Spiritual Direction Dissertations

Ball, Reverend Thomas M. Ed.D., DMin., "Clothed and in his right mind: A four-fold ministry of spiritual direction, sexual abuse recovery, dissociative identiy disorder treatment, and prayer for inner healing of memories and deliverance." The Graduate Theological Foundation, November 27th, 1998.

Brief executive summary of topic: 

How to provide spiritual direction to survivors of profound trauma, using prayer for inner healing of memories. 

Awareness of an interest in the ministry of spiritual direction is growing today.  Also growing exponentially is the need to offer help and hope to people suffering from sexual abuse -- as well as neglect and emotional, verbal and physical abuse, and the related epidemic of elective pregnancy loss - -tragedies increasingly represented in congregations across America. 

The institutional church is uniquely positioned to offer help and hope to victims of such abuse, in part through an expanding ministry of spiritual direction which includes sexual abuse recovery, dissociative identity disorder treatment, prayer for inner healing of memories, and deliverance from evil spirits.  This two-volume doctoral field project demonstrates even with limited training in these matters, and no prior experience, such a spiritual direction ministry is not only possible, but with God's enablement can be initiated successfully.  The need is great; the opportunity is at hand.  This D.Min. project tells how one person did it, and how it turned out.

Chapter One: Spiritual Direction - begins with a review of selected literature discussing issues the writer feels important to understanding a modern, multi-faceted spiritual direction ministry. 

Chapter Two: Sexual Abuse Recovery - reviews selected literature and describes factors the writer believes essential to understanding causes, manifestation, and intervention for distressing symptoms arising subsequent to sexual abuse.

Chapter Three: Dissociative Identity Disorder - reviews selected literature pertaining to recognizing, understanding, and assisting abuse survivors who've developed DID (formerly multiple personality disorder) as a coping mechanism.

Chapter Four: Prayer for Inner Healing of Memories and Deliverance - reviews selected literature on establishing a healing and deliverance ministry and presents examples of the writer's personal experience with healing and deliverance.

Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations - reviews aspects of the spiritual dimension underlying these four areas of human need and invites consideration of all four as appropriate to the ministry of spiritual direction.

Contact telephone number for accessing a copy of dissertation :(517) 750-9530

Brantley, Mary Ellen. “Executive Coaching and Deep Learning.” PhD diss., Fielding Graduate University, 2007.

            Brief executive summary of topic:

This dissertation is a study of the relationship between executive coaching, transformational learning, and incorporation of a spiritual perspective into the coaching methodology. The author coached six executives for a minimum of 6 months and then conducted several qualitative interviews to ascertain the level of learning that occurred and whether or not the benefits of coaching were experienced (a) in the workplace (b) in their personal lives and (c) in their spiritual lives.

The research method employed for this study is collective case study method.  As a result of having participated in the coaching, participants reported benefits that affected their business and professional lives, as well as their personal and spiritual lives.  In addition, they also experienced deep learning—learning that alters the organization of the Self in such a way that a person makes meaning and consequently makes decisions from a higher level of consciousness.

As a result of having conducted this study the researcher makes the following observations:  (a) Incorporation of a model that includes a spiritual perspective into an executive coaching engagement benefits the executives in the business environment; (b) incorporation of a spiritually based model into an executive coaching engagement benefits the executive in ways that transcend the business environment; (c) incorporation of a spiritually based executive coaching model fosters transformational learning; and (d) the amount of learning that occurs appears to be directly related to the amount of time I was able to coach them.

 
Contact telephone number for accessing a copy of dissertation: Dissertation available via ProQuest UMI dissertation services: 800-521-0500 or 734-761-4700.

Brigman, Beverly Ann. “Seeking God in the Midst of Transition.” PhD diss., Columbia Theological Seminary, 2000.

Brief executive summary of topic:

To be added.

Clark, Diane Lynn Elder. "Tearing the Veil: A Poetic Journey Toward Wholeness." PhD diss., St. Stephen's College, 1999.

