Facilitating Spiritual Meaning‐Making for the Individual With a Diagnosis of a Terminal Illness

Abstract

Despite increasing acknowledgment of the importance of addressing the spiritual dimension in the therapeutic process, there is still limited energy devoted to fostering in counselors the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to facilitate the spiritual well‐being of their clients. This deficit is most dramatically felt when working with individuals who are diagnosed with a terminal illness. In this article, counselors are encouraged to recognize the value of incorporating the spiritual domain in their work and are offered some strategies that can be used to promote meaning‐making when working with clients with limited life expectancy. The use of rituals and expressive activities is highlighted.

Deconstructing spiritual well‐being: existential well‐being and HRQOL in cancer survivors

“…Variables that determine whether R/S will be beneficial or harmful are myriad, complicated, and context-dependent [27], and the specific ways that the construct influences health are still unclear [28]. However, one common aspect of R/S, the sense of coherence or meaning it may provide, is thought to be consistently beneficial to health [22] and possibly amenable to intervention [29,30].…”

Meaning Construction in Palliative Care: The Use of Narrative, Ritual, and the Expressive Arts

“…Engaging the family members in these meaning-saturated activities is transformative for family members as well. 63,66,67 It is important to note that the design and enactment of rituals is a cocreation of the patient and practitioner and not a stock exercise. As in all narratives, the symbolic meanings emerge from the intersubjective creative act and cannot be externally imposed.…”

The use of poetry in reconciling unfinished business near end-of-life

“…The diagnosis of a terminal disease such as stage IV lung cancer can bring about a myriad of psychological factors such as fear, worry, regret, psychological distress, and negative quality of life for those diagnosed as well as for their family members (Brown, McMillan & Milroy, 2005;Buchanan, Milroy, Baker, Thompson & Levack, 2010;Dumont et al, 2006;Johnson, 2003;Sarna et al, 2005). Denial of the seriousness and probable outcome of the disease is a normal phenomenon with the patient and/or family members expecting a full cure (Rousseau, 2003;Vos, Putter, van Houwelingen & de Haes, 2008).…”