Spirituality In Social Work Practice

Introduction Understanding the concept of spirituality is an important idea in the social work field. Furthermore, spirituality often becomes confused with religion. According to Hutchinson (2015), spirituality can be explained as “a process of human life and development” (p.184). Therefore, spirituality focuses on the meaning of human life. In terms of integrating spirituality into social work practice, I think it is beneficial to be able to understand spirituality when working with diverse client groups.

What nourishes you spiritually?

Although I have never referred to myself as spiritual, one an important characteristic that I have had since I was younger is being respectful. I value human relationships and strive to be an example to others.

Therefore, some might not be able to distinguish the two. I understand shame as thinking about yourself in a negative and poor way. Gibson provides a better definition which states shame as being an"acute awareness of one's flawed and unworthy self" (p.333). On the other hand, guilt typically reminds me of wishing you did or did not do something.

Healthy shame could refer to acknowledging what you did was wrong. It is healthy because you understand that you may have hurt someone and think of ways you could have improved the situation. On the other hand, if you feel unhealthy shame and only think about negative aspects, it will affect your psychological state. Furthermore, healthy guilt could be simply feeling guilty because you harmed someone, which would should be the natural response. Unhealthy guilt could be feeling you did something wrong, when in reality, possibly the situation would have happened beyond your control or had nothing to do with

Although, I tend to have a strong resilience to negative things in my life. I maintain a sense of hope by remaining determined to continue on when situations arise. For instance, I enjoy engaging in self-care. If I lose hope, I like to practice spiritual practices like mindfulness, which according to an article written by Duros & Crowley (2014), which focuses on clients indicate that “mindfulness is a tool that they use to help themselves feel grounded and safe. Paying attention to objects in the outer world, when they are experiencing inner turmoil, orients them to the present, and reminds them that the external world can be safe” (p. 242). Further, Hutchinson (2015) acknowledges that “spirituality based coping include relieving stress, retaining a sense of control, maintaining hope, and providing a sense of meaning and purpose in life” (p.213). For myself, I did not want to think about the past. Instead, I wanted to focus on the good things in life and remain hopeful for the sake of myself and my family’s well-being.

Do you need forgiveness from yourself or someone