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Spiritual and Psychological Inventory

Thomas Knox

Purdue University Global

HW420 Creating Wellness Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Dorette Nysewander, EdD

9/7/2021
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Spiritual and Psychological Inventory

It is my desire by creating a spiritual and psychological inventory it will help the client

understand their current state of wellness and what they can do to maintain or change. The

following 10 questions were designed to help the client better understand their life and where

they can make changes. These 10 questions will direct those that want change to become

spiritually and psychologically healthy and well.

To gain a better understanding of the need we first must question the clients about what

they believe and their outlook. While how these questions are answered by each client will be

different, it will have the end goal to help them succeed in their goals for health and wellness. We

are here ultimately to help each other find their way to see the benefits of spiritual wellbeing.

1. What are your beliefs in is there a higher power? Yes, I do believe that there is a

higher power. There has always felt that there is someone looking out for me such as

angels. I believe that once my grandfather passed, he has directed me to my husband

and is always watching over me. This has been instilled in me at such a young age

(Avila-Knox, 2021).

Believing in a higher power is the start to letting go of everything. To give up yourself to

a higher power allows you to ask for help and realizing you are not alone. “Belief in a

higher power can help you let go of all of this. With faith in something bigger than

yourself, change and forgiveness become easier to accept” (Paul, 2020).

2. Do you believe in optimism? I do believe in optimism. Do you feel that you are

more optimist or pessimist then? I would lean more towards optimist now. Back

when I was younger, I would say pessimist because of the struggles I went through

(Avila-Knox, 2021).
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By being optimistic will allow yourself to feel free and enjoy life. These positive

thoughts allow yourself to heal naturally both mentally and physically. When you

focus to much on the negatives in life, it brings in illness and disease.

3. For you, what is the meaning of life? My meaning of life is to live a happy life with

my family. This had changed over the years from what I believed that I was the center

and now I think more of what others are (Avila-Knox, 2021).

“Finding meaning and purpose may be a lifelong process that evolves based on unique

circumstances, individual experiences and global events. Along with the other dimensions

of wellness, a person’s level of spiritual wellness often fluctuates throughout their life. It

is natural to experience a variety of emotions along the path to spiritual wellness – both

positive (hope, forgiveness, acceptance, joy) and negative (doubt, fear, disappointment,

conflict)” (Smith, 2016). Our lives are always fluid and it is how you take it that makes

our lives have meaning.

4. Have you felt hope or lack of? I have felt both throughout my life. Even in the

darkest of times, I still had hope that I would find true love and get to a happy place.

I believe that we all need hope because hope lifts us up (Avila-Knox, 2021)

Hope goes hand in hand with optimism with helping yourself heal. This hope will help us

understand that if we or others are going through tragedy, the hope keeps us going. Either

hope gives us that the power to heal is there or the hope of no more pain will be felt.

Hope can be considered as faith also. Our faith that the higher power will save us or those

around us, but only if you have the optimism and truly believe.

5. Do you believe in forgiveness and the power of it in health? I do believe in

forgiveness sometimes. I struggle with forgiving those that have hurt me such as my
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father who took his life to the donor of my first two children. Both are different kinds

of issues I have faced. Now, I have forgave others and it does release tension and I do

feel better (Avila-Knox, 2021).

“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked…. the deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the

more joy you can contain…. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow

and your joy, Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet” (Seaward, 2005). Whatever challenges or

thoughts you might have, those scars are what makes you. These make you stronger and

joyful once you accept them. Rumination is also another way that we allow ourselves to

block forgiveness. We sometimes ruminate to much on what was instead what might be.

6. How do you find spiritual balance? I like to find spiritual balance in music. I feel

that it calms me and I feel joy in it (Avila-Knox, 2021).

With giving yourself an opportunity to find spiritual balance is a great tool in making sure

your mind-body-soul is leveled and if not, how to heal it. Music is a great tool to gain

spiritual balance along with adding meditation through breathing techniques or yoga. By

doing these practices will help you stay focused when everything might seem to be

falling apart. Another way to gain spiritual balance is to find like-minded people. These

people will help you on your journey and not allow distractions to derail yourself.

