Spiritual Development: Spiritual Crisis as

Positive MaladjustmentThe Seventh International Congress of

the Institute for Positive Disintegration in Human DevelopmentAugust 3-5, 2006Calgary, Alberta

Cecile de Vries, B.A.(Hons.), M.Sc.(Candidate)

& Dawn Johnston, B.Sc., M.Sc.(Candidate)University of Calgary

Overview1. Introduction2. Spiritual Crisis & Development

• Definition• Relation to Mental Health• Dark Night of the Soul

3. Theoretical Considerations• Fowler • Jung• Dabrowski• Spiritual Crisis as Positive Maladjustment

4. Therapeutic Considerations • Spiritual Giftedness • Counselling Implications

5. Conclusion

1. Introduction

IntroductionI feel guilty for the pressure of food in my full stomach and the heat of the sun on

my unworthy face. I try to pray to God to help me understand what I’m going through, but I cannot find Him. Either He is not available to me, or I am no longer available to Him, I don’t know how it went or why. I’ve pulled away

from my faith and for reasons unknown to me I cannot enter a church without a wave of emotions; nameless and washing over me, sweeping the self I

thought I knew out to a sea of bewilderment and anguish.g f g

I bob in this sea alone, with nothing but antidepressants and therapy to keep my head above water. Many times I have wanted to hold myself under to end my life of trying to stay afloat for a purpose I can not see or feel, but am assured exists. I’ve treaded here for years searching for something, anything to hold onto long enough to understand how I got in as deep as I have. I am in the midst of so many things in my life. I didn’t have to feel so lost. This is not

supposed to be happening…

Introduction• Such experiences exist during times of

suffering in the darkness.

• An an experience that missiles one further into the blacknessinto the blackness…

• Or, towards the light…

Introduction• Historically, psychology has been separated

from spirituality/religion.

• Psychology = psyche + logos= “study of the soul”

• More recently, research has found spirituality/ religious practice to be impacting on mental health.

• Psychology can not ethically disregard spirituality/religion.

Introduction• Renewed interest in spiritual concerns.

• Religion is central to one’s view of the world.

• Impact of religion can be positive or devastating.

Introduction• Differences between religion and spirituality.

• Interchangeability of terms.

• Spirituality:Being spiritual suggests a personal commitment to a process of inner development that engages us in our p f p g gtotality. Spirituality is a way of life that affects and includes every moment of existence. It is at once a contemplative attitude, a disposition to a life of depth, and the search for ultimate meaning, direction, and belonging. The spiritual person is committed to growth as an essential, ongoing life goal. Spirituality draws us in to the depth of our being, where we come face to face with ourselves, our weaknesses, and with ultimate mystery.

- Teasdale, 2001, p. 17-18.

2. Spiritual Crisis & Developmentp

Spiritual Crisis

• Several Definitions:– Armentrout

– Miller

– Moore

– Grof and Grof

Spiritual Crisis or Mental Illness?• Grof and Grof:

– Strong inner knowing– Visions– Feeling an energy presence– Hearing voices– Connections with nature– Losing contact with material world– Feeling at one with the universe– Past life memories– Out of body experiences– Talking in tongues

Spiritual Crisis or Mental Illness?• Carl Jung:

Reflection of collective unconscious

• Abraham Maslow:Experiences in self actualizationExperiences in self-actualization

• Ken Wilber:Connection with realities beyond ordinary sense

Spiritual Crisis: Our DefinitionNot in finding out what has been happening

to/with a client, but…

How they will derive/construct meanings from such experiences as experiencedfrom such experiences as experienced, understood, and interpreted by themselves.

Dark Night of the Soul• St. John of the Cross:

– Model of spiritual development– Draws individual initially further from their

beliefs, but then ultimately closerTi i b t thi i D k Ni ht f th– Time in between this is Dark Night of the Soul

• Thomas Moore:– Distinction between Dark Night and

mental illness

3. Theoretical Considerations

James Fowler

• Theorists on faith/spiritual development- Ken Wilber: Spectral Model of Consciousness

- James Fowler: Stages of Faith Development.

Stages of Faith Development

• Fowler defined faith: a set of assumptions/understandings about the nature of connection with the self and the world.

• Faith development: a sequential and linear process from stage to stage equated with a particular time period.

• Concerns with a progressive & definitivemodel for such an individual process.

Carl Jung• Embraced the connection between mental health

and spirituality:- the object of psychology is the soul/spirit- the soul/spirit is responsible for becoming

psychological healthy individuals

• Archetypal framework describes inner processes related to spirituality.

• Thus, encounters with soul/spirit are necessary for psychological, hence, spiritual development.

Process of Individuation• Spiritual process by which personality is built up and of moving

toward one’s totality.

• Becoming more conscious of the unconscious.

• Embarked upon because ofi it l it i l i i d b i– spiritual necessity in analysis as occasioned by a neurosis,

– external events that force humans to the centres of their beings, or

– the inner urge to find and obtain the truth

• Accomplished by discovering the Self through a paradoxical process--exploring the darkness to find the light.

Kazimierz Dabrowski • Mental health symptoms are signs of disintegration,

and, therefore, personality development.

• Theory of Positive Disintegration emphasizes the purpose of disintegration, psychoneurosis, and inner conflict in developmentconflict in development.

• Dark Night of the Soul: development is a natural process & involves movement through a dark night.

• A period of disintegration, or a dark night, is present during, and necessary for personality development, which includes spiritual development.

Theory of Positive Disintegration

• Movement from lower to higher levels of personal development.

• Process: Primary Integration

Disintegration

Secondary Integration

• A period of disintegration can be a spiritual crisis, or a dark night, followed by the integration of the spiritual self.

