ACPESUPV
Posted August 23, 2009
I ordered the book with DVD for myself and several for students who desired to learn to have meaning-based conversations with hospitalized persons. The book would be helpful for anyone who wants to learn how to have any kind of serious conversation in the broad area of meaning or personal spirituality. The method applies to individuals who profess no faith as well as helpful in an inter-faith or cross-faith situation.
The method focuses on helpful listening skills and ways in which to quickly and respectfully help others "come to the point" - a real skill for busy health professionals. Helps medical, nursing and tech students with making a rapid psycho-social-spiritual assessment. Helpful in pinpointing spiritual distress. I think it would be a great resource for facilities attempting to comply or correct spiritual assessment issues with the Joint Commission.
In the lay visitation arena, the book helps with helping the conversation move from the superficial social visit to helping the individual reflect and explore spiritual or religious issues.
Easy to read; suggests various exercises to deepen the learning. The DVD is helpful in terms of presenting vignettes for group discussion. The DVD does not substitute for the book's content.
I have been collecting this type of book for over thirty years and this is the first one I have seen that does not have a religious bias, making it helpful for any professional or student who cares for others in a pluralistic setting, as well as applicable for faith-group leaders who make hospital visits with the intention of having conversations about spirituality.
Very practical, easily adaptable. Very patient-centered.
More About This Textbook
Overview
While wanting to help patients is one motivation for learning these skills, there are also evidence-based reasons: helping patients express their innermost feelings promotes spiritual healing; spiritual health is related to physical and emotional health; spiritual coping helps patients accept and deal with their illness; and patients tend to want their healthcare professionals to know about their spirituality. By practicing and using these healing techniques, healthcare professionals will be able to feel more secure in their responses to their patients' spiritual needs.
Product Details
Meet the Author
Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
Let's Begin! 1
Why should I learn this skill? 2
About this workbook 4
Assumptions 6
Preparing the Healer 9
What are my spiritual pains? 9
How do my spiritual pains affect my responses to patients? 12
But if I'm always being wounded, won't I die? 14
Why do I disengage from patients' feelings? 16
Assumptions that silence 17
What is a wounded healer like? 19
Tips for how to survive in the clinical setting as a wounded healer 21
Listening: Beginning the Healing Response 25
Dimensions of listening 27
What to listen for 29
Tips for how to listen 31
Making Sense of What You Hear 41
What are spiritual needs? 41
What does spirituality look and sound like? 42
Tips for making sense of what you hear 45
Verbal Responses to Spiritual Pain: Micro-skills 53
Micro-skills: Goals and guidelines 54
Building rapport 59
Restatements 61
Open questions 65
Reflecting feelings and advanced empathy 69
Self-disclosure 80
Verbal Responses to Spiritual Pain: Macro-skills 85
Story listening 85
Body listening 90
Nurturing resilience and reframing 92
Religious practices 97
FAQs 101
Putting It All Together 119
Lets practice! 119
An encouraging word 126
Answers for Exercises 129
Notes 139