LE3 .A278 1998

1998

Taylor, Howard

Acadia University

Doctor of Ministry

D.Min.

Ministry

Acadia Divinity College

Spiritual direction is a very old term used to describe the practice of spiritual guidance given to a directee by a spiritual director. The purpose of spiritual direction is to enable a directee to explore and enhance their understanding and relationship with their God. In group spiritual direction the group leader facilitates the participants to provide spiritual guidance. The group is empowered to care for one another. In each session one group member claims the session and becomes the directee, while the others provide the spiritual guidance. The group spiritual direction program endeavors to meet the spiritual needs of the specific group members. Group spiritual direction is relatively new and there is nothing written on its use with people with mental health problems. This thesis is prophetic in that it is the sharing of research that proves the value of group spiritual direction in helping the healing process of people diagnosed with mild to moderate depression. The preferred treatment of depressed persons is cognitive therapy and change is accomplished through adult learning. In this thesis project the group members were coached in the use of cognitive therapy to address the spiritual needs of the member who chose to be the directee in any given session. The model of learning is an adult model and learning was facilitated through the practice of reflection, and is known as Transformative Learning. This research, through qualitative and quantitative methodology, has shown that group spiritual direction improves the mood of the clients who are mildly to moderately depressed.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:2734