According to C.G. Jung, the spiritual journey is a journey toward   integration or wholeness through the integration of such opposites as  the conscious and the unconscious Shadow, thinking and feeling, the  Masculine and the Feminine. This dissertation is a qualitative study of the spiritual journey toward integration, using narrative and  heuristic research methods.

This study shows how using a Jungian, archetypal approach to the  Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius can make the Exercises relevant to  today's environment and how drawing on creative arts can deepen their  impact. It also explores the value of spiritual direction in general  and the Ignatian exercises in particular to today's church.

Cole, Susan. “Meeting God at the Crossroads: Spiritual Direction in the Parish.” PhD diss., Lutheran Theological Seminary/Chestnut Hill College, 2005.

            Brief executive summary of topic:

            To be added.

Dillenschneider, A. "The relationship between the spiritual practices and leadership style of United Methodist pastors and lay leaders." Doctoral diss., Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland University, 2000.

Brief executive summary of topic:

The result of my research was the discovery that, after pastors spend ~10 years in ministry, it is almost impossible for them to keep integrity between their inner lives (spirituality) and their outer lives (leadership).  This may account for the 40% loss of clergy after year 10 in virtually every denomination, including Catholic. The dissertation is summarized in the Quarterly Review article and in Transformational leadership and the care of souls.     

Feintech, Vivian A., DMin. " Sh’ma Kolenu ~ Voices in Spiritual Direction: A Study of Spiritual Practices, Hallmarks of Maturation and Their Correlation for the Practice of Jewish Spiritual Direction." PhD diss, Graduate Theological Foundation, 2007.

Brief executive summary of topic:

 This study focused on the correlation between personal spiritual practices and the capacity to serve as a mature spiritual companion, and the identification of the hallmarks of a mature spiritual director.  Twenty-five spiritual directors from across various faith traditions were interviewed and a written questionnaire was completed by 46 Jewish spiritual directors.  It was the intention of the investigator to glean insights and wisdom from spiritual directors from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and to apply this to the emerging field of Jewish spiritual direction.  Their sacred stories, teachings and quotes illuminate the major themes.

There was unanimous agreement that there is a vital and essential correlation between personal spiritual practices and the capacity to serve as a mature spiritual companion.  The commitment, depth and evolution of one’s spiritual practices provide the sustenance for the process of maturation.  They provide a quiet refuge for tending one’s spiritual formation; a fertile ground for deepening capacities necessary to accompany another; and a safe haven for sustaining one throughout years of offering spiritual direction.    

Several central overarching themes relating to spiritual practices emerged as core to interviewees from all faith traditions.  They are: living a life devoted to God and prayer; dedicating time for silence, solitude and retreat; developing spiritual friendships; and participating in one’s faith community.  The Jewish spiritual directors emphasized the importance of shabbat (sabbath) to root and sustain their spiritual lives personally and in community.

The most significant hallmarks that characterize a mature spiritual director are the capacity for presence, holy listening, compassion, empathy and humility.  The following list highlights the essential attributes:

dedicating life to God, spiritual practices and prayer

committing to personal spiritual growth and continuing education

becoming a holy listener and a friend of silence

knowing that God is the “Real” Spiritual Director and trusting in      Mystery

living with the paradox of suffering and joy and understanding the dark night

maintaining accountability by participating in spiritual direction, ongoing supervision, spiritual friendships and faith community

continuing to discern the call to serve as a spiritual director

expressing gratitude for the gift of spiritual companioning.

At the conclusion of the study, the investigator posed two personal questions: “What most illuminated my path as a spiritual companion?  What most inspired me to change as a human being?”  The answer was immediate: it was the direct experience of being in the presence of a wise and compassionate spiritual director.  Far beyond any other hallmark of maturation, a spiritual companion’s capacity to be fully grounded and alive in the present moment creates the wellspring for healing and wholeness in spiritual direction.

