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Psychotherapeutic Strategies To Cope With The Dark Side Of Religious Engagement, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Although spiritual and religious engagement that includes beliefs, practices, and community involvement has been found to offer numerous physical and mental health benefits, it can also be associated with problematic and dysfunctional perspectives and behaviors. Tragically, many people suffer from obsessive scrupulosity, guilt, anxiety, and depression, as well as discrimination, racism, and violence associated with their religious traditions and engagement or those of others. Mental health professionals must be mindful of both the upsides and the downsides of religiosity and find a way to secure appropriate consultation, embrace professional ethical principles, and support health and wellness for clients. This brief …

The Experience Of A Personal Relationship With God: William Barry And The 20th Century Renewal Of Ignatian Spirituality, Chris Williams

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

William A. Barry made a significant contribution to the renewal of Ignatian Spirituality following Vatican II. A central theme of his life and work was the experience of a personal relationship with God. This thesis will tell the story of how Barry came to view the experience of a personal relationship with God as central to his own spiritual life and to Ignatian spirituality. It first explores Barry’s upbringing and formation in a pre- Vatican II Catholic Church and Society of Jesus, before turning to his experience of the transformations in the Church and the Society following Vatican II. It …

Dealing With Divisiveness: Ignatian Principles For Better Relationships, Thomas G. Plante Phd, Abpp

Psychology

Interpersonal and intergroup relationships seem to have steadily deteriorated in recent years, with an increase in the lack of civility and decency along with a greater willingness to attack and cancel anyone who does not agree with one’s cherished perspective on numerous matters. New popular phrases such as cancel culture, public shaming, air rage, and gaslighting have entered the common vernacular. Ignatian spirituality offers several helpful strategies for dealing with these contemporary divisive conflicts in a productive manner. These include (1) seeing God (or the sacred) in all things, (2) striving towards kinship with others through the pathway of civility, …

A Retrospective And Prospective Roundtable On The Fiftieth Anniversary Of Horizons - Editor’S Introduction To Horizons V.51 No.1, Sandra Marie Schneiders, Min-Ah Cho

Jesuit School of Theology

After tracing the history of the term “spirituality” and the discipline of spirituality up to the mid-twentieth century, this article describes the contemporary understanding of spirituality as lived religious experience and of the academic discipline which studies this subject. This phenomenology of the discipline grounds a position on the relationship between lived spirituality and theology on the one hand, and the academic disciplines of spirituality and theology on the other.

In addition to six peer-reviewed articles, the “creative teaching” feature, and an editorial essay, the Fall 1986 issue of Horizons featured an editorial symposium titled “Catholicism and Modernity” and a …

What Is Catholic Psychotherapy And How Should It Move Forward?, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Catholic psychotherapy is a critically important specialization that under-scores the need for culturally competent best practices. It integrates state-of-the-art psychotherapeutic professional services with the rich religious, spiritual, and cultural contributions and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Since the Church is the single largest religious denomination in the world and represents about a quarter of the United States population, there is ample need for Catholic-informed and engaged psychotherapists with expertise in working thoughtfully and sensitively with Catholic clients, including laypersons and clerics, and with Church institutions such as schools, hospitals, and charitable groups. While the Catholic Psychotherapy Association has been …

Principles For Managing Burnout Among Catholic Church Professionals, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

While a large body of research literature has explored the assessment, treatment, and prevention of worker burnout, much less research has focused on the unique issues associated with burnout in religious organizations, especially within the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic Church employees, whether clerics or laypersons, are embedded within a 2,000-year-old global hierarchical structure and organization that is unique in that it includes clerics with vows of chastity, obedience, and often poverty as well as ongoing crises related to clerical sexual abuse scandals, significant financial stressors, and a faith tradition that often overvalues sacrifice and suffering. The purpose of this brief …

The Not So Minor Character In The Book Of Judith Judith’S Maid In The Spotlight, Lisa Hui

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

A ranking commander who is beheaded when struck by the hand of a woman makes the story of Judith fascinating to many. However, all major biblical commentaries and studies of the Book of Judith focus predominantly on the two protagonists, Judith and Holofernes. The other figures traditionally categorised as “minor characters” are viewed as serving simply as background or literary props, and hence have been purposely ignored in the past. Recently, scholarship has seen a growing interest in the studies of minor figures in the Bible. Yet research on the minor characters in Judith is still very much wanting. Sharing …

