If asked whether they practice spiritual or theological reflection on a regular basis, most people would hesitate before responding - and for good reasons, as Thomas O'Connor and Elizabeth Meakes found when they undertook a groundbreaking ethnographic study of nearly 100 Canadian lay and ordained spiritual care-givers and psychotherapists.
Research that led to this book reveals that spiritual and theological reflection, whether understood separately or together, comprise one of the least understood and most under-appreciated resources available to the helping professions.
In sharing the daily challenges they face in working with clients or patients, many of Meakes' and O'Connor's interviewees, who did not describe themselves as following a reflective discipline, were in fact practicing multiple forms and methods of reflection that enhanced and deepened their professional and personal lives.
This book adds important insight and depth to a solid foundation of qualitative research into intuitive and spontaneous forms of reflection as practiced (often unaware) in both secular health care and religious or faith-affiliated environments.
Readers will not only recognize that one can engage in reflection without retreating to a monastery or convent, but that we all reflect in some way or form every day. This book invites us on a journey of discovery into the vast potential of meaning, method and mindfulness that this ancient discipline deserves.
Research that led to this book reveals that spiritual and theological reflection, whether understood separately or together, comprise one of the least understood and most under-appreciated resources available to the helping professions.
In sharing the daily challenges they face in working with clients or patients, many of Meakes' and O'Connor's interviewees, who did not describe themselves as following a reflective discipline, were in fact practicing multiple forms and methods of reflection that enhanced and deepened their professional and personal lives.
This book adds important insight and depth to a solid foundation of qualitative research into intuitive and spontaneous forms of reflection as practiced (often unaware) in both secular health care and religious or faith-affiliated environments.
Readers will not only recognize that one can engage in reflection without retreating to a monastery or convent, but that we all reflect in some way or form every day. This book invites us on a journey of discovery into the vast potential of meaning, method and mindfulness that this ancient discipline deserves.