Spirituality involves “the belief and obedience to anal powerful force usually called God” that they believe controls their purpose in life (Verghese, 2008). There are many means to spirituality according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (2015) it is the way that people find the meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in their lives. Spirituality to people is a religious value that they gain knowledge, insight, giving them a foundation and support that helps them get a sense of wellbeing and wholeness (Nash, 2009). Spirituality becomes a part of the person’s life and they believe that their health and wellness is all because of their beliefs. People who believe strongly in spirituality believe that their faith will heal any mental health issues that they may have wrong with them.
Mental health is the emotional, psychological and social well-being that affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts (HHS, 2015). Over a person life they experience many events that affect how they behave, think and feel. Many times their events cause problems and people turn to spirituality to solve these problems. They feel strong about their beliefs and that they will help them on their path to recovery.
African Americans are strong believers in spirituality and many times this is how they cope with their mental health. According to Turner (2012) African Americans do not seek treatment for mental health issues as they have a long standing history of preferring to use the bible and religion as a method of coping with life’s troubles and stress. African Americans are very involved in their spirituality so that they will turn to it for solving their problems. African Americans not only turn to spirituality for mental distress but also physical health as Turner (2012) states “Dr. Boyd-Franklin emphasizes in her book how many “African American have a strong core of spiritual beliefs that empower them and give them strength to cope with stress” (Boyd-Franklin, 2003).
Mental health providers have been trained to diagnose and treat and do not have much training in how to relate to the spiritual side of the patient. Mental health providers need to learn to work with people who believe in spirituality and form a combination of medicine and spirituality. Studies have shown that the two are able to work together well and many times it is the spirituality that holds the person together. When a mental health provider respects spirituality as a human right they can respond to the needs by: “Acknowledging the spirituality in people’s lives, give them time to talk about their spirituality, encourage patients to tell them their needs, allow them to express their spirituality, and plan and incorporate their spiritual needs with their medical needs” (Mental, 2015). Mental health providers need to accept the patient’s spiritual beliefs and work with them in their treatment.
Mental health providers have incorporated spirituality in the treatment of those who have strong beliefs that is the way to get help. Some ways that they incorporate it are: divorces that are bitter and show anger, sexual abuse survivors, treatment with eating disorders, and drug abusers. To date there has not been many approaches as they are still in the studying stages but the best way to incorporate spirituality is to accept it and allow the patient to express their opinions as by communicating interest will build a better relationship and conversation.
Spirituality and Mindfulness or Meditation
Spirituality is the way that people find the meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in their lives through religious beliefs. Mindfulness or meditation means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment (greater, 2015). Both spirituality and mindfulness are similar but one is practices in a religious way and the other by meditation. Both provide guidance to a person’s inner peace. Mindfulness is working with the present and spirituality works with the past, present and future.
Gratitude and Forgiveness
Forgiveness and gratitude has been a part of spirituality and religious process and in the secular content. According to Gaventa (2015) “Forgiveness and gratitude play a fundamental role in changing the perception, approach, and response to the individuals themselves, their families, professionals, caregivers, friends, and communities.” There has been research to the effects of forgiveness and gratitude and the impact that they have on health and well being. Spirituality believes in forgiveness and gratitude in the emotional health of the person. They are responses to positive conditions or events that can help the mental state of the patient. They believe that by forgiving the patient is able to move forward and not allow the event to affect their lives. This is true in spirituality and in the secular content that forgiveness and gratitude works in the same way.
Ethical Issues
Psychologists go by a code of ethics that they have to treat every person who seeks treatment and accept them as individuals. With this in mind if the individual is commit to spirituality then the psychologist must respect their beliefs and work with them. The psychologist is obligated to deal with religion and spirituality to be respectful and sensitive to the client’s needs. Psychologist need to be careful not to try to change the patients mind about spirituality or to inflict their opinions on the subject. The code of ethics states that counselors are required to avoid all discrimination based on religion and need to actively understand the clients with diverse cultural backgrounds (Nickles, 2011).
- Boyd-Franklin, N. (2003). Black Families in Therapy: Understanding the African American experience. New York: Guilford Press. Retrieved from Turner (2012) Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-race-good-health/201211/africanamericans-and-therapy
- Gaventa, W. (2015) Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Spirituality, Oxford University, from http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398786.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195398786-e-012
- Greater Good (2015) What is Mindfulness, retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition
- HHS.gov (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services) (2015) What is Mental Health, retrieved from http://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health/index.html
- Nash, D., (2009) The Role of Spirituality in Healthcare, Medpage Today, retrieved from http://www.medpagetoday.com/Columns/FocusonPolicy/14725
- Nickles, T., (2011) The role of religion and spirituality in counseling, retrieved from http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=psycdsp
- Turner, E. A. (2012) African Americans and Therapy, Psychology Today, retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-race-good-health/201211/africanamericans-and-therapy
- University of Maryland Medical Center (2015) Spirituality, retrieved from http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/treatment/spirituality
- Verghese, A. (2008). Spirituality and mental health. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(4), 233–237, retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755140/
