Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 1. Unit Nine Lesson: Final Project: Spiritual and Psychological Inventory. Derek Hyde

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 1. Unit Nine Lesson: Final Project: Spiritual and Psychological Inventory. Derek Hyde"

Timothy Powell
5 years ago
Views:

1 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 1 Unit Nine Lesson: Final Project: Spiritual and Psychological Inventory Derek Hyde HW420: Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing June 18, 2015 Kaplan University

2 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 2 Unit Nine Lesson: Spiritual and Physical Inventory The purpose of this report is to create a spiritual and psychological inventory that is designed with the purpose to help the client better understand their current state of wellness. The following ten questions have been developed specifically with the intent to help the client to recognize the aspect of their life that may be affecting their quest for spiritual blissfulness and are in need of correction within their spiritual and psychological self. These ten questions have well thought out to help provide the client with ways in order to accomplish becoming spiritually and psychologically healthy and well. Conception of the absolute or divine. A person s conception of the divine is expressed in what that person's belief, image or experience of divinity may or may not be. With spiritual maturity, people also tend to view their own images as finite; or more as symbols that point to the reality of the divine. Always be alert to psychological contamination of the conception that is more related to the person s issues than God per se (Ingersoll, 1996). 1. Do you believe in or that there is a higher power? Response of interviewer: Yes, I have a strong belief that there is a higher power or a god if you would rather me say, that created life and watches over us like we are his/her children (Stewart, 2015). Emotional well-being. A person s emotional well-being most often is defined as the ability to feel and express the entire range of human emotions (everything from anger to love) and to control them, not to be controlled by them (Seaward, 2012). Having the ability to correctly control your emotions can help anyone stay on a successful spiritual path. 2. How is your emotional well-being? Does it seem to control you or do you control it? Response of interviewer: For the most part I would have to say that my emotional

3 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 3 well-being is controlled by me and that I very seldom let it control me. However, though I am still only human Stewart, 2015). Having meaning in life. This is the individual sense that his/her life is worth living and that they have a purpose. This can become an overwhelming question in times of crisis but is not limited to just these moments. A person s meaning or self-worth can be an explicit sense of what it is that makes their life meaningful or more importantly give that person a sense of purpose. Meaning does not have to be explicit. It may be simply a sense that pervades one's experiences. Many times meaning is expressed in being at peace with the question of meaning (Ingersoll, 1996). 3. Do you feel that your life has meaning or a purpose? Response of interviewer: Yes, I my life has a meaning and a purpose. It took me a long time to figure this out, but as I got older I began to realize what my purpose in life is (Stewart, 2015). Being optimistic and not pessimistic. People that live, breath and think that optimistic style of explaining why good things always happen to them or being able to always see the up-swing to an event that at the time may seem terrible is the opposite of the same optimistic style of explaining why bad events occur. Then on the other side of the spectrum are those people that truly believe good things that have a permanent cause are more optimistic than those who believe they have temporary ones (Seligman,Ph.D., 2006). 4. Do you believe in optimism? Which would you say that you are more of an optimist or pessimist? Response of interviewer: If you had asked me that question when I was younger I would have told you that I was more pessimist that optimist. Now that I am older and have more life experience, I would say that I am an optimistic person. Problems are only what you make of them and most if not all of them are always

4 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 4 temporary and not permanent. Something good always comes from something bad! Yes, I believe in being optimistic (Stewart, 2015). The feeling of hope. This is the experience that the suffering one is going through is not in vain or going to last forever. Like the sense of freedom, it too is an experience of, ultimately, feeling ultimately safe in our lives. Hope is also expressed as faith that there is some reality to our lives, and that allows individuals to endure life experiences of suffering. Some people have said that loss of hope implies loss of faith in God; in that the hopeless person is feigning omniscience; by assuming they know that things are going to be bad forever and always (Ingersoll, 1996). 5. Do you ever lose the feeling of hope? When was the last time you felt this? Response of interviewer: Yes, when I was a younger person I always felt that my future was going to be bleak and meaning less, that I was just going to turn out a complete failure. I didn t have much hope. However, as I aged and matured, I realized that hope is all around us. Life teaches us what hope is all about and that it s important to have. Hope is what makes us human and separates the strong from the weak (Stewart, 2015). The act of forgiveness. This dimension reflects one's attitudes toward giving and receiving forgiveness. Forgiveness can be described as a journey of sorts that one embarks on with the acceptation that there are no guaranteed end results. To sum it up, that act of true forgiveness is the willful process engaged in from both the giving and receiving ends combined with the magic that heals (Ingersoll, 1996).

