Overcoming Grief through Integration of Counseling and Spirituality (Dissertation Sample)

MSC DISSERTATION
University
Institute of Religious Studies
WORD COUNT 14,559 (EXC APPENDICES)
REDUCING
Overcoming Grief through Integration of Counseling and Spirituality.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Religious and Counseling
By
Name:
Id. No.
Dissertation supervisor:
May 2104
Declaration
I …………………………………….., confirm that this work submitted for assessment is my own and is expressed in my own words. Any uses made within it of the works of other authors in any form (e.g. ideas, equations, figures, text, tables, programs) are properly acknowledged At the point of their use. A full list of the references employed has been included.
Signed: …………………………………
Date: ……………………………………
TABLE OF CONTENT
Item NoDescriptionPage No.
AbstractIntroduction 5
Chapter One Statement of the problem 6
Purpose of the Study 7
Chapter TwoLiterature Review 9
Phase Of Grief 12
Shock/Acknowledgement 14
Denial/Acceptance 16
Guilt 17
Depression 19
Anger 19
Forgiveness 20
Hope / Action and Letting Go 22
Spirituality. 26
Chapter 3: Methodology 28
Chapter 4:Findings 29
Important elements of spirituality 29
Spirituality and benefits. 30
Health benefits. 30
Mental health benefits 32
Spiritual Psychology 35
Mind, Body and Spirit 37
The Conscious Self: The Physical Mind 38
The Higher Conscious Self: The Soul Mind 38
The Super Conscious Self: The Spirit Mind 39
The Divine Consciousness 39
Spiritual interventions 40
Prayer. 41
Biblical guidelines. 44
Counselor roles and competencies 46
Existential Therapy 51
Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendation 55
Dealing with Grief 55
Summary and Conclusions 59
REFERENCES 60
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Although sanguinity, societal support, piousness, and devoutness are imperative prognosticators of alteration, rarely have studies scrutinized these variables concurrently. This study investigated whether hopefulness and societal support arbitrated the affiliation between spirituality and alteration (grief and lifetime fulfillment) and between religiousness and alteration. Findings designate that the affiliation between inherent spirituality and lifetime satisfaction and between supplication gratification and life satisfaction was arbitrated by hopefulness and societal support. Additionally, the rapport between spirituality and alteration varied depending on how spirituality was operationalized and whether optimistic versus undesirable modification pointers were used..
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Statement of the problem.
Spirituality and counseling is an essential and vital element in the lives of many individuals. There has been a topical explosion of studies and research in this area. Spirituality is regarded as one of the four modules of overall well-being (Mohr, 2006). The four indispensable constituents of an individual, as noted by Mohr (2006), are the corporeal, demonstrative, communal, and mystical dimensions.
Spirituality and counseling may also play an imperative part in the individuality of an individual. People often make choices based upon their belief and may even observe certain rules of living established upon their mystical beliefs. Research has shown that devoutness is associated with values of completeness, hopefulness, connotation, synchronization, and transcending (O’ Reilly, 2004). These values help characters cope with stressors in the world and endeavor toward attainment of their natural potential. An imperative factor is ignored when the clinician fails to integrate devoutness into the management of a mystical individual.
The research and development of several methods related to incorporation have evolved over time (Richards, Rector, & Tjeltveit, 1999). These methods are moderately new, receiving mixed assessments from individuals in the field of psychology. In general, some clinicians are cynical about the incorporation of spirituality and therapy, based on the belief that this new branch of psychology may be seen as irrational or invalid (Lindridge, 2008). Other therapists, however, have embraced this new purview and continue to work towards a vigorous integration of spirituality into their practice (Shafranske & Sperry, 1990)
The cognitive-behavioral method has extended to include spirituality. Within this approach, the therapist exploits the basic doctrines of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in permutation with spiritual values and beliefs to treat the client (Beitel, Genova, Schuman-Olivier, Arnold, Avants, & Margolin, 2007). Integrating a theory that is empirically authenticated with new tenets of spirituality will allow the testing of a theory of incremental cogency by amalgamating these two approaches. Once the two approaches are combined, it is practicable for the investigator to test this new approach to provide empirical corroboration.
Research has shown that cognitive-behavioral therapy is an operative form of treatment for persons who are experiencing depressive indicators (Beck, 1997). Additional studies suggest that features of spirituality assist in diminishing depressive symptoms (Blazer, 2007). The incorporation of spirituality in cognitive-behavioral therapy may assist in alleviating the depressive symptoms of a religious client. The treatment embraces the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual facets of the client through the application of a holistic approach that addresses each of these domains.
Purpose of the study.
The purpose of this study was the creation of an integrated approach to address overcoming grief by combining spirituality and counseling. A case study was used to analyze the effects of a spiritually informed cognitive behavioral approach and its effects on depression. A manualized treatment approach references the works of cognitive-behavioral therapists and spiritually oriented treatments that combine cognitive-behavioral techniques with spiritual components. Measures of depression, religiosity, therapeutic alliance, treatment adherence, and cognitive distortions establish a baseline and assess treatment progress throughout the case study. The impact of the designed manualized treatment was examined.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
In our day-to-day life, people go through different trials and tribulations. The various trials people face in their life sometimes causes a lot of grief and destabilizes their emotions. These trials may include facing the physical death of a loved one, or traumatic events such as abuse or rape. This causes an individual to go through different phases of grief and internal conflict. Grief occurs not just from the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a family pet, a job, one's health or independence. It also occurs when individuals feel the loss of their own freedom, security, and innocence, especially when these events are associated with victimization and trauma.
Kenneth Pargament, professor of psychology at Bowling Green University, has published extensively on the value of religion and spirituality in coping with grief. He writes, "Illness, accident, interpersonal conflicts, divorce, layoffs, and death are more than just ‘significant life events.’ They raise profound and disturbing questions about our place and purpose in the world, they point to the limits of our powers, and they underscore out finitude. … These deep questions call for a spiritual response." (Pargament, 2007, p. 11)
Sometimes it is hard to separate the effects of a physical loss with those of abuse or victimization. Most of the times when a person is in a grief mood he or she is asking herself many questions of why and at the same time trying to heal. Understanding the phases of grief and allowing oneself to feel as the individual moves through those phases can help with the healing process. There is more to the understanding than just reading and allowing the self to feel the emotions.
While in grief, an individual must make a conscious effort to control their actions in an effort to move forward instead of allowing the situation to anchor their mental health in the past. The key is to not allow the past and actions of others to control you now or in your future. We can't go back and change the things we went through. However, we can learn from them, heal ourselves in the process and let go of the control these events and the people involved in them may have on our life.
Grief can be defined by the various occurrences of a number of events in an individual’s life. It is during this period that many people feel the most alone and segregated from the world around them. Grief can also be the ultimate example of Existentialism in action. It comes in many forms of loss. Loss of a treasured one, an affiliation, a household pet, a job, one's wellbeing or individuality, even one's own liberty. Different people from dealing with loss in many forms, from hopelessness to renunciation or more solemn antiphons that disturb a person’s wellbeing and mental health.
Everyone has a way of dealing with every day grief, t...