Conversations With God
I re-read Steve's paper on spirituality a couple of months ago, very thought - provoking, and then I began reading "Conversations With God" by Neale Donald Walsch"
Has anybody read that?
- There's so much ACT consistent stuff there and Steve's paper began to become clearer to me as well -
I'd really recommend the book, whatever religion or not, whether you believe in God or not, it's a tremendous overview of an ACT perspective on life imho and indeed a Spiritual view of what we're here for and what our potential is.
I was thinking of quoting some examples as others have done with films etc. but I think that would not be helpful.
I should point out there are 3 books in the Series but I have only read the first so far - would love to hear anybody else's view if they have read any of the trilogy
Steve's Paper
In reply to some queries of which of Steve's paper I was referring to -
(I was going to say Steve's Seminal Paper but I didn't want to aggravate the wrath of Corrigan!!!)
The reference is:
Hayes, S. C. (1984). Making sense of spirituality. Behaviorism, 12, 99-110
If you click the "Publications Tab" on the left hand menu and scan down to "H" you will find a pdf. document that you can download.
For some reason some of the pdf's only open with Adobe Acrobat version 7 !!!!! Happy Reading
Martin
I read them all about 5
I read them all about 5 years ago. I have been practicing psychotherapy based on many of the underlying principles.
I know what you mean Eric, I
I know what you mean Eric, I think. I only bumped into the books recently but I saw a lot of what I do in there (with some new stuff to provoke thought).
I guess one of the many questions I had for this board was - How do others deal with Spirituality in their work? Or Indeed ACT ? - I think I need to qualify this - I'm employed in mainstream State Healthcare to deliver CBT - I am open to criticism (and have been criticised) if I don't deliver what others "perceive" to be CBT - Have others experienced these dilemmas?
Spirituality & Values
Hi Martin,
I am in the process of writing a new ACT book on using act to help clients manage their stress. As you know, a big part of ACT revolves around values and living a life that is consistent with your values. Most of my students and clients have values that relate to their spirituality. They value things ranging from the environment to their religion.
I believe that a big part of accepting and being willing to live a values-based life is having faith that things will work out for you. When I ask a client or a student to accept their pain and suffering and move forward despite it the payoff is that down the road they will suffer less and learn how to live with their suffering. This is a big leap of faith for them despite providing the empirical evidence supporting ACT and RFT.
Once I open the door to having faith in the future and that things will work out for them it invariably leads to a discussion of spirituality. I define spirituality as "being connected to something other than the self." This could be secular (a person, organization, nature, etc.) or religious (GOD, faith community etc.).
There is a robust literature describing how spirituality and faith help people cope with all kinds of distress and have better health-related outcomes.
Rich Blonna