5 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 5 6. Do you know how to forgive those who have wronged you? Response of interviewer: Would I say that yes I am able to forgive those that have wronged me in the past, but I never forget (Stewart, 2015). Having a sense of spiritual balance. Being in a complete state of harmonious balance with your personal life and with your spirituality is important. When we fall out of balance we can lose track of the goals that we have set forth for ourselves. Things that may not bother us become bothersome or annoying and affect our spirit. Staying positive and getting back to spiritual balance helps to keep you on track and centered. The centering process is a time where we sit still and quiet the mind. The word center means to enter the heart. In doing so, we explore the vast landscape of the soul (Seaward, 2012). 7. Do you feel that you are in spiritual balance? Response from interview: At this point and time in my life I feel exceptionally in balance spiritually. There are sometimes when I feel a bit off balance, but a session of meditation usually helps (Stewart, 2015). Humor is more than just laughing. Humor isn t a mood, but it can promote a positive mood of happiness. Between parody and irony, between double entrendres and slapstick humor, there are literally hundreds of things to make our lips curl and faces laugh. The author, Mark Twain once said it best; that humor is one of mankind s greatest blessings. There are many that profoundly insist that a good sense of humor is what truly saved their lives in times of stress and their darkest moments (Seaward, 2012). 8. Do you think having a good sense of humor is helpful in life? Response form interview: Yes, I have often said that my sense of humor is one of the things I

6 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 6 appreciate the most. Being able to laugh about things when your down helps to make the tough times in life somehow easier and not so bad (Stewart, 2015). Compassion is more than just an act, it s also an emotion. To be able to truly love without reciprocation, to care for someone or something without recognition or reward, this is what true compassion is meant to be. Compassion is the ability for one to freely feel and express love when fear is an easier choice. Mother Teresa was compassion personified. You don t have to be a saint to feel compassion. Love should be the fabric of our souls (Seaward, 2012). 9. Are you spiritually compassionate? I would like to think that I am, or at least I try to be. I think that being compassionate with others is an emotion that we must learn over time as we experience life (Stewart, 2015). What does it mean to have spiritual freedom? The idea of spiritual freedom comes from a dimension that is directly related to one's capacity for play, their experience or lessons learned from life and the world being known as a "safe place," a sense of freedom from fear and desire in living, and one's willingness to make a commitment. It includes the ability to "forget oneself" and all types of play. Play and freedom are sincere but not serious. They are meaningful but not necessarily purposeful (Ingersoll, 1996). 10. How is you spiritual freedom? Do you ever explore it? Response from interview: I would have to say that I feel as though I have a fairly open spiritual freedom in the sense. I have begun to realize that it s the simple things in life and the small sequential moments and brief experiences that we take from each and other are what help us to grow both fundamentally and spiritually (Stewart, 2015). For use with a client seeking spiritual health and wellness, I would use these ten questions and probable a few more that delved a little bit deeper into their spiritual essence to help me help

7 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 7 them to get the most out of their spiritual quest. I would also put this in a questioner form as well, something that the client could take with them and fill out. Over all I am pleased with what I asked for questions during my interview. I feel as though the questions that I asked where appropriate for the subject matter at hand. One thing that I might have consider to do was to ask questions that might help the client to answer their own questions, sort of a self-help guide.

8 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 8 Reference Seaward, Brian Luke. (2012). Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for Personal Health, 2nd Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning, VitalBook file. Seligman, M. (2006). Learned Optimism How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Vintage Books. New York. Ingersoll, E. (1996). The Spiritual Wellness Inventory. Retrieved June 18, 2015, from Stewart, B. (2015). Interview Subject. Retrieved June 18, 2015

9 Spiritual and Psychological Inventory 9 Unit Nine Lesson: Final Project: Spiritual and Psychological Inventory

current state of wellness I utilized 12 questions. The questionnaire was used to interview a

In creating a spiritual and psychological inventory that can be used to determine the current state of wellness I utilized 12 questions. The questionnaire was used to interview a subject to help them understand