At the threshold of the 21st Century many people are faced with a spiritual dilemma, where neither secularism nor religion seem adequate. The Psychology of Mature Spirituality addresses this dilemma. In each of the book's three sections - integrity, wisdom, and transcendence - distinguished contributors describe and analyse a mature form of spirituality that will be a hallmark of future years. This timely volume will appeal to those involved in psychology, psychoanalysis and religious studies.
Spirituality is increasingly accepted as integral to human psychology, vital for physical and mental health. The Psychology of Spirituality is an accessible book that introduces the relationship between spirituality and psychology. The author sets out what spirituality is, the values it represents and how it can contribute to mental health and wellbeing. He then illustrates how knowledge of spirituality can provide a deeper understanding of people’s problems and can help them develop resilience and aid recovery. With reference to a new holistic or ‘psycho-spiritual’ paradigm, the book then covers stages of spiritual development: from having natural spiritual awareness in early childhood to the waning of interest in later childhood; largely conforming to group mentality in adolescence before discovering individuality; and then the final journey towards full personal and emotional maturity. Finally, the author outlines practical advice on how to explore and make use of spirituality, covering a range of spiritual skills and practices, including meditation and contemplation. Each chapter includes case examples and exercises to explore the ideas covered. This book will be compelling reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, chaplains, healthcare professionals, students, and anyone wanting to understand better the role of spirituality and psychology in the lives of all.
Human beings are fundamentally relational—we develop, heal, and grow through relationships. Integrating insights from psychology and theology, Todd W. Hall and M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall present a definitive model of spiritual transformation based on a relational paradigm, showing how transformation works practically in the context of relationships and community.
What does a genuinely adult spirituality look like? Many adults find it difficult to answer this question because they often retain a childlike understanding of God and religion. This book explores that phenomenon, and then offers adult alternatives in the light of mysticism, depth psychology, and the evolutionary cosmology. Written for the average person and without denominational bias, this book describes how a mature faith is nourished by religious views that are open-minded rather than provincial, metaphorical rather than literal, and respectful of individuality rather than rigid and rule bound. How to Be an Adult in Faith and Spirituality offers a gentle reply to the atheism of our postmodern world by guiding readers along a path of enriching spiritual growth and by awakening them to the potential of the transcendent - the place within us and beyond us where true and lasting faith abounds. Book jacket.
Dr. Jacob Bronowski, in his book and PBS documentary series entitled "The Ascent of Man" spoke of unhealthy religion when he stood before the ashes of his relatives at the Auschwitz crematorium. He said, "This is how men behave when they believe they have absolute knowledge." People seek simple answers and absolute knowledge, but anyone or any religion that claims absolute knowledge or absolute and infallible religious sources and tells people what to think, is a clear carrier and manifestation of unhealthy religion. Is "Healthy Religion" an oxymoron or is it achievable in one's life? This research-based document provides you with the means for identifying what is healthy and what is unhealthy in religion. You may be surprised to discover that what you believe and the manner in which you practice your religion may be more a function of your personality than of your religion in the way in which your personality attaches itself and expresses itself in your religion. Literal, dogmatic religious postures of fundamental and evangelical groups are manifestations of close-minded authoritarianism. They also reflect militant, and extremist dictates for one to follow. The manipulation and mind-control methods of fear, guilt, and shame, used with people to secure membership and provide group consensus in belief, violate the very essence of religion and the basic foundations of what is "Healthy Religion". Certain attributes of healthy personality produce healthy religion, and healthy religion promotes healthy personality. You will uncover the ingredients and characteristics of both in this book! Visit his website: walterkaniaphd.com
The American Association of Christian Counselors and Tyndale House Publishers are committed to ministering to the spiritual needs of people. This book is part of the professional series that offers counselors the latest techniques, theory, and general information that is vital to their work. While many books have tried to integrate theology and psychology, this book takes another step and explores the importance of the spiritual disciplines in psychotherapy, helping counselors to integrate the biblical principles of forgiveness, redemption, restitution, prayer, and worship into their counseling techniques. Since its first publication in 1996, this book has quickly become a contemporary classic—a go-to handbook for integrating what we know is true from the disciplines of theology and psychology and how that impacts your daily walk with God. This book will help you integrate spiritual disciplines—such as prayer, Scripture reading, confession—into your own life and into counseling others. Mark R. McMinn, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at Wheaton College Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinois, where he directs and teaches in the Doctor of Psychology program. A diplomate in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, McMinn has thirteen years of postdoctoral experience in counseling, psychotherapy, and psychological testing. McMinn is the author of Making the Best of Stress: How Life's Hassles Can Form the Fruit of the Spirit; The Jekyll/Hyde Syndrome: Controlling Inner Conflict through Authentic Living; Cognitive Therapy Techniques in Christian Counseling; and Christians in the Crossfire (written with James D. Foster). He and his wife, Lisa, have three daughters.
In Subversive Spirituality Peterson has gathered together a host of writings penned over the past twenty-five years that reflect on the overlooked facets of the spiritual life. Comprising occasional pieces, short biblical studies, poetry, pastoral readings, and interviews, this work captures the epiphanies of life with the pleasing pastoral style and inspiring depth of insight for which Peterson is well known. Peterson describes his book this way: "This gathering of articles and essays, poems and conversations, is a kind of kitchen midden of my noticings of the obvious in the course of living out the Christian life in the vocational context of pastor, writer, and professor. The randomness and repetitions and false starts are rough edges that I am leaving as is in the interests of honesty. Spirituality is not, by and large, smooth. I do hope, however, that these pieces will be found to be freshly phrased".
This collection of papers has been developed by an interdisciplinary group of contributors. They present a variety of new perspectives on creativity, spirituality, and transcendence as experienced in adulthood. The discussions in this volume, address the interplay of variables from theoretical, experimental, and clinical vantage points. This book is written for academic and clinical audiences, as well as for those who are interested in-and wrestle with-unexpressed aspects of their own creativity and spiritual yearnings. Unlike the current cognitive trend in creativity research that seeks rational and biological explanations for human phenomena, these essays give consideration to the power of extraordinary sources of inspiration. The research and theoretically based articles presented make a captivating collection that challenges our thinking about what it means to be a creative adult striving toward personal integrity and wisdom at the dawn of the 21st century.