Brief executive summary of topic:

In today’s challenging times, doing good is not a matter of doling out charity or affixing band-aids to social problems, but about a world transformed by acts of justice woven into every part of it.  The kind of leadership necessary to bring about this transformation requires clarity of vision, and courage, conviction and compassion that arises from deep within one’s soul.  Yet how many leaders take time apart to cultivate their inner lives?  To explore and embrace spiritual deepening?  What would leadership arising from a spiritual foundation look like?

Informed by the principles of adult spiritual development and the hermeneutical stance of liberation and feminist theologies, this dissertation explored the hypothesis that personal transformation and social transformation are integrally linked, and that personal spiritual transformation – i.e. changes in morality, cognition and will – would result in changed behavior that sifts the paradigm of “business as usual” to actions on behalf of justice and social change.

The method used was to offer a community leadership training program that invited 20 nonprofit leaders to discover the spiritual roots of their call to service, learn transformational and servant leadership skills, build community, and collaborate with others to effect social change.   

Analysis of the data suggests that:

Community leaders are recognizing how unjust systems affect individuals and communities.  They report experiencing a greater global consciousness, connectedness and solidarity, and a world view that places their work in the context of the greater good.

Community leaders are relying less on external authority and trust themselves more.  They describe feeling more authentic, and freer to rely on their own values as criteria for deciding and acting.

Community leaders are becoming aware of a sense of mission and calling as servant leaders and report practicing ways to empower others to be leaders.

Community leaders are assuming strong advocacy roles, and are exploring opportunities for collective action in addressing unjust situations and policies.

Finally, because social transformation requires creating new models of relationship and new structures that reflect values different than those of the dominant culture, a two-fold strategy for future activities based on elements of renewal, refreshment and refreshers for leaders and a mobilizing strategy for collective action are suggested.

Graham, Virginia Bunnell. “Sandwerk as an Individual Spiritual Practice.” PhD diss., Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2006.

Brief executive summary of topic:

Researched method of visual praying for people who are oriented to engaging with images.

Sandwerk as an Individual Spiritual Practice.

How can psychospiritual experiences result from a new form of sandplay, a method of applied Jungian psychology introduced by Kalff in 1980? Sandplay is a therapist-assisted use of miniatures in a sand tray, a nonrational, preverbal, sensate method for self-exploration and healing.

This dissertation explores and documents the phenomenon of an individual’s creating three intentional sand trays in solitude and reflecting on them. I have coined a new term, sandwerk, describing a way one can practice this adaptation of sandplay for personal growth.

Sandwerk offers a process for recognizing and assimilating some contents of the unconscious. One provides one’s own free, protected space for creativity and relating to imaginal figures, and explores symbols that personify archetypal patterns of energy. This experience, as a transformative practice, offers the potential to integrate the unconscious into waking life and develop a stronger personality during the second half of life.

Art therapy, drawing mandalas, and dreamwork employ similar visual projective techniques.

This dissertation uses phenomenological research methodology by gathering data from a small sample of six therapists and spiritual directors, aged 49-70. Each co-researcher focused on a subjective question and created three sand trays within one week. They discussed their individual introductory rituals and experiences of the process. I distilled the interviews after making my own sandwerks.

Some results of the study were unexpected. Participants expressed a range of feelings: surprise, fear, love, despair, wholeness, and fascination. They reported discovering meaning, respect, awe for the process, and further questions. On various levels, co-researchers were able to contain conflict assisted by experiencing the images. They extended their insights and transformed, incorporating contents of the unconscious. Their relationships with imaginal figures deepened their sense of the symbolic, and mediated inner and outer life.

This research finds that sandwerk--an individual practice for personal development that is intentional, serial, imaginal, and relational--offers a method, a process, and a potential for integrating unconscious dynamics into awareness. It facilitates individuation, a Jungian term for becoming one’s authentic whole self in relationship to a transpersonal power. Moreover, sandwerk can liberate Jung’s depth psychology and Kalff’s sandplay from the consulting room.