Five Spiritually Based Tools For Clinical Practice During Challenging, Stressful, And Apocalyptic Times, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Stress in America and across the globe is high with so many ongoing societal problems. The COVID-19 global pandemic along with accelerating climate change, increasing economic instability and inequality, divisive politics and an increase in authoritarianism, racism, and discrimination against those who are oppressed and marginalized are just a few current examples. Evidence suggests that mental health problems and demand for services have exploded as well. Psychotherapists who are well versed in spiritual and religious integration in their clinical work can help. While therapists cannot solve the country’s and world’s numerous problems, they can help their clientele better cope and …

Religion Has A Public Relations Problem: Integrating Evidence-Based Thinking Into Clinical Practice, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Religion and religious institutions receive a great deal of negative, rather than positive, attention and press. This creates an impression, for the casual observer, that religion and associated institutions are a plight on the planet. It is critically important for evidence-based research and best practices in clinical services to be well known and utilized within professional psychotherapy practice. Clinicians must be mindful of the many advantages of religious engagement for physical, mental, and community health and wellness. Psychologists, and other mental health professionals, tend to be secular and nonreligious and receive little, if any, training on religious diversity that may …

Using The Examen, A Jesuit Prayer, In Spiritually Integrated And Secular Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The Examen is a 500-year-old end of day prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). Like many other religious or spiritual practices, such as mindfulness and yoga, the Examen is suitable as either a spiritually focused or secular intervention strategy to assist people within clinical psychotherapy practice and elsewhere. Adapting the Examen as a cognitive behavioral psychotherapy intervention is easy to do and may add another important tool to the toolbox of practicing clinicians interested in thoughtfully integrating spiritually based approaches in their clinical work with religiously as well …

Four Positive Lessons Learned During The 2020–2021 Covid-19 Global Pandemic: Implications For Spirituality In Clinical Practice, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

While the COVID-19 global pandemic has wrecked havoc for over a year in ways that we have not seen in our lifetimes, many important positive lessons have been learned during these tumultuous and what has felt like apocalyptic times. Upon close reflection, four critical and positive lessons were learned by this author that have implications for how we productively move forward in our efforts to provide spiritually and religiously informed psychotherapy services both now and in the future. These important lessons include the benefits of telehealth and “telespirit” services as well as highlighting the advantages of reflection, discernment, and resetting …

Restlessly Seeking For God: Towards An Integration Of Contemplation And Practice As Proposed By Henri Nouwen For A Spirituality Of Priesthood In A Contemporary Korean Church Context, Hong-Rak Chae

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the insights of Henri J. M. Nouwen with regard to the spirituality of Christian priesthood in the modern Korean church. It searches for a harmonious integration of contemplation and practice within the context of the divided country of Korea. The integration of contemplation and practice has been discussed countless times in Christian history and was a central theme in the Second Vatican Council. Both contemplation and practice are indispensable elements in spirituality; thus, it is meaningless to address which element should take priority. The realm of contemplation is not visible, but practice can be visually perceived. …

The Integration Of Roman Catholic Traditions And Evidence-Based Psychological Services, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest, and most enduring continuous organization, secular or religious, of any kind in the world with a 2,000-plus-year history. It currently includes well over a billion people. Regardless of its size, scope, history, and impact, the Roman Catholic Church is often greatly misunderstood and people frequently maintain stereotypic and even discriminatory views about Catholics and their clerical leaders. The purpose of this article is to present the integration of the Roman Catholic tradition into psychological assessment and therapy and to provide several examples of this integration. The article highlights how this integration can be …

A Review Of Spiritual Development And Transformation Among College Students From Jesuit Higher Education, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The college experience can be a critically important and enriching time for personal as well as academic growth and development. For many students, college is their first foray into a more independent world and lifestyle no longer under the careful, and sometimes critical, eyes of their parents, families, and schoolteachers. When students go far away from home to attend college, they need to find ways to live independently, manage their many needs, and attend to the rigors of academic life in higher education. Additionally, the college years offer a unique and important period for spiritual growth, development, and transformation. The …

Reclaiming The Dynamics Of Ignatian Spiritual Conversation: Towards Constructing A Spiritual Conversation Paradigm For Ongoing Apostolic Discernment In Bihar, India, Perianayagam Seluvannan

