Other Peoples Lives
A young man screams in pain he calls it shame
Another frets and grieves for her lover
She yearns for the intimacy they once shared
She speaks of prayers to God “Help me, oh God, help me!’
A man full of rage and anger is fit to kill to maim
He holds on to the thought of growing up with his child
It helps to keep him sane
An old woman cries for fear of losing her precious only son
To suicide
The boy hangs his head in shame
He’s racked with guilt
He cannot speak
Through the guilt, the pain and the shame
They all wonder if they will ever recover
These poignant stories are expressions of spirituality in a 'civil society’. As social workers we work on a daily basis with 'spiritual' pain yet our training teaches us little about responding to pain of such depth and magnitude.
The literature identifies limited opportunities for social workers to come together to discuss spirituality. It suggests that whilst we acknowledge the importance of developing spiritually sensitive practices, we have been slow to rise to the challenge.
This interactive workshop is designed to encourage dialogue between practitioners working therapeutically with clients experienceing spiritual problems/distress.
Participants will be guided through a series of interactive exercises, for use in counselling, and therapy with clients experiencing spiritual pain.
The workshop will be of interest to delegates working in counselling/psychotherapy and those with an interest in trauma and recovery.
References:
Edwards, P. B. (2002) Spiritual Themes in Social Work Counselling: Facilitating the Search for Meaning The Journal of the Australian Association of Social workers Vol 55(1) pp79-87
Grof, S. & Grof, C. (1989) Spiritual Emergency; When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis Tarcher Putnam, USA
Kohler, C (1999) The Nursing Diagnosis of "Spiritual Distress", A Necessary Re-evaluation Rech-Soins-Infirm. 1999 Mar (56) pp 12-72
Lindsay, R. (2002) Recognising Spirituality: The Interface Between Faith & Social Work University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA
Rice, S. (2002) Magic Happens: Revisiting the Spirituality and Social Work Debate Australian Social Work Vol. 55(4) pp303-312