Here's to FINALS y'all!

Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing Final

            As a professional in the Health and Wellness field it is very important that each practitioner develop themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Each of these areas is important to optimal and integral health. We as individuals cannot separate one aspect of health and fail to develop and work on the other areas. This would be like putting a band -aid on the split knuckle after punching a wall and saying, “There, you are all fixed up now!” As health and wellness professionals we recognize that not only does the physical need to be cared for but also the emotional and psychological needs to be addressed. This person I described needs to learn better coping skills, the ability to recognize the triggers for their anger, and respond to the anger in an appropriate way before they reach a boiling point. The spirit needs to be assessed giving this individual the ability to see they are broken and help them understand that healing is in fact possible!

            With that said, we as the Health and Wellness professional must care for ourselves in the same manner that we instill and prescribe to our clients and patients. We have the responsibility to uphold this within ourselves. As a Health and Wellness professional we uphold the vow to “enter a personal process of self-development, study, understand, and integrate an integral vision and its principles and practices into our personal and professional life, to hold a vision of health and healing whole final goal is health, happiness, and wholeness, uphold the ethical principles of a spiritual life, meet every individual as a unite sacred being, develop through personal contemplative practice a healing presence that is acknowledging, comforting, reassuring, safe, nonjudgmental, and infused with loving-kindness, acknowledge and support the innate healing capacities in each individual, hold all life as unique and precious, and serve” (Dacher, 2006, p. 172-173). This gives us credibility and authority to speak into the lives of those seeking out our expertise. The client that comes with the split knuckle can then glean from our own individual healing process. We have a greater opportunity to share from personal experience. This gives the client and patient hope knowing healing has come in our own individual life. For me personally I need to develop all three aspects, psychological, spiritual, and physical to reach my individual goals for integral health.

Assessment

            Integral assessment helps us to focus on ourselves as a whole. There are 6 Principles of Integral Assessment. They are as follows according to Dacher from Integral Health (2006): 1. The goal of integral health is to alleviate needless suffering and promote human flourishing.

2. Integral health recognizes the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and permanent relief. 3. Integral health recognizes the distinction between immediate pleasure and long-term flourishing. 4. Psychospiritual development is an essential component of integral health. 5. Integral assessment relies on deep listening and guidance. 6. Integral assessment addresses the aspects, levels, and lines of development that are relevant to our current circumstance (Dacher, 2006, p. 105-106).

            Having an open and honest evaluation of these aspects of our lives gives us the freedom to discover what we can work on, where we are growing, and set goals for change with the ultimate goal of reaching human flourishing. It is important within this process to reach the realization we cannot have it all together but making a start gets us one step closer to wholeness, health, and the life we hope to live. It is also important that we have an unbiased mentor or guide to walk us through this process and give their impression of our assessment as well. It is often those people we share our life with or allow into the deep places of our heart and mind that can see and point out aspects of our life that may be screaming for change.

            I am a very self-reflective person by nature. I was honestly a bit intimidated by the above list and assessment. Of course the overwhelming theme that comes to mind is working on my psychological and interpersonal areas of development. Since I am in the waiting process of a divorce I still have loads of pain and disappointment to work through. I am at a much better place with this than I was eight months ago but the effects of the depression and the hit to my confidence and ability to trust will not be restored in a short period of time.

Physical Assessment

            I would rate myself a five. I am fairly healthy or at least my latest blood work shows this. I try to eat right, take my vitamins, and get enough rest. But I do have ten pounds to lose and it’s been a process trying to take that off. I struggle with fatigue at times and I think that relates to my lack of consistent exercise.

Spiritual Assessment

            I would rate myself a seven. This aspect of wellness is very important to me. I try to spend time reading the Bible, worship Jesus through music, pray about issues on my heart, and have to attend Church each week. Church is my way to continue being feed through community worship, hearing the Word of God taught, and attending weekly Bible study. There is always ways to improve my intimacy with God and there will always be more to learn.

