Despite the critical role that religion plays in the lives of many clients, therapists often do not ask about or address religious issues in therapy. Argument is given for why religious issues should not be excluded from therapy as well as why religion has historically been avoided by many therapists. To understand what clients' views are on this issue, eight couples who had participated in marital therapy were interviewed. The stratified sample included two Catholic, two Protestant, and two Latter-day Saint couples, as well as two couples in which spouses differed in their religious affiliation. Most couples were interviewed in their home for the initial interview, and then by phone for a brief follow-up interview. Qualitative analysis revealed themes centered around the therapist's role, assessment and joining, tapping into religious resources, and addressing problems associated with religion. Findings revealed that all sixteen participants believed that therapists should routinely inquire about religious issues. Beyond assessment, therapists should give permission for couples to explore religious issues in therapy. Numerous examples are given for how religious issues may be related to or serve as a resource in overcoming presenting concerns. Participants provide numerous suggestions for how therapists might respectfully work with religious issues. Moreover, including religious leaders in the marital therapy sessions was generally seen as uncomfortable and unhelpful to the participants. Issues associated with the therapist's religious affiliation are also addressed. Clinical and theoretical implications as well as suggestions for future research are highlighted. / Ph. D.

Terror management theory (TMT) seeks to understand religious worldview adherence, positing that worldview beliefs can abate existential threats such as mortality salience. Most research on TMT has employed young samples, so influences on older adults' experiences of mortality salience are unclear. Simultaneously, research on death anxiety shows that older people may view their own death more favorably than younger individuals do. Guided by the lifespan development perspective, I investigated whether the range of life experiences and interpretation of them might account for perceptions of death in old age. A multi-phase content analysis of in-depth interview transcripts from 16 adults aged 65+ focused on narratives of life events, religious worldviews, and death. The findings suggested how lifespan adversity, such as the death of a loved one, promoted growth in self and religious belief that enhanced participants' reported relationship with the sacred. In turn, participants' views of and beliefs about death were without fear, indicating the influence of highly individualized and deeply spiritual religious worldview beliefs on the abatement of death fear. These findings support extension of TMT to older people by identifying the impact of lifespan experiences with trauma and adversity as contributing to less superficial, more individualized conceptions of religious worldviews. Such worldviews, contingent upon growth from adaptation to lifespan experiences, may indeed lead to less death anxiety and reduce the effects of mortality salience in old age. / Master of Science

For many individuals, their religious identity has played a very important role in the formation of their sense of self and identity. However, very little research has been conducted that examines what type of role religiosity may play in the formation of one's identity and sense of self. The purpose of this study is to examine the specific influences, and the degree of influence religiosity has on the commitment domain of identity. In this study, four measures of religiosity, and two measures of identity were combined into one survey, and then distributed to 65 participants. The results of the religiosity measures were compared with the scores form the identity measures. From there, the data was evaluated to identify any relationships between religiosity and identity commitment. Based on the results produced by this study, existential well-being and quest religious orientation yielded the highest correlations to identity commitment. In addition, existential well-being was related to identity diffusion. However, other dimensions of religiosity bore no significant relationships with identity.

This study examined whether spirituality and dyadic coping protected partners from becoming psychologically aggressive toward each other using secondary, cross-sectional data from a sample of 104 couples living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The model tested was based on Bodenmann's Systemic Transactional model (1997) and incorporated an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model approach (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006). SEM results indicated that each partner's spirituality had a direct negative effect on their own psychological aggression, and a direct positive effect on their own supportive dyadic coping, and the couple's common dyadic coping. Each partner's spirituality also had an indirect effect on both partners' psychological aggression through increases in the couple's common dyadic coping. Supportive dyadic coping was not found to mediate the relation between spirituality and psychological aggression. Limitations of the study as well as clinical, programmatic, and research implications are discussed. / Master of Science

Thesis advisor: V. Paul Poteat / Homelessness is an ever expanding and complex phenomena that adversely affects the well-being of individuals and society. Research suggests the experience of homelessness and its correlates, including discrimination, are especially detrimental to mental health. However, the prevalence of discrimination endured by the Unhoused Community is unclear. There is also a dearth of research concerning factors that may promote resilience in the face of these stressors. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine the extent of discrimination experienced by Persons without Homes and assess the potential of spirituality to buffer the association between discrimination and mental health. A quantitative analysis of responses from 206 participants revealed the correlational and moderational effect of various aspects of spirituality on discrimination and its association with self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. As hypothesized, higher levels of discrimination were significantly correlated with lower levels of self-esteem, greater levels of anxiety, and more depressive symptomatology among Persons without Homes. In addition, all five aspects of spirituality measured (spiritual belief, private spiritual behavior, public spiritual behavior, spiritual social support, and daily spiritual experiences) had a significant moderating effect on the adverse association of discrimination on depression. Two aspects of spirituality (spiritual belief and public spiritual behavior) also significantly moderated the negative association of discrimination on self-esteem. In summary, various aspects of spirituality attenuated the adverse association between discrimination and mental health. These findings have multiple implications for future policy, research, clinical work, social service delivery, and pastoral care. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to highlight the lived experiences of Christian African American college males attending a Christian predominately White institution (PWI) in the South. Through in-depth personal interviews, I offer insights into this specific student population's experience. Furthermore, I provide recommendations for key stakeholders at Christian PWIs in the South as they strive to create an inclusive campus environment. The ultimate goal of the research is to aid in the recruitment and retention of this particular student population.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study project addresses the role spirituality in the workplace can play. The conclusion is that although people are different, in the working environment in an organisation, much time is spent together and creating an environment that is a joy to work in, will induce the employees to work with energy and be highly productive. A number of interviews were conducted and factual information was acquired to analyse the effects of spirituality in the workplace. A conclusion is reached that underlines the fact to counter low morale, low productivity and negative attitudes in the workplace it is imperative that we should address the spirituality in the workplace thus ensuring that a positive organisation culture is maintained within the organisation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie projek behandel die rol wat geestelikheid in die werkplek kan speel. Die gevolgtrekking wat gemaak kan word is dat alhoewel mense van mekaar verskil in die werksomgewing binne die organisasie, hulle ‘n groot gedeelte van die dag met mekaar spandeer en vir dié rede is dit van kardinale belang dat ‘n goeie werksklimaat geskep word wat sal bydra dat die werknemer energiek werk en hoë produktiwiteit handhaaf. ‘n Aantal onderhoude was gevoer en feitlike inligting was verkry om die effek van geestelikheid in die werksplek te ondersoek. ‘n Slotsom is bereik dat die feite van lae moraal, lae produktiwiteit en negatiewe ingesteldheid in die werksplek belangrik is om geadresseer te word ten einde te verseker dat geestelikheid in die werksplek toegepas word en dat ‘n positiewe klimaat in die organisasie handhaaf word.