7. What does have a sense of humor do for you? A sense of humor is the greatest

thing. When I have a full laugh, not only do all my worries fade away, my stomach

gets a great workout. It is one of the greatest things is to laugh everyday (Avila-Knox,

2021)

To give yourself humor and laughter is a great thing. “Humor has not been taken as

seriously as it should be. Humor has many positive effects in the daily lives of patients
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and clinicians need to take advantage of these. Many indices of stress are attenuated and

this serves to improve the therapeutic alliance. Freudian, rational emotive therapy, and

kleinian views are presented, as well as examples of how to use playful therapy. In

addition, advice on how to develop humor is given” (Woodbury-Farina, 2014). “Humor is

a ubiquitous human characteristic that is socially motivated at its core and has a broad

range of significant positive effects on emotional well-being and interpersonal

relationships. Simultaneously, however, impairments in humor abilities have often been

described in close association with the occurrence and course of neuropsychiatric

disorders, such as schizophrenia, social anxiety, or depression” (Berger, 2021).

8. What are your thoughts on being spiritually compassionate? I feel

compassionately when others are feeling bad. I sometimes feel their pain as if it is my

own. I also feel that I must try to help them (Avila-Knox, 2021).

To feel compassionate for those around us is a great thing. By allowing yourself to feel

what others feel, gives you empathy and a better way to understand how to handle certain

situations. Having empathy gives you a way to talk to and understand even yourself when

things get tough with either sickness, disease, or tragedy.

9. What are your thoughts on having spiritual freedom? I believe in my spiritual

being with love of myself and all around me. I still believe that I have more to

accomplish and more of who I am meant to be (Avila-Knox, 2021).

To have spiritual freedom gives us the power to believe in a higher power that is the best

fit for ourselves. It is how we can truly be ourselves without the outside world dictating

to us how we should live and believe.

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10. What is your purpose of life? My purpose of life is to love unconditionally not for

only myself, but for others too. I am here to educate my children in life and to live life

as its fullest (Avila-Knox, 2021).

“Religion and spirituality are often seen in terms of their meaning-giving function.

Indeed, “many people think of the question of life meaning as a religious question”

(Baumeister 1991). Geertz (1973) argues that today meaning making is the fundamental

function of religious belief. Some theorists and theologians argue that the sense of

purpose provided by religious faith is unobtainable through naturalistic means (Frankl

1969:145; Niebuhr 1943); but this is contended by other theorists (Maslow 1966).

Whatever the philosophical case for any particular attitude towards the God/meaning

connection, the fact is that for many, if not most people in the United States, God plays a

fundamental role in their sense of meaning” (Cranney, 2013). Our self-fulfillment is the

greatest purpose of our lives. It is where we will gain our full potential and feel wholly.

With these 10 questions, I can better gauge and guide the needs of the clients on their

spiritual journey. Each question gives us an understanding of what they feel and where they will

like to go. I might add a few more questions within these questions to dig deeper on my client’s

spirituality and psychological inventory. It is where we add in the why questions to get to the end

result.

Overall, I believe that these questions will help all clients that I will see in helping them

get the most out of their spiritual journey. With our lives being fluid, this questionnaire will also

need to be fluid. The questions will adapt to each client’s needs and as the client develops, so

will the questioning to get the client to the self-fulfillment stage of life.
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References

Berger, P., Bitsch, F., & Falkenberg, I. (2021). Humor in Psychiatry: Lessons From

Neuroscience, Psychopathology, and Treatment Research. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12,

681903. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.681903

Cranney S. (2013). Do People Who Believe in God Report More Meaning in Their Lives? The

Existential Effects of Belief. Journal for the scientific study of religion, 52(3), 638–646.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12046

Paul, (2020). Silver Maple Recovery, The Importance of a Higher Power in Recovery,

https://www.silvermaplerecovery.com/blog/higher-power-recovery/

Seaward, B. L. (2005). Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart : The Taoist Path Through Stress and

Spirituality. Wiley.

https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/

bmxlYmtfXzEyNDM2OF9fQU41?sid=b4baf8fc-153a-4d78-86a0-9fb3516678df@sdc-v-

sessmgr03&vid=1&format=EB&rid=2

Seaward, B. L. (1998). Spiritual fitness. American Fitness, 16(3), 60. https://eds-a-ebscohost-

com.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=2cb39c0c-21c8-4612-bb7f-

6592c3c1cc6c%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#AN=585211&db=hxh

Smith, E. (2016). Spiritual wellness: What is your meaning and

purpose? https://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm/lifelines/september-2016/spiritual-wellness-

what-is-your-meaning-and-purpose/
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Woodbury-Fariña, M. A., & Antongiorgi, J. L. (2014). Humor. The Psychiatric clinics of North

America, 37(4), 561–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2014.08.006