Resource Type

After-math: Counting the Aftereffects of Potentially Spiritually Transformative Experiences (open access)

After-math: Counting the Aftereffects of Potentially Spiritually Transformative Experiences

Abstract: This article provides a summary of current literature regarding the nature of spiritual development, types of potentially spiritually transformative experiences (pSTEs), and both short- and long-term aftereffects of pSTEs— biological, psychological, spiritual, and social. The author concludes that in the aftermath of pSTEs, experiencers, their intimates and associates, and their healthcare providers should be prepared to experience integration that can be manageable or be deeply challenging and that can be relatively brief or can last for years.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Holden, Janice Miner
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Editor's Foreword [Winter 2012] (open access)

Editor's Foreword [Winter 2012]

Guest editorial statement introducing the contents of the special journal issue and providing other relevant notes.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Rominger, Ryan
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Ethnographic Study of Near-Death Experience Impact and Aftereffects and Their Cultural Implications (open access)

An Ethnographic Study of Near-Death Experience Impact and Aftereffects and Their Cultural Implications

Abstract: In this paper, I describe the research method and key near-death experience (NDE) aftereffects- and integration-related findings of my dissertation research study (Gordon, 2007), the first published near-death studies research project to use the ethnographic method. I compare my findings with those of a comparable sociological study (Sutherland, 1995), with emphasis on NDE aftereffects and integration issues related to what I identified as a previously unrecognized pattern of unmet, NDE-integration-related health-education and counseling needs. Finally, I explore the cultural implications of near-death and similarly transformative experiences and posit that actualizing the potential social-wellness value of these experiences to those who have had them and to their societies requires research and practice that adequately addresses experiencers' health-education and counseling needs.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Gordon, L. Suzanne
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Challenges of Traveling a Psychospiritual Path in Today's Postmodern Western World (open access)

The Challenges of Traveling a Psychospiritual Path in Today's Postmodern Western World

Abstract: Although the category "Religious or Spiritual Problem" (Code V62.89) was incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental health professional in 1994, it has taken until 2012 for a conference or training to take place designed to help therapists and social workers understand how best to address such issues. In this article I describe my personal experience and my professional experience as a psychotherapist with religious and spiritual phenomena. I offer my view of what it means to be spiritual, including the role of worldviews and my conceptualization of a three-stage path of spiritual development.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Miller, Judith S.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of Spiritually Transformative Experiences in Religious History and the Development of a Scale to Measure Them (open access)

The Role of Spiritually Transformative Experiences in Religious History and the Development of a Scale to Measure Them

Abstract: Spiritual experiences are a potent means by which a person's attitudes and behaviors may changed, usually (but not always) in benevolent ways. This article presents examples from various times and places, many from the annals organized religion. Research into spiritually transformative experiences is reviewed as is a means to measure spiritual content in written or verbal reports: the Casto Spiritually Scoring System. This instrument includes subscales regarding spiritual settings, spiritual objects, spiritual characters, spiritual emotions, spiritual activities, and spiritual experiences. The reliability of the system has been examined and found to be quite high. In addition, the system has been useful clinically when spirituality becomes an issue in counseling or psychotherapy.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Krippner, Stanley
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library