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis attempts to reclaim and re-imagine the privileged and time-tested tool of Ignatian spiritual conversation in order to discern the apostolic ministries in the diverse socio-cultural, religious and ecclesiastical context of present-day Bihar, India, as a response to the Society’s and the Church’s call to discern the actions of the Spirit in the lives of the people. My research further explores the way of proceeding in spiritual conversation among the people, through which the founding Jesuit fathers of the Bihar mission began their apostolic ministries, in order to construct a paradigm for an effective ongoing discernment and rejuvenation of …

St. Ignatius As Psychotherapist? How Jesuit Spirituality And Wisdom Can Enhance Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The great wisdom traditions associated with various religious and spiritual practices and institutions have offered a variety of helpful strategies for more effective living and coping with life’s many challenges. In most recent times, efforts to secularize these strategies have been made in order to appeal to the general population as well as to secular mental health professionals as tools for their clinical practices. Although mindfulness meditation and yoga are perhaps the most notable examples, many other intervention strategies have been and can be borrowed from various religious and spiritual traditions to use in a secular manner if so desired. …

Jesuit Priesthood And The Ministry Of Reconciliation: A Theological Examination Of U.S. Jesuits In The Public Square, Alex Anthony C. Llanera S. J.

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Since the inception of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit priesthood has consistently been linked to the ministry of reconciliation. In this thesis, I look at the historical, ecclesial, and theological justifications that led the early companions to dedicate their ministry to this specific work. I also examine how this ministry has developed through time and how it is carried out today in the United States. Given the growing secularism in contemporary society and a strict U.S. constitutional provision that separates church and state affairs, I investigate how the ministry of reconciliation can be carried out in these circumstances. Finally, I …

Relationship Between Religion, Spirituality, And Psychotherapy: An Ethical Perspective, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Spirituality and religion are typically a critically important element of most people’s lives. They offer an overarching framework for making sense of the world and a strategy to cope with life’s stressors. They provide a community and a way to wrestle with life’s biggest questions regarding meaning, purpose, and suffering. Mental health professionals are mandated to behave in an ethical manner defined by their codes of ethics. These codes typically understand religion and spirituality a multiculturalism issue. Professionals need to be respectful and responsible and pay close attention to potential implicit bias, boundary crossings, and destructive beliefs and practices. Working …

A Pastoral Approach To The Topic Of Sexuality In Priestly Formation Programs In Parts Of Eastern Europe, Vitaliy Osmolovskyy

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

In this thesis, I explore a pastoral approach towards the topic of sexuality during priestly formation programs in parts of Eastern Europe, at the same time, identifying many elements that surround this particular topic in the different societies where the candidates were raised. In this world of rapid change, one in which life moves quickly and people often seek novelty, it is necessary to hold on to the fact that we are sexual beings, ones open to growth and maturity. Regardless of vocation, sexuality remains an essential component of who we are. This work engages relevant literature, ecclesial documents, some …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 59 Number 1, Spring 2018, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

22 - TRUST ME After decades of declining trust in journalism, here’s some good news. Introducing the Trust Project. By Steven Boyd Saum and Deborah Lohse. Illustrations by Franziska Barczyk.

28 - NOBEL BEGINNINGS Santa Clara Professor Hersh Shefrin, fellow economist Richard Thaler, and the beginning of the fight to have behavioral economics taken seriously. There was yelling involved. By Deborah Lohse. Illustrations by Paul Blow.

32 - AFTERMATH OF DISASTER When fire or flood, wind or tremor strikes, what do you make of what’s been lost? How do you help others put their lives back together? Stories from the …

Re-Interpreting The "Will Of God" In The Discernment Of Spirits According To Ignatian Tradition For Young Women In Vietnam, Tran Thi Linh Chi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Young Vietnamese women seeking to discern a religious vocation often confuse their own unconscious motivations and desires with what they perceive as the “will of God” for their lives. This study argues that a clearer understanding of the “will of God” will lead young women to a more mature decision-making process when discerning a vocation to religious life. The thesis investigates how the “will of God” has been interpreted and understood in the Christian tradition and uses these insights to develop a systematic structure aiming to assist young Vietnamese women in their life discernment.

