Transcript Spiritual Development: Spiritual Crisis as Positive

Spiritual Development:
Spiritual Crisis as
Positive Maladjustment
The Seventh International Congress of
the Institute for Positive Disintegration in Human Development
August 3-5, 2006
Calgary, Alberta
Cecile de Vries, B.A.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Candidate)
& Dawn Johnston, B.Sc., M.Sc.(Candidate)
University of Calgary
Overview
1. Introduction
2. Spiritual Crisis & Development
• Definition
• Relation to Mental Health
• Dark Night of the Soul
3. Theoretical Considerations
•
•
•
•
Fowler
Jung
Dabrowski
Spiritual Crisis as Positive Maladjustment
4. Therapeutic Considerations
• Spiritual Giftedness
• Counselling Implications
5. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Introduction
I feel guilty for the pressure of food in my full stomach and the heat of the sun on
my unworthy face. I try to pray to God to help me understand what I’m going
through, but I cannot find Him. Either He is not available to me, or I am no
longer available to Him, I don’t know how it went or why. I’ve pulled away
from my faith and for reasons unknown to me I cannot enter a church without
a wave of emotions; nameless and washing over me, sweeping the self I
thought I knew out to a sea of bewilderment and anguish.
I bob in this sea alone, with nothing but antidepressants and therapy to keep my
head above water. Many times I have wanted to hold myself under to end my
life of trying to stay afloat for a purpose I can not see or feel, but am assured
exists. I’ve treaded here for years searching for something, anything to hold
onto long enough to understand how I got in as deep as I have. I am in the
midst of so many things in my life. I didn’t have to feel so lost. This is not
supposed to be happening…
Introduction
• Such experiences exist during times of
suffering in the darkness.
• An an experience that missiles one further
into the blackness…
• Or, towards the light…
Introduction
• Historically, psychology has been separated
from spirituality/religion.
• Psychology = psyche + logos
= “study of the soul”
• More recently, research has found
spirituality/ religious practice to be
impacting on mental health.
• Psychology can not ethically disregard
spirituality/religion.
Introduction
• Renewed interest in spiritual concerns.
• Religion is central to one’s view of the
world.
• Impact of religion can be positive or
devastating.
Introduction
• Differences between religion and spirituality.
• Interchangeability of terms.
• Spirituality:
Being spiritual suggests a personal commitment to a
process of inner development that engages us in our
totality. Spirituality is a way of life that affects and
includes every moment of existence. It is at once a
contemplative attitude, a disposition to a life of depth, and
the search for ultimate meaning, direction, and belonging.
The spiritual person is committed to growth as an
essential, ongoing life goal. Spirituality draws us in to the
depth of our being, where we come face to face with
ourselves, our weaknesses, and with ultimate mystery.
- Teasdale, 2001, p. 17-18.
2. Spiritual Crisis &
Development
Spiritual Crisis
• Several Definitions:
– Armentrout
– Miller
– Moore
– Grof and Grof
Spiritual Crisis or Mental Illness?
• Grof and Grof:
– Strong inner knowing
– Visions
– Feeling an energy presence
– Hearing voices
– Connections with nature
– Losing contact with material world
– Feeling at one with the universe
– Past life memories
– Out of body experiences
– Talking in tongues
Spiritual Crisis or Mental Illness?
• Carl Jung:
Reflection of collective unconscious
• Abraham Maslow:
Experiences in self-actualization
• Ken Wilber:
Connection with realities beyond ordinary
sense
Spiritual Crisis: Our Definition
Not in finding out what has been happening
to/with a client,
but…
How they will derive/construct meanings
from such experiences as experienced,
understood, and interpreted by
themselves.
Dark Night of the Soul
• St. John of the Cross:
– Model of spiritual development
– Draws individual initially further from their
beliefs, but then ultimately closer
– Time in between this is Dark Night of the
Soul
• Thomas Moore:
– Distinction between Dark Night and
mental illness
3. Theoretical Considerations
James Fowler
• Theorists on faith/spiritual development
- Ken Wilber:
Spectral Model of Consciousness
- James Fowler:
Stages of Faith Development.
Stages of Faith Development
• Fowler defined faith: a set of
assumptions/understandings about the
nature of connection with the self and the
world.
• Faith development: a sequential and linear
process from stage to stage equated with a
particular time period.
• Concerns with a progressive & definitive
model for such an individual process.
Carl Jung
• Embraced the connection between mental health
and spirituality:
- the object of psychology is the soul/spirit
- the soul/spirit is responsible for becoming
psychological healthy individuals
•
Archetypal
framework describes inner processes
related to spirituality.
• Thus, encounters with soul/spirit are necessary for
psychological, hence, spiritual development.
Process of Individuation
• Spiritual process by which personality is built up and of moving
toward one’s totality.
• Becoming more conscious of the unconscious.
• Embarked upon because of
– spiritual necessity in analysis as occasioned by a neurosis,
– external events that force humans to the centres of their
beings, or
– the inner urge to find and obtain the truth
• Accomplished by discovering the Self through a paradoxical
process--exploring the darkness to find the light.
Kazimierz Dabrowski
• Mental health symptoms are signs of disintegration,
and, therefore, personality development.
• Theory of Positive Disintegration emphasizes the
purpose of disintegration, psychoneurosis, and inner
conflict in development.
• Dark Night of the Soul: development is a natural
process & involves movement through a dark night.
• A period of disintegration, or a dark night, is present
during, and necessary for personality development,
which includes spiritual development.
Theory of
Positive Disintegration
• Movement from lower to higher levels of personal
development.
•
Process:
Primary Integration
Disintegration
Secondary Integration
•
A period of disintegration can be a spiritual crisis,
or a dark night, followed by the integration of the
spiritual self.
