment based on the information my client has disclosed to me and implement strategies necessary to achieve his treatment goals.
Clinton, T. & Ohlschlager, G. (2002). Competent Christian counseling: Foundations and practice of compassionate soul care. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press.
It is estimated that around a dozen U.S. children will die in faith-healing cases each year. Typically associated with Christianity, Faith healing is founded on the belief that certain people or places have the ability to cure and heal sickness, disease, or injuries. Typically this “healing” is associated by a close connection to a higher power through prayer, divine intervention, or the ministration of an individual who claims himself as a healer. Faith has been scientifically proven in the field psychology to yield benefits to health. Although faith has promised a greater wellbeing for many individual’s lives, it has yet to be a significant replacement for medication many people but relaying on faith as a means for medication.
I can distinguish between, various disorders and their impact on the patient such as Bipolar affective disorder and the distinct stages of mania and affect, the patient is presenting with, exposure to mental health disorders as an extension of the individual including symptoms and presentation has significantly contributing to my understanding of the mental health. the diversity and range he along the spectrum has increased my understanding as well as treatment services such as TMS AND ECT Although the analysis demonstrates the success of religious integration in group therapy and cohesion, it is necessary to consider individuals from other religions and those who are not religious or atheist. Sigurdardottir’s et al. (2016) wellness program may have shown prominent success due to the program leaning towards general activities such as yoga, art therapy and relaxation exercises with a focus on mind and body, irrespective of religious affiliation. Likewise, Tutty, Bubbins-Wagner and Rothery’s (2015) evaluation of the 14-week therapy program, You’re Not Alone also demonstrated improved mental wellbeing of the participants based on the interventions like character building, positive reinforcement and active role play which highlighted aggressive, abusive characters and the typical behaviours in relationships. the ability to interatw with a patient,
McMinn (2011) establishes the topical history of integrating psychology and theology, and promptly transitions to the necessity of inclusion for spirituality into counseling sessions; he cogitates three queries: Will this aid in establishing a healthy sense of self? Will this aid in establishing a healthy sense of need? Will this aid in establishing a healing relationship? (McMinn, 2011, pg. 32). These three components cater to psychological and spiritual health. Christian counseling helps the client move away from need, a faulty sense of self, and relationships to “an assured sense of self, a cognizance of human need and limits, and revealing interpersonal relationships with others and most importantly, God” (p. 59). McMinn (2011) provides intervention tools needed for effective therapy. However, amid the six challenges, counselors can see the risks in implementing the suggested tools with: defining relevant ethical standards, establishing a scientific base, confronting dominant views of health, expanded definitions of training, blurred pers...
This paper will discuss three different religions that a health care provider may care for in the nursing field. It will discuss the spiritual perspective, as well as the critical components of healing, such as through prayer and meditation. The writer will give a brief summary of each religions belief. The three religions that will be discussed in this paper are Native American, Hinduism, and Buddhism. This paper will discuss what is important to people who are cared for of a particular faith by the health care provider who may have an entirely different belief system. The writer will discuss how a patient may view a health care provider who puts aside his or her own beliefs in the interest of the beliefs and practices of the patient that is being cared for. The writer of this paper is of Christian belief and will compare her beliefs of faith and healing with the three previously mentioned religions.
According to the authors, research has shown that there is a global connection between spirituality and religion and health. The global connection involved how often a person attended church and denomination affiliation, which both provide a prediction of health-related outcomes. Further, the authors reference a meta-analysis of religious involvement and mortality that shows that 126,000 participants who scored high on the religious indices had a 29% higher odd of survival. This analysis also indicated that the involvement needed to only be basic and
Throughout history, it seems that medicine and spirituality have been linked in many circumstances. In a study looking at the use of complementary and alternative therapies in cardiac patients, spiritual healing was one of many practices patient sought to utilize. In another study, 29% of participants chose to use prayer or premeditation as a way to cope with their chronic illness. In both studies, prayer or meditation was more likely to be used by individuals who had a large social network, as well as support from another person in the same health situation. Based on these studies, it seems that many individuals (not just cardiovascular patients) turn to their spirituality in times of health distress.
In compassion meditation interventions, participants must receive detailed instructions pertaining to the meditative technique that they are to practice in class and then at home for the following weeks (Desbordes et al. 2012). The intervention programs must be examined or tested in cultural context in order to explain the protective power of self-compassion in a clear manner (Ozyesdl & Akbag, 2013). In addition, therapy may be further advanced by improving ways of accessing and facilitating the development of different forms of interpersonal safeness and compassion and addressing the fears of compassion (Gilbert, 2010).
A difficulty that has occurred commonly is that a definition of spirituality cannot be agreed on. In a broad explanation of both religion as well as spirituality, religion constitutes the organization of faith, implementing prayer, ministry and theology. Spirituality could be viewed as a more individualized experience with a higher being, creator or idea (Walker et al., 2004, p. 70). These expressions allow a vision of client diversity that is found in all counseling classifications. While defining religion and spirituality properly seems trivial, when training counselors to properly apply the use of such variables in their therapies, a concrete explanation is imperative.
Carl R. Rogers theorized that through providing a certain kind of relationship with the client, one in which empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence were present, the client would “discover within himself the capacity to the relationship for growth, and change and personal development” . As a counselor empathy is essential as it allows me to enter my clients internal frame of reference, while still retaining a problem-solving stance. Entering the client’s internal frame of reference means I must consider the emotions and thoughts of the client, it is similarly vital not to get lost in the internal frame of reference as this creates the distinction between sympathy and empathy. Unconditional positive regard, also called acceptance is essential as it plays a role in creating a helping relationship in which the client feels safe to express any negative emotions or thoughts, while being...
A spirit is something that may be felt in the essence of the world but ultimately guides understanding into the meaning of life. Spirituality is often perceived in different ways by different cultures, religions, families, or even the individual. Often, the common theme that spirituality focuses on something greater than the physical world and allows people to feel connected to what it truly means to be a human on earth.
This paper will include a self-assessment of my own spirituality and how I view spirituality. Peer-reviewed scholarly articles will be included in the essay pertaining to spirituality and my belief. In the following paragraphs will also include the integration of spirituality within social work practice. I believe spirituality does various things for me in my life: it heals me, helps in a time of need, and guides me towards positive aspects of life, which many people believe the spirit does the same for them.