Life Tasks

Excellence in Spiritual Care through Self-awareness

Authors

  • Bruce A. Stevens Charles Sturt University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.33754

Keywords:

Spirituality, Self-Awareness, Life Task Model

Abstract

This article considers the quality of “self-awareness” and how it might be integrated into spiritual care. A unique “life task” model is proposed which includes discovery, testing and integration. A number of experiential exercises are suggested to facilitate the various life tasks. The article draws upon qualitative research to give an example of a person who has made progress on the life tasks and notes theologian Sarah Coakley as an example of a public figure who has engaged in the three life tasks.

Author Biography

  • Bruce A. Stevens, Charles Sturt University

    Bruce Stevens was ordained in the Anglican Church in 1980. He is an endorsed clinical and forensic psychologist with over 25 years of private practice experience. He founded Canberra Clinical and Forensic Psychology and was the convenor of the clinical psychology programme at the University of Canberra for five years (until 2014). More recently he has been a research professor at Charles Sturt University. His research, including this article, is supported by the J. O. and J. N. Wicking Trust (grant number 100469).

References

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Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812507

Coakley, S. (2013) God, Sexuality and the Self: An Essay “on the Trinity”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139048958

Ecker, B., R. Ticic and L. Hulley (2013) Unlocking the Emotional Brain: Eliminating Symptoms at their Roots Using Memory Reconsolidation. New York: Routledge.

Freud, S. (1961 [1930]) “Civilization and its Discontents”. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, ed. J. Strachey, 57–145. London: Hogarth Press.

Gavrilyuk, P. L. and S. Coakley, eds (2012) The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Polanyi, M. (1958) Personal Knowledge. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Reber, A. S. (1993) Implicit Learning and Tacit Knowledge: An Essay in the Cognitive Unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wampold, B. E. (2015) “How Important are the Common Factors in Psychotherapy? An Update”. World Psychiatry 14(3): 270–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20238

Published

2019-01-19

How to Cite

Stevens, B. (2019). Life Tasks: Excellence in Spiritual Care through Self-awareness. Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, 6(2), 177-185. https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.33754

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