Module 1 · Part 5 of 5
We spend a lot of time thinking about a person's spirituality — something which, in a healthy state, helps them achieve comfort and peace of mind. Often, healthy spirituality can be tempered by an experience of spiritual distress. This happens when a person's circumstances change, and they become distressed in something central to their life.
We always have to keep in mind what spirituality is. We've emphasised in PFP that spirituality includes a number of elements: our connectedness, in varying degrees, to our individual self, to others, to something higher or bigger than ourselves (which may include God and/or religion), to nature, and to creative expression. Distress may occur when there's a breakdown in the connectedness between the person and any or all of these elements, depending on the severity.
We can become distressed within ourselves if we're unhappy with how we're performing in an activity we want to succeed at — as a result, we might lose our self-esteem, which could create some despondency. Another example might be our relationship with God: we might be distressed because God doesn't seem to help us in the way we'd like. Or a person strongly connected to nature might find that, after a natural calamity, their spirituality becomes distressed because they can no longer connect in the way they have in the past — in this situation, it might seem that nature has let them down.
If we have a clear understanding of spirituality's elements, then when talking with a friend, we can listen for the element they may be having difficulty with — say, family relationships — and explore that element with them. By exploring their feelings about their situation, we may be able to help them reconnect with the family or person they're having difficulties with. The aim is to restore the connectedness and reduce their spiritual distress. The same approach can be used to identify a lack of connection with God: helping them understand the relationship and talking through the breakdown can help them understand their position in the scheme of things, and their distress might be reduced. The same can occur with self-esteem — exploring the reason for their lack of self-esteem, and encouraging their greater self-belief, may help reduce that spiritual distress.
We need to remember that if our friend's spiritual distress becomes beyond our ability to help, we need to discuss the situation with our supervisor (if working in an aged care home or hospital), or with someone else — perhaps a counsellor — who can help the friend restore their positive spirituality, and thus their inner peace.
That's all five parts of Module 1 — try the Statement work page now.