Link to Spiritual Crisis & Development

• Rigid, instinctual egocentrism Conscious altruism

Attitudes & adjustment established in the external environment ideal, emerging personality, authentic/autonomous values that are independent& directly oppositey pp

“What is” “what ought to be”

• Movement from lower to higher level emotions/attitudes are occurring in spiritual development.

• Thus, may be applied to spiritual crisis & development.

Developmental Potential• Determines the level that can be reached & one

goes through the process.

• Is seen in heightened responses to life’s stimuli, or “overexcitability,”expressed through developmental dynamisms:y

1. Genetic predisposition/biological cycle2. Questions social conformity3. Self-determination, autonomy & authenticity

(also called “active conscience”)

• It is not the type or degree of D.P. , or inner urge/knowing that will determine spiritual development, but also the supernatural.

Positive Maladjustment• Crises are vital & often when individuals

become aware of changes.

• Individuals adjust to their inner worlds– PositivelyPositively– Negatively

• Positive Maladjustment: when D.P. interact with crises and psychoneuroses to result in positive adjustment to “what ought to be” and growing maladjustment to “what is.”

4. Therapeutic Considerations

Spiritual Giftedness

• Piechowski:– Student of Dabrowski

Came to study spiritual giftedness– Came to study spiritual giftedness through Dabrowski and Anna Marie Roeper (emotional giftedness) and his own work in transpersonal psychology

Spiritual Giftedness• William James:

– Visible world is part of more spiritual universe

– Union/harmonious relation with higher universe is our true enduniverse is our true end

– Prayer/inner communion w/spirit results in strengthened spiritual connection

– New zest for life

– Peaceful temperament

Spiritual Giftedness• Edward Hoffman:

– Spontaneous moments-peak experiences

– Eternal presence-awareness of higher power in everythingpower in everything

– Experience of life force

– Sense of inner conviction

– New sense of self

Counselling Considerations

• Perry:– Notes “spirit” in spiritual crisis

– Hebrew for “air in motion”

– Felt as strong energy moving through

– Therapist to help release this pent up energy

Counselling Considerations

• Client’s reluctance to discuss religious/spiritual issues

• Therapist openness

• Referral if necessary

• Help client to nurture soul

Counselling Considerations

Jung’s Four Personality Functions & Devotional Life

– Intuition– Sensation– Thinking– Feeling

Counselling Considerations

• Awareness of differing philosophical definitions

• Familiarity with literatureC th li ilt– e.g., Catholic guilt

• Be open to the creativity of the soul

Counselling Considerations• Armentrout’s Heart Cry-Biblical Model

– Sensitivity to external and internal situationsa) help clients out of spiral and return to

restorative pathb) use psycho-education to understandb) use psycho-education to understand

conditionc) develop spiritual activities to increase

sense of spiritualityd) increase/sustain engagement in

activitiese) identify and remediate causes of

depression that resulted in heart cry

5. Conclusion

Conclusion• Spiritual Crisis & Development

• Definition• Relation to Mental Health• Dark Night of the Soul

• Theoretical ConsiderationsF l• Fowler

• Jung• Dabrowski• Spiritual Crisis as Positive Maladjustment

• Therapeutic Considerations • Spiritual Giftedness • Counselling Implications

References• Armentrout, D. P. (2004). The normal pathological genesis of

depression: The “Heart Cry” Biblical Model of Depression revisited. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 23(1), 40-50.

• Dabrowski, K. (1964). Positive Disintegration. London: J & A Churchill.

• Dabrowski, K., Kawczak, A, & Piechowski, M. M. (1970). Mental growth through positive disintegration. London: Gryf Publications.

• Dabrowski K (1972) Psychoneurosis is not an illness London:• Dabrowski, K. (1972). Psychoneurosis is not an illness. London: Gryf Publications.

• Elkins, D. N. (1995). Psychotherapy and spirituality: Toward a theory of the soul. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 35, 78-98.

• Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.

• Goldbrunner, J. (1966). Individuation: A study of the depth psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

References• Grof, C., & Grof, S. (Eds.). (1986). Spiritual emergency: When

personal transformation becomes a crisis. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

• Grof, C., & Grof, S. (1990). The stormy search for self: A guide to personal growth through transformational crisis. Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tharcher.

• Jung, C. G. (1961). Memories, dreams, reflections. New York: Vintage Books.g

• Lysy, K. Z., & Piechowski, M. M. (1983). Personal growth: An empirical study using Jungian and Dabrowskian measures. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 108, 267-320.

• Mika, E. (2002) Theory of positive disintegration. Retrieved on December 1, 2004, from http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/positive_disint.htm

• Miller, J. S. (1990). Mental illness and spiritual crisis: Implications for psychiatric rehabilitation.

• Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 14(2), 29-48.

ReferencesMoore, T. (2004). Dark night of the soul: A guide to finding your way through life’s ordeals.. New York: Penguin Group (USA).

• Piechowski, M. M. (1986). The concept of developmental potential. Roeper Review, 8(3), 190-197.

• Piechowski, M. M. & Miller, N. B. (1995). Assessing developmental potential in gifted children: A comparison of methods. Roeper Review, 17, 176-180.

• Tillier, W. (1998). Intersections between Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration and Wilber's Spectral Model of Consciousness. In C. Ackerman (Ed.), Texturizing and Contextualizing: Proceedings from the 3rd International Symposium [Biennial Conference] on Dabrowski's Theory. 53-79. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from http://members.shaw.ca/positivedisintegration/wilber.htm

• Tolle, E. (2004). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment.Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Namaste Publishing.