Link to Spiritual Crisis &
Development
• Rigid, instinctual egocentrism  Conscious altruism
Attitudes & adjustment established in the external
environment  ideal, emerging personality,
authentic/autonomous values that are independent
& directly opposite
“What is”  “what ought to be”
• Movement from lower to higher level
emotions/attitudes are occurring in spiritual
development.
• Thus, may be applied to spiritual crisis &
development.
Developmental Potential
• Determines the level that can be reached & one
goes through the process.
• Is seen in heightened responses to life’s stimuli, or
“overexcitability,”expressed through developmental
dynamisms:
1. Genetic predisposition/biological cycle
2. Questions social conformity
3. Self-determination, autonomy & authenticity
(also called “active conscience”)
• It is not the type or degree of D.P. , or inner
urge/knowing that will determine spiritual
development, but also the supernatural.
Positive Maladjustment
• Crises are vital & often when individuals
become aware of changes.
• Individuals adjust to their inner worlds
– Positively
– Negatively
• Positive Maladjustment: when D.P. interact
with crises and psychoneuroses to result in
positive adjustment to “what ought to be”
and growing maladjustment to “what is.”
4. Therapeutic Considerations
Spiritual Giftedness
• Piechowski:
– Student of Dabrowski
– Came to study spiritual giftedness
through Dabrowski and Anna Marie
Roeper (emotional giftedness) and his
own work in transpersonal psychology
Spiritual Giftedness
• William James:
– Visible world is part of more spiritual
universe
– Union/harmonious relation with higher
universe is our true end
– Prayer/inner communion w/spirit results in
strengthened spiritual connection
– New zest for life
– Peaceful temperament
Spiritual Giftedness
• Edward Hoffman:
– Spontaneous moments-peak
experiences
– Eternal presence-awareness of higher
power in everything
– Experience of life force
– Sense of inner conviction
– New sense of self
Counselling Considerations
• Perry:
– Notes “spirit” in spiritual crisis
– Hebrew for “air in motion”
– Felt as strong energy moving through
– Therapist to help release this pent up
energy
Counselling Considerations
• Client’s reluctance to discuss
religious/spiritual issues
• Therapist openness
• Referral if necessary
• Help client to nurture soul
Counselling Considerations
Jung’s Four Personality Functions &
Devotional Life
–
–
–
–
Intuition
Sensation
Thinking
Feeling
Counselling Considerations
• Awareness of differing philosophical
definitions
• Familiarity with literature
– e.g., Catholic guilt
• Be open to the creativity of the soul
Counselling Considerations
• Armentrout’s Heart Cry-Biblical Model
– Sensitivity to external and internal
situations
a) help clients out of spiral and return to
restorative path
b) use psycho-education to understand
condition
c) develop spiritual activities to increase
sense of spirituality
d) increase/sustain engagement in
activities
e) identify and remediate causes of
depression that resulted in heart cry
5. Conclusion
Conclusion
• Spiritual Crisis & Development
• Definition
• Relation to Mental Health
• Dark Night of the Soul
• Theoretical Considerations
• Fowler
• Jung
• Dabrowski
• Spiritual Crisis as Positive Maladjustment
• Therapeutic Considerations
• Spiritual Giftedness
• Counselling Implications
References
• Armentrout, D. P. (2004). The normal pathological genesis of
depression: The “Heart Cry” Biblical Model of Depression
revisited. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 23(1), 40-50.
• Dabrowski, K. (1964). Positive Disintegration. London: J & A
Churchill.
• Dabrowski, K., Kawczak, A, & Piechowski, M. M. (1970). Mental
growth through positive disintegration. London: Gryf
Publications.
• Dabrowski, K. (1972). Psychoneurosis is not an illness. London:
Gryf Publications.
• Elkins, D. N. (1995). Psychotherapy and spirituality: Toward a
theory of the soul. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 35, 78-98.
• Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human
development and the quest for meaning. San Francisco:
Harper San Francisco.
• Goldbrunner, J. (1966). Individuation: A study of the depth
psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. Notre Dame, IN: University of
Notre Dame Press.
References
• Grof, C., & Grof, S. (Eds.). (1986). Spiritual emergency: When
personal transformation becomes a crisis. New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
• Grof, C., & Grof, S. (1990). The stormy search for self: A guide to
personal growth through transformational crisis. Los Angeles, CA:
J. P. Tharcher.
• Jung, C. G. (1961). Memories, dreams, reflections. New York:
Vintage Books.
• Lysy, K. Z., & Piechowski, M. M. (1983). Personal growth: An
empirical study using Jungian and Dabrowskian measures.
Genetic Psychology Monographs, 108, 267-320.
• Mika, E. (2002) Theory of positive disintegration. Retrieved on
December 1, 2004, from
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/positive_disint.htm
• Miller, J. S. (1990). Mental illness and spiritual crisis: Implications for
psychiatric rehabilitation.
• Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 14(2), 29-48.
References
•
•
•
•
Moore, T. (2004). Dark night of the soul: A guide to finding your way
through life’s ordeals.. New York: Penguin Group (USA).
Piechowski, M. M. (1986). The concept of developmental potential.
Roeper Review, 8(3), 190-197.
Piechowski, M. M. & Miller, N. B. (1995). Assessing developmental
potential in gifted children: A comparison of methods. Roeper
Review, 17, 176-180.
Tillier, W. (1998). Intersections between Dabrowski's Theory of Positive
Disintegration and Wilber's Spectral Model of Consciousness. In C.
Ackerman (Ed.), Texturizing and Contextualizing: Proceedings from
the 3rd International Symposium [Biennial Conference] on Dabrowski's
Theory. 53-79. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from
http://members.shaw.ca/positivedisintegration/wilber.htm
Tolle, E. (2004). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Namaste Publishing.