A Spirituality Mind-Body Wellness Center in a University Setting; A Pilot Service Assessment Study

Abstract

Increasing rates of mental illness among college students over the past 10 years suggest a collective deficit in meaning and purpose unattended to by many university campuses. Psychopathology among young adult college students is associated with developmental tasks such as spiritual individuation, suggesting that interventions aimed at spiritual wellbeing may support the stated need for comprehensive mental health services. The aim of this pilot service assessment study is to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and helpfulness of spiritually integrated programs at a Spirituality Mind Body (SMB) Wellness Center at a graduate-level academic institution. Wellness Center demographic and attendance data of N = 305 adult graduate students (M = 27.7 years, SD = 6.05) were used to assess acceptability and feasibility. To evaluate helpfulness, measures assessing symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress (PTS), spirituality, mindfulness, and psychological inflexibility were completed before and after eight-week programs on a subset of participants (n = 141). SMB users completed a total of 64% of sessions and reported significant pre/post gains in spirituality and mindfulness and decreases in psychological inflexibility, symptoms of depression and PTS. The preliminary findings of this open-trial are encouraging but inherently limited by the design; foremost, the results offer support for future research, which might draw on a larger sample and a study design involving a comparison group.

Inner Peace in a Global Crisis: A Case Study of Supported Spiritual Individuation in Acute Onset Phase of COVID-19

“…Spiritual-mind-body wellness interventions may be a targeted prevention approach to address mental health needs for undergraduate students ( Adams et al, 2000 ; Ewing et al, 2007 ), and may support the development of spirituality in emerging adulthood ( Scalora et al, 2020 ), which has been shown to protect against depression ( Bonelli et al, 2012 ; Miller, 2013a ). Such SMB wellness interventions may provide resources and spiritual community – an antidote to loneliness and an essential catalyst for individual inner growth – to attend ultimately to the developmental task of spiritual individuation ( Adler, 1938 ; Rodríguez-Romero et al, 2020 ).…”

I am awake: A case for Buddhist psychology as a theoretical orientation for spiritual but not religious clients

“…Scalora et al. (2020) measured changes in six of these domains across pre/posttests using psychometric assessments germane to each domain. Furthermore, the SMB program integrated many Buddhist informed or Buddhist converging workshops (i.e., mindfulness skills, yoga, discovering no‐self, and contemplative practices).…”

“…Upon examining the relevant literature, there do not seem to be any empirical studies linking specific spiritual theoretical orientations to SBNR clients. However, in a pilot service assessment study, Scalora et al (2020) tested a spiritual mind-body (SMB) program on 141 graduate students in order to measure the program's effectiveness across several different wellness domains. The 8-week SMB program was designed to attenuate depressive, anxious, and posttraumatic stress symptoms and increase psychological flexibility, personal spirituality, and mindfulness.…”

“…The 8-week SMB program was designed to attenuate depressive, anxious, and posttraumatic stress symptoms and increase psychological flexibility, personal spirituality, and mindfulness. Scalora et al (2020) measured changes in six of these domains across pre/posttests using psychometric assessments germane to each domain. Furthermore, the SMB program integrated many Buddhist informed or Buddhist converging workshops (i.e., mindfulness skills, yoga, discovering no-self, and contemplative practices).…”