Psychological Assessment

            I would rate myself a six. I have been a journey of healing and discovery in a huge way this last year. With my husband choosing to initiate an extramarital affair and end our marriage I have had a lot to face in a short time. I have been diligent to go to counseling and get involved in a Divorce Care group at a local church. It has been a hard road but I have learned so much about myself through this terrible experience. I have learned I have a huge fear of confrontation, I am co-dependent; have a hard time setting healthy boundaries in my life, and struggle with effective forms of communication in a relationship. I have been determined to take care of myself, go through counseling, heal, and work on positive changes for myself. This has required loads of self-reflection and leaning on those close to me in my life for support.

Goal Development

            My goal for my psychological development is gaining the ability to articulate and put into words all that I feel and hurt in regards to my recent divorce. I have been avoiding this and have wanted to journal my experiences and feelings but placing this down in print is hard for me. This forces me to see all that has happened and makes the events even more real to me. I realize that this would help me by getting out of my mind all the hurt, bitterness, anger, and sorrow. My goal is to start this process to help aid my healing process.

            My goal for myself physically involves implementing physical exercise into my weekly routine. My hope is this will facilitate extra energy for me and allow me an outlet for my stress. Plus with this goal I expect to shed excess pounds and reach my goal weight.

            My spiritual goals include developing a deeper personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As I continue to deepen this relationship it builds my faith and ability to look at life through eyes of hope, peace, perseverance, and love for others and myself.

Practices for personal health

            Having a goal is not enough when reaching integral health. There is the aspect of activity and follow through that help us attain these goals. As we assess and make these goals for ourselves we must brainstorm ideas of realistic activities and set a plan for action. For my psychological development I have chosen the strategy of starting a journal. I need this safe outlet to put my feelings and thoughts on paper. I want to set aside at least thirty minutes a day four times a week to write. I as well want ton continue practicing the meditation exercises we have learning in this course. I do not see myself doing this realistically on a daily basis. I would like to instead set aside time three times a week initially and work up to time daily. For my physical development I want to engage in consistent exercise at least three times a week whether this is yoga, walking, doing an exercise DVD at home, or jogging with a friend. I as well want to commit to limiting the amount of sweet food and dessert that I allow myself. I believe limiting myself to two of these a week is a good start. And for my spiritual development I plan to spend time daily reading the Bible and praying to give me strength for my day and increase my relationship with Jesus. Along with these two forms of spiritual growth I plan to bathe my spirit as well with uplifting music such as instrumental, classical, and gospel while I commute to work and when I have quiet periods on the office.

Commitment

            I’m very thankful this is a process. It’s up to me to cut myself some slack realizing this but to remain faithful to the task at hand by continuing working on myself in efforts to taking steps closer to reaching integral health. With this assessment, goal development, and setting strategies for success there must be a strong level of commitment. I think that this requires some accountability in our lives. Whether it is a trusted friend, a co-worker, a spouse, or a mentor someone needs to be aware of these goals and be allowed to stand in a place of accountability. Being open to this is not easy but with any challenge it is extremely beneficial to have someone there cheering you on or pointing you back on track when you slip up. Along with an accountability partner I believe using a planner would be a good strategy for success. Life is busy! For many people if it is not “penciled in” to their day, an event or task is not completed. Evaluating these goals and looking realistically at my day I can set aside a time slot and this will help me to complete and hold to the task. In six months time I would want to reevaluate myself to assess has there been positive change in my life. This can be done by stepping onto the scale, reading the journal I have started, seeking feedback from close friends or family in my life, and assessing my mental state and present stress levels.

Conclusion

            As we learned from Ken Wilber in the beginning of our time together this term, “integral medicine goes one step further: it treats the illness, the person, and the physician” (Schilitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005). As we have started this journey towards integral health we are each a sojourner stepping out into an area that has not been well traveled. With the knowledge gained, our own individual assessment process in conjunction with applied steps we can see change. Each day is a new opportunity to travel further on this road. We each can continue applying these principles into our daily lives. As we move closer to integral health it will be apparent to those clients and patients that we care for, the loved ones we live with, and even our co-workers.

References:

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral           Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Churchill Livingstone

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.