Contact number for accessing a copy: Mark Kelly, Head of Reference Services, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Carpinteria, CA  Phone: (805) 969-3626 x144

Hardy, Douglas S. “Redescribing Relationships in Christian Spiritual Direction Using Winnicott’s Psychoanalytic Object Relations Theory.” PhD diss, Boston University, 2000.

Brief executive summary of topic:

This dissertation in contemporary psychoanalytic psychology and religion fulfills substantive and methodological objectives.  First, it offers a psychological interpretation of a religious practice by utilizing the object relations theory of Donald W. Winnicott to redescribe features of Christian spiritual direction.  It reveals how recent interpretations of spiritual direction appropriately emphasize the relationship between the directee and God, but mistakenly undervalue the dynamics of the relationship between the directee and the spiritual director.  Second, this dissertation outlines an alternative method.  Research in psychology of religion customarily proceeds by explaining "without remainder" religious matters in psychological terms.  In contrast, this psychoanalytic interpretation is carried out in three deliberate steps:  observing resemblances between religious and psychological ideas and practices; critically examining these resemblances; and provisionally redescribing features of the religious practice psychologically.  Resemblances among descriptions of the relationships between directee, director, and God in the spiritual direction literature and of the relationships between patient and analyst, and infant and mother in Winnicott's psychoanalytic writings are identified.  Each of these relationships seeks to facilitate development of increasingly mature forms of relating with others and increasingly rich and varied forms of experiencing.  Critically examining these apparent resemblances reveals significant differences.  In the spiritual direction literature, the Other with whom the director seeks to enhance relating and experiencing is Divine; the person of and relationship with the director are important only to the degree to which they focus primary if not sole attention on the Other who is Divine.  In the psychoanalytic literature, the others with whom the analyst seeks to enhance relating and experiencing are human; the person of and relationship with the analyst (and the mother) are significant in and of themselves.  Critically examining resemblances gives rise to a way of characterizing Christian spiritual direction as unfolding in what Winnicott called "transitional space" and "potential space."  Directors are encouraged to be particularly attentive to each directee's unique, unfolding developmental needs, to facilitate ongoing transitions, and to nurture various forms of experiencing as they emerge in the process of direction.

Contact telephone number for accessing a copy of dissertation:          

816-268-5458       

Kaplan, Mark Allen. "The Experience of Divine Guidance: A Qualitative Study of the Human Endeavor to Seek, Receive, and Follow Guidance from a Perceived Divine Source." Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 2005.

Brief Executive summary of topic:

This research study examined the experience of seeking, receiving, and following guidance from a perceived source of divine wisdom. Nine advanced spiritual teachers (5 men and 4 women) from 7 spiritual traditions participated as coresearchers in this study. Coresearchers were North American or European born, predominantly Caucasian, California (USA) residents between the ages of 52 and 74. Coresearcher participation consisted of individual semistructured in-depth interviews. The questions and topics of discussion used for the interviews were developed through a process of researcher heuristic and spiritual self-inquiry.

The results of a grounded-theory-based qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts suggested that the experience of divine guidance, as measured in the current study, is characterized by a common structuring of the experience that includes general categories, factors, and patterns which appear to manifest into various particular and contextual forms depending on the individual person, event, and circumstance. The reported common structures of the experience included: The perception of a divine source of guidance; the experience of seeking, receiving, and following guidance from this perceived source; and various contributing, impeding, developmental, and mediating factors. Additionally, each coresearcher reported a unique metaphor of divine encounter that appeared to give them an archetypal and visceral way of describing and holding the experience. The researcher appeared to experience each of the coresearcher’s metaphors of divine encounter through some kind of resonant learning or mimicking process.