It first examines how the will …

Rekindling The Role Of Affectivity In Ignatian Discernment Of Spirits In The Context Of Christian Life Communities In Darjeeling, India, S. John Kennedy

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis addresses and offers solutions to the issue of lack of affectivity in decision making among the Christian Life Community members in Darjeeling. The problem has been traced from their former religious practices of immediately appeasing spirits by offerings material things through village priests when the spirits interfere in their life. This practice has come down to instant decision making without out paying close attention to the consequences, as they would cease all activity to appease the spirits. To examine and resolve this issue, this thesis first presents the relationship between affectivity and discernment. Second, the thesis presents an …

The Contribution Of The Just Policing Ethics Of Gerald W. Schlabach To The Social Ethics Of War And Peace, Dennis Purificacion

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The following study investigates developments in the Just Policing ethics of Professor Gerald W. Schlabach, so as to contribute to the foundations of a new paradigm of the social ethics of war and peace. Traditional categories of the Just War Doctrine and Pacifism do not necessarily provide an adequate moral framework for critiquing the complexities of modern warfare in the 21st Century and call for a new synthesis. The principles provided by Schlabach in Just Policing provide a hermeneutical key in developing a global social ethics for humanitarian military intervention and even provide ethical foundations for the abolishment of war …

Six Principles To Consider When Working With Roman Catholic Clients, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Although the majority of Americans consider themselves to be Christian and affiliated with various Protestant denominations, a quarter of the American population identify themselves as Roman Catholics who are the largest single religious denomination in the country. Yet, surprisingly, fairly little research has been published in the professional psychology literature about working with this very large and diverse group. Psychologists have an ethical responsibility to be aware of and respectful to diversity including diversity based on religious background, affiliation, and perspectives. The purpose of this brief reflection is to offer 6 important principles to keep in mind for professional psychologists …

The Santa Clara, 2014-05-01, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

The Ongoing Challenge Of Renewal In Contemporary Religious Life, Sandra Marie Schneiders

Jesuit School of Theology

It is just 50 years since the close of Vatican II when we stood on the pristine peaks of a new beginning, surveying the broad vistas of possibility for genuine renewal in Religious Life and in the Church as a whole. In the next ten years the little dark cloud that appeared on the horizon with the death of Good Pope John became the thick black clouds of the “restoration.” The gathering darkness of the “reform of the reform” in which we found ourselves was further deepened by the explosion of the abuse scandals and the huge exodus of Religious, …

Modeling Science And Faith Integration May Be More Powerful Than Words. Reflections On "The Study Of Science In Catholic Higher Education In The United States: A Modern Nuisance?", Thomas Plante

Psychology

In "The study of science in Catholic higher education in the United States: A modern nuisance?", Fr. Cunningham offers a thoughtful and engaging commentary on the history and state of science education in Catholic universities in the United States, carefully weaving history, science, and even politics in a seamless and multilayered manner. But before offering reflections on what he said in his paper, I'd like to make a few comments on who he is which, at the end of the day, might be actually more important.

Conclusion To Buying The Field: Catholic Religious Life In Mission To The World, Sandra Marie Schneiders

Jesuit School of Theology

The end of this volume is also the end of a project which has taken almost twelve years to complete, namely, an examination, interdisciplinary analysis, and spirituality oriented theological interpretation of Catholic Religious Life as it has emerged and is continuing to develop from the renewal of Vatican II, and is now manifesting itself with ever-increasing confidence as a renewed and transformed reality in the Church. This renewing lifeform is both deeply continuous with its two-thousand-year history and startlingly different from anything anyone alive today knew as Religious Life until close to the last quarter of the twentieth century. The …

"Doctrinal Responsibilities": Evenhanded, Open And Fair, Michael J. Buckley S.J.

Religious Studies

In this article, the author discusses the document entitled "Doctrinal Responsibilities: Approaches to Promoting Cooperation and Resolving Misunderstandings Between Bishops and Theologians." He says that the document promotes the resolution of whatever doctrinal conflicts between theologians and bishops. However, he states that the document makes no effort in addressing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee of Doctrine's specific role.

Integrating Spirituality And Psychotherapy: Ethical Issues And Principles To Consider, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Professional and scientific psychology appears to have rediscovered spirituality and religion during recent years, with a large number of conferences, seminars, workshops, books, and special issues in major professional journals on spirituality and psychology integration. The purpose of this commentary is to highlight some of the more compelling ethical principles and issues to consider in spirituality and psychology integration with a focus on psychotherapy. This commentary will use the American Psychological Association's (2002) Ethics Code and more specifically, the RRICC model of ethics that readily applies to various mental health ethics codes across the world. The RRICC model highlights the …