Discussion Hour 1: A New Model of Spirituality for Psychology

Fred Boley, Will McFail, Wesley Wright, and Gian Milles (Bridges Consortium)

Religiosity/spirituality has a complex effect on physical, mental, and social health. Research shows that collaborative religious coping can be used to reduce mental anxiety in patients, which leads to better adjustment. Social workers of all faiths/no faith will learn an objective framework for working with clients’ deepest values, how to effectively enlist religious resources in inter-sectarian contexts, and gain access to a simple and effective assessment tool. Finally, they will learn to help clients adjust in a healthy way to religious social contexts. Big data can provide answers to subtle questions, but it also misses important aspects of the human experience and it can actually obscure as it enlightens. The Bridges Consortium is just finishing a three-year big data investigation of spiritually-informed psychotherapy, so as part of that project, we have begun a pains-taking qualitative analysis of some of the data using Observation Oriented Data. 1) We have no way to verify that spirituality, or other psychological phenomena, are continuous (the difference between 2 and 3 on a given Likert scale could be similar to the difference between 2 and 3 stops on a delivery run), but quantitative analysis assumes continuous data.  Therefore, we use sophisticated ordinal analysis to think about the data in this multi-national, cross-confessional data set.  2) Very large minorities often fail to conform even when a hypothesis is confirmed. We use innovative methods to think systematically about what our data, including counter-intuitive data-points, actually means.

 

Discussion Hour 2: “Memento Mori” – Thriving in the Present Moment with Cancer

Frank Oden (University of Colorado at Denver)

The importance of mindset in cancer survivorship is well known, but there is meaningful debate about what type of belief system can reliably promote coping, resilience and post-traumatic growth.  What does a “healthy mindset” look like? Pure optimism may lift spirits in the moment, but denial of reality can lead to disappointment and depression if outcomes are incongruous with expectations. Patients who are told to “Fight Cancer” may at times feel energized, but may experience eventual guilt at letting themselves and others down by not fighting hard enough if forced to concede a “losing battle.” Faith in prayer for God to deliver a miracle may provide peace and hope but may also provoke self-blame, lack of worth and a crisis of faith if the healing is not granted. Faced with a surprise diagnosis of renal cancer, positive psychotherapist and mindfulness coach Frank Oden turned to ancient contemplative traditions and Stoic philosophy for a psychologically flexible mindset that would allow sustainable, subjective well-being through the existential crisis and predictable hardships of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. “Memento Mori” is a Stoic’s reminder that tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone, regardless of age or health, and that we never lose the freedom to create meaning and gratitude and to live one’s best possible life in every present moment. “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you cannot afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”  -- James Stockdale

 

Discussion Hour 3: A Conversation with Bernard Spilka

Kevin L. Ladd (Indiana University South Bend), Daniel N. McIntosh and Bernard Spilka (University of Denver)

At almost 94 years of age, Bernard Spilka has observed and created a significant amount of history within the psychology of religion field. A prolific writer, among his most influential roles, he was first author of the initial 1985 edition of “The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach.” That foundational text has remained in print across almost 4 decades and is now in its fifth edition. This discussion hour will consist of a conversation with Bernie spanning his career, sources of inspiration, reflections on overlooked and neglected topics, and his current projects. A portion of the session will be devoted to a question / answer exchange with attendees.