A Guidance Experience Template, Guidance Experience Evaluation Checklist, and Synthesized Guidance Practice were developed as aids to counselors, practitioners, and researchers exploring the experience of divine guidance. The findings of this study, and the development and implementation of guidance-related applications in this research, may advance the understanding of this common and historically significant human experience, and offer a valuable contribution to the fields of transpersonal psychology, spiritual guidance, and spiritual psychology.

Dissertation available via ProQuest UMI dissertation services at 800-521-0500; or through the Divine Guidance Project at 831-401-0034.

Truscott, Stephen. “A Study of the Developmental Influences that Shape the Contemporary Practice of Beginning and Advanced Spiritual Directors.” PhD diss., Murdoch University, 2007.

Brief executive summary of topic:

This study explores the similar and different developmental influences that shape the practice of beginning and advanced spiritual directors. An examination of the contemporary literature on spiritual direction finds that in the main, two developmental influences shape the practice of contemporary spiritual directors: their capacity to adopt a contemplative stance towards their directees and their ability to be aware contextually of the factors that fashion the dynamic of accompaniment. While the review highlights the presence of these two influences, the literature is deficient in understanding the similarities and differences in how these two influences shape the practice of beginning and advanced spiritual directors. To address the deficiency, this study reviews three groups of Western Australian spiritual directors, Anglican, Churches of Christ, and Roman Catholic. The investigation takes a qualitative, ethnographic approach, using focus groups. An analysis and discussion of the data confirms that the similarities and differences in the influences that shape their practice revolve around two key developmental influences namely, the capacity of directors to adopt a contemplative stance to their directees, and their ability to be aware contextually of the factors that fashion the dynamic of accompaniment. While both influences shape beginning and advanced directors, the former impacts more on the practice of beginning directors and the latter more affects advanced directors. Two factors may initiate and sustain the capacity of directors to adopt a contemplative stance. First, directors grow by noticing and attending to all the dimensions of their human experience. Second, directors develop by having their experience attended to in some form of therapeutic relationship or through participation in various developmental group processes.
 
Directors may enhance their capacity to be aware contextually of the factors that fashion the dynamic of accompaniment through understanding paradigms about spiritual direction practice and spiritual development. Their appreciation of paradigms about spiritual direction may derive from two sources. The first is by how they distinguish more effectively spiritual direction from other therapeutic practices. The second is by how they grow in understanding relevant theological, philosophical, and psychological perspectives that inform good practice. Directors may further increase their comprehension of interpretive frameworks about spiritual development by redressing the attitudinal effects of fundamentalism and incorporating a multiplicity of approaches to spirituality. Training programmes are an important means to introduce and develop directors’ abilities to be aware contextually of the factors that fashion the dynamic of accompaniment. A person’s ecclesial role may influence the context in which a director commences practice. From this discussion, this study draws conclusions and offers recommendations applicable to practice and research.

Vooght, C.E. “Living Playful Inquiry.” Doctoral thesis, The University of the West of England, 2007.

Brief executive summary of topic:

The thesis represents a process of playing with living inquiry, or methodological bricolage, to ‘Understand more about playfulness as an adult learner’. The process included improvising with contemplative, intuitive and reflexive practices, writing as inquiry, heuristic and transpersonal research, autoethnography, a/r/tography, conversation, and participatory inquiry. 

The thesis is crafted into four parts: Introducing, Inquiring, Improvising, and Reflecting. The Improvising section presents my theory of emergent forms of playfulness: participative, contemplative, reflexive, imaginative, narrative, creative, and transformative, and takes the form of seven improvisations, each of which is fronted with a collage: a visual metaphor for the deconstructing and reconstructing aspects of postmodern and poststructural research; for the ‘whole being more than the sum of its parts’, a key concept in ‘new’ science; and as an example of a/r/tography (the process of writing about being an artist/researcher/teacher).

The thesis reflects on different forms of playful workshop spaces designed by the writer, and is offered as a contribution to a conversation about living; to the development of bricolage; as a proposed playful living inquiry methodology; as a theory of emergent playfulness and as an example of personal life long learning. It seeks to stimulate reflection and learning, and to open spaces for individual interpretation.