This dissertation examines audience, intention, and rhetoric in the writings of Blaise Pascal and Simone Weil. Despite the differences in historical period, ethnic heritage, sex, and milieux, which separate them, these two writers are astonishingly similar with regard to those for whom they wrote--audience--the subject matter of their writings--intention--and their skilled and self-conscious use of language in addressing their audiences and themes--rhetoric. Each of them wrote scientific or philosophical works, and polemical works, intended for a certain public; each of them then wrote, in the final years of their short lives, long notebook or journal entries, a record of spiritual experience which has since been edifying to others besides themselves. The guiding principle here is the function of language. This means how it works (rhetoric), but also, for what purpose (intention) and for whom (audience). We find many metaphors of function in Pascal and Simone Weil. The motivating concern of this dissertation is how Pascal and Simone Weil articulate, through language, God's response to man's yearnings toward God.

Religion and spirituality are vital aspects of many people’s lives both in the United States and across the globe. Although many constructs and measures exist to describe and assess the experience of pursuing the sacred, the complexity of religious and spiritual experience leads to mixed results in relation to well-being and psychopathological traits. However, in broad terms, the relationship appears positive. Over the past 30 years the need for more refined and useful approaches to the study of religious and spiritual behavior has been repeatedly acknowledged. Although authors wisely caution development of further measures without due cause, extant constructs and measures do not provide clear and consistent results for understanding the influence of one’s relationships to religion and spirituality upon behaviors of clinical interest. The present project drew from the functional contextual concept of psychological flexibility, which provides clarity to understanding the encouragement and maintenance of psychological well-being. A new construct of religious and psychological flexibility is explicated as a functional approach to understanding religious and spiritual behavior in a manner that is useful in research and clinical settings alike. The development and evaluation of the Measure of Religious and Spiritual Flexibility (MRSF) is described. The MRSF evidenced adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis results were positive, but indicate further refinement. Analyses suggested good construct validity of the MRSF in relation to psychological well-being and psychopathology; construct validity in relation to extant constructs in the psychology of religion was varied. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Thomas H. Groome / No amount of curriculum drafting, standardized testing, or technological aids are sufficient to make a good school. A school is only as good as its participants – students, parents, auxiliary staff, leaders, and of course, teachers. Teachers teach for life – perhaps decreasingly the duration of a professional lifetime, but for the very life of the school and the lives of those who participate in it. So much depends on the spirit of the teacher and therefore on what is likely to sustain their spirits. Fostering the spiritual lives of teachers is crucial; healthy spirituality can be a sustaining force, helping teachers to thrive rather than simply survive in our schools today. In this dissertation I address the need for intentionally engaging and nurturing the spirituality of teachers. I see spirituality as central to every teacher (indeed, every person), no matter who they are, where they work, or who or what they teach. It does not assume any particular religious tradition or religious faith at all. But it does account for the search for what is meaningful in life, and places this search within a transcendent horizon. The issue is important both for the personal and vocational development of teachers themselves and because their spiritual lives dynamically affect the educational life and experience of the whole school community. The dissertation goes on to suggest a spiritually inspired pedagogy drawn primarily but not exclusively from the Ignatian tradition. Chapter 1 sets out to describe the lived reality for teachers today, and lifts up the desire to serve and relationality as two great motivators in the decisions to enter and stay in the teaching profession. Chapter 2 re-frames these motivators as age-old and honored spiritual themes. In order to help craft a spiritual pedagogy to sustain teachers, Chapter 3 turns to the rich tradition of Ignatian spirituality. I hold up the Ignatian tradition as just one example of how the spiritual potential of education can be appropriated by any school and the teachers therein. Chapter 4 proposes five dynamic and overlapping configurations of a spiritual pedagogy. The idea is that when certain spiritual commitments in the form of these five configurations become operative for educators, they cannot but become realized in their teaching. Chapter 5 names and describes some general practices that can support the five configurations of a spiritual pedagogy. It follows with some specific suggestions, first for the teacher, and finally for the leadership of the school community. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.