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One of the most common ways that people cope with trauma is through the comfort found in religious or spiritual practices. Psychologists of religion have performed multiple studies to measure the positive and negative effects of this coping style. Leading researchers have split religious coping into two categories: positive religious coping and negative religious coping. Individuals who use positive religious coping are likely to seek spiritual support and look for meaning in a traumatic situation. Negative religious coping expresses conflict, question, and doubt regarding issues of God and faith.
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Spirituality affects both mental and physical health outcomes in the general United States population across different ethnic groups. Because of the nuanced definitions of spirituality and religiosity, the literature on spirituality is not consistent in definitions or measures resulting in a lack of coherence. However, taken as a whole, research tends to show that the effect of spirituality is positive, associated with better health outcomes. For those who engage in spirituality, it may serve as a buffer from negative life events, often moderating the relationship between negative life experiences and levels of anxiety or depression. The exception is when negative spiritual coping is practiced. This type of coping has negative health implications.
Dreams have been interpreted in many different ways from being a source of power to the capability of understanding and communicating with the dead. Traditional forms of societies considered dreams as portals to another world, a spirit world. These societies would even say they could gain most of their religious ideas from dreams. They could identify the sacred and gain access to sacred realms or portals to the supernatural. Psychologists have been researching dreams as of the 21st century because the connection between religious connotations in dreams has brought about growth and health. However, many different psychologists claim there is very little evidence to the research on the psychology of religion and dreams.
Spiritual bypass or spiritual bypassing is a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks". The term was introduced in the mid 1980s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist. Clinicians in pastoral psychology have identified both beneficial and detrimental manifestations of behavior that could be described as spiritual bypass.
References
- 1 2 VITA: Kenneth I. Pargament Archived 2012-10-03 at the Wayback Machine , BGSU
- ↑ Kenneth I. Pargament (2007). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred . New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 978-1-57230-844-2 (birth year 1950 in LOC pub data)
- ↑ BGSU/Psychology faculty page - Kenneth I. Pargament Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Personal website
- 1 2 3 Kenneth I. Pargament (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice . New York: Guilford. ISBN 978-1-57230-664-6
- ↑ Kenneth I. Pargament, Harold G. Koenig & Lisa M. Perez (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, v56 n4, pp519-543. doi : 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(200004)56:4<519::AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-1
- ↑ Phillips III, R. E., Lynn, Q. K., Crossley, C. D., & Pargament, K. I. (2004). Self-Directing Religious Coping: A Deistic God, Abandoning God, or No God at All?. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 43(3), 409-418.
- ↑ Abu-Raiya, H., Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2011). Examining coping methods with stressful interpersonal events experienced by Muslims living in the United States following the 9/11 attacks. Psychology Of Religion And Spirituality, 3(1), 1-14.
- ↑ Cotton, S., Puchalski, C. M., Sherman, S. N., Mrus, J. M., Peterman, A. H., Feinberg, J., Kenneth I. Pargament, Amy C. Justice, Anthony C. Leonard, Tsevat, J. (2006). Spirituality and Religion in Patients with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21S5-S13.
- ↑ Brian J. Zinnbauer & Kenneth I. Pargament (2000). Working with the sacred: Four approaches to religious and spiritual issues in counseling. Journal of Counseling & Development, v78 n2, pp162-171. ISSN 0748-9633
- 1 2 Zinnbauer, B. J., & Pargament, K. I. (2000). Working With the Sacred: Four Approaches to Religious and Spiritual Issues in Counseling. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78(2), 162-171.
- ↑ www.forgiving.org https://web.archive.org/web/20100215154111/http://www.forgiving.org/Forgiveness_Researchers_2005/Kenneth_Pargament.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2010.
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