Wilhelm, Susan. “Kenosis as a Paradigm for the On-going Transformational Journey of Spiritual Mentors.” Diss., Graduate Theological Foundation, 2008.

Brief executive summary of topic:

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the Christian life. Kenosis, the self emptying process, is the heart of this Paschal Mystery, and the paradigm for the on-going transformational journey of Mentors of Associate Spiritual Directors.

Through Christ's self-emptying unto death, we are shown the model of self-giving that creates space for New Life and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.  This is the task of spiritual direction: the opening of an individual's interior life to accept and live into a deeper intimacy with God under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  A spiritual mentor of a beginning or novice spiritual director, then, models the self-emptying necessary to provide space for the action of God.  The question then might be: what on-going spiritual formation opportunities and experiences might assist the spiritual mentor in growing in their capacity for self-giving? 

This project has a four-fold purpose.  The first is to provide a theological context of kenosis.  This will be done through an exploration of the meaning of kenosis in terms of Christ's self-emptying, through a brief study of Philippians 2: 6-8, and Karl Rahner's theological reflection on God's self-bestowal in Jesus.  The second is to learn how these spiritual giants: Ignatius Loyola and John of the cross viewed self-emptying as essential to union with God and an integral part of the transformational journey. The third is to consider contemporary views of Gerald May and Albert Nolan, a Dominican, on self-emptying as ego-relinquishment.   And finally to apply insights from these gleanings to opportunities and experiences that might aid the inner work of kenosis in the spiritual mentor's transformational journey.

The context of this project is the Spiritual Formation Program developed by Sr. Nancy Brousseau at the Dominican Center at Marywood, and specifically the work done with the spiritual mentors who accompany the associates in the Spiritual Direction Practicum.

Contact telephone number for accessing a copy of dissertation: 260-530-6307

Yue, Paula J. “Spiritual Mind Treatment (Affirmative Prayer) and the Evolution of Consciousness as Revealed in Instances of Healing in Master Practitioners of Religious Science.” PhD diss., Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 1995.

Brief executive summary of topic:

This multiple case study explored the evolution of consciousness in 11 Master Practitioners of Religious Science using Spiritual Mind Treatment (affirmative prayer). Religious Science Practitioners and ordained Ministers are trained prayers using Spiritual Mind Treatment (Treatment) for themselves and others. The participants were chosen by the researcher and given the title of Master Practitioner (one known by the "fruits" they bear, i.e., healing demonstrations). In a semi-structured interview, 5 Practitioners and 6 Ministers - women (7), men (4), Caucasians (8), African Americans (2) and Jamaican (1) ranging from 43-85 years in age-shared 4 instances of healing (a revealing of wholeness) as defined by Religious Science. The self-perceived healings were either for themselves or another in health, finances, or relationship; 2 healings were from the early period when the participant first became licensed or ordained, and 2 healings were more recent. The time span of healings was 5 to 35 years. The findings indicate that Treatment is a model for the evolution of consciousness. The 5 steps of Treatment (a)~Recognition (God is all there is), (b)~Unification (God as me), (c)~Realization (God as the thing I desire), (d)~Thanksgiving/Acceptance, and (e)~Release-when used consistently opens one to a greater awareness of the Divine within and without and is used in service for others. The findings indicate the healings are movements in consciousness from doubt to greater faith, from being focused on tangible demonstrations to more of a relationship to the Divine. They also show healing issues of worthiness, and setting the human personality aside allows one to be open to receive God's love, God's graciousness and God's givingness and to the degree the Master Practitioner is in victim consciousness and in judgment, to that degree they have not embodied the 5 steps of Treatment

Contact telephone number for accessing a copy of dissertation: I would recommend library to library loan (check with your university library-this would be the least expensive way to obtain a copy).  Telephone number: 650-493-4430