::: PUBLICATIONS ::: Newsletter

Membership report by Brad Morrison

Your SPCR membership is our organization's backbone. It is time again to renew your membership to the Society. The membership period extends from January 1st to December 31st of a given year, but if you sign up now, it will extend all the way to December, 2009. The membership fee of $60.00 ($45.00 student) includes one copy of any SPCR book of your choice. Membership fees may be paid by cheque or by a Credit Card (VISA, Master Card, American Express). For more information about Membership and how to acquire a copy of the Membership Form visit our Web Page: http://pastoralcounselling.ca/a_member_e.html

Your continued membership allows you to connect with your colleagues in the practice, research and teaching of pastoral counselling and health care and to help to shape the values and standards of these disciplines and professions. It gives you the opportunity to network and to meet with others and to share your research and to obtain up-to-date information regarding your discipline and profession. Being a member also gives you the opportunity to have a voice regarding the policies and procedures of the Society.

SPCR books available through membership

The Challenge of Forgiveness, 2001, edited by Augustine Meier and Peter VanKatwyk

In Search of Healing, 2003, Edited by Augustine Meier

Spirituality and Health: Multidisciplinary Explorations, 2005, edited by Augustine Meier, Thomas O’Connor and Peter VanKatwyk

Through Conflict to Reconciliation, 2006, edited by Augustine Meier and Martin Rovers

The Spiritual Care Giver’s Guide: Practice, Identity, Relationships, 2008, edited by Thomas O’Connor, Coleen Lashmar and Elizabeth Meakes.

The Practice of Pastoral care: A Postmodern Approach, 2006, by Carrie Doehring

Healing the Wounds in Couple Relationships, 2005, by Martin Rovers

Three new books, The Helping Relationship, (SPCR Conference 2007) edited by Augustine Meier and Martin Rovers, The Supervisory Process, (SPCR 2008) edited by Augustine Meier and Marsha Cutting, and Resilience and Spirituality, (SPCR 2009) edited by Martin Rovers and Augustine Meier, are all in process, but not expected until later 2009.

Financial Report by Rene Vandenberg

As I take over the duties of treasurer, I am happy to report that SPCR has $5335.00 in the bank as I write. I have learned from previous treasurers that most SPCR conferences have paid for themselves over the years, and that membership fees have paid for the everyday and office expenses. I might remind all of you that SPCR is a charitable organization, and that money given to SPCR is receipted as a charitable donation.

SPCR 2009 Conference: Ottawa

The next SPCR Conference will be held in Ottawa on April 23-25, 2009 and will be held in conjunction with the third annual conference for Spirituality and Mental Health and the second annual conference for Canadian Registry of Marriage and Family Therapists and the Ontario Association for Marriage and Family Therapists. Details to follow.

Thank You Letter

Dear Martin,

On behalf of the Ottawa Institute for Object Relations Therapy (OIORT) , we would like to express our sincere thanks to you as President, the SPCR Executive and the SPCR members, for the generous gift of $2000 presented on the occasion of the Institute's Official opening on July 20, 2008. We humbly accept this gift as an indication of your strong support for the Institute and for your wishes of success.

Gratefully,

Augustine Meier, President, OIORT

Presidential Address by Carrie Doehring

Surveying the growth of psychology of religion in the past 25 years, Robert Emmons and Raymond Paloutzian (2003, p. 395), writing in the 2003 Annual Review of Psychology, conclude that “a single disciplinary approach is incapable of yielding comprehensive knowledge of phenomena as complex and multifaceted as spirituality.” They propose using a multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm as a way of “recogniz[ing] the value of data at multiple levels of analysis while making nonreductive assumptions concerning the value of spiritual and religious phenomena” (Emmons & Paloutzian, 2003, p. 395). Commenting on the need for this kind of “umbrella concept within which future research could flourish” (Park & Paloutzian, 2005, p. 552), Paloutzian and Park (2005, p. 6) trace disciplinary discussions about going beyond the measurement paradigm, recognizing the uniqueness of religious and spiritual phenomena, and the particular role of psychology of religion. Such disciplinary discussions have led to this proposal for a common overarching framework that can house not only our own research and clinical endeavors, but will also accommodate guests for other specializations who bring interpretive lens from their disciplines. As Paloutzian and Park note,
The psychology of religion is poised to reach out to evolutionary biology, neuroscience, anthropology,

cognitive science, and allied sciences generally, and to philosophy in a generalized cross-disciplinary

approach to critiquing and sharpening the assumptions of science. Thus the multilevel interdisciplinary

paradigm allows for the linking of subfields within psychology as the core discipline in a broader effort, and,

when the notions of reductionism and nonreductionism are properly understood, also allows the cross-

fertilization of allied areas of science in a way that fosters integrative lines of research, findings, and

theories. (Paloutzian & Park, 2005, p. 9).

This proposal has already sparked some healthy debate. Jacob Belzen and Ralph Hood (Belzen, 2005; Belzen & Hood, 2006) remind us of the long and rich hermeneutical tradition in psychology of religion, which, especially from a clinical point of view, does “more justice to the particularities and specifics of religion” (Belzen & Hood, 2008, p. 8). When the multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm includes both the quantitative and the hermeneutical traditions, there is possibility of interdisciplinary dialogue with not only the social sciences, but with the humanities.

As I have been pondering these stimulating discussions of methodology going among psychologists of religion, I have become more appreciative of the kind of “umbrella” space provided by the Society of Pastoral Counseling Research. Within this space, society members can contribute to both traditions in psychology of religion: the empirical and the hermeneutic traditions. Indeed, at our 2008 gathering, we moved back and forth between these traditions as we explored our theme of “Families Today: Resiliency and Spirituality.” Drawing upon her many years of clinical and scholarly work, Froma Walsh provided many ways for us to think about the role of spirituality as a resource for families coping with stress. We heard papers in the hermeneutical tradition which integrated theory and practice, including Martin Rover’s reflections on how families communicate and can be resilient in dealing with aging parents, Desmond Buhagar’s reflections on doing culturally sensitive assessments with immigrant populations, and Krisine Lund’s reflections on working with students who are “like corn”, a humorous metaphor for students who refuse to be changed by the learning process. The richness of the empirical tradition was well represented by qualitative research on the spiritual caregiver’s guide: identity, practice and relationships (Elizabeth Meakes and Thomas St. James O’Connor), the influence of belief and God image in the healing of victims of sexual abuse (Karilyn Demasure), attachment, culture, and pornography (Susan Kim), beliefs, values, and fit in marital counseling (Kevin Mutter), intergenerational value similarity in Polish immigrant families (Joanna Kwast-Welfeld) and attachment dimensions as a predictor of conduct disorded symptoms in adolescence (Molisa Meier, Jean-Francois Bureau, and Karlen Lyons-Ruth).

In many ways the society uses a multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm includes both the quantitative or empirical and the hermeneutical traditions, and this can be seen not only in conference proceedings, but also in the numerous publications that have come out of society gatherings. As I step down as president of this august group, I am deeply appreciative of the vision of Augustine Meier which gave birth to this society, the work of his family in helping the society through its infancy, the steadfast leadership provided by members of the executive committee over the years, and the faithfulness and support of members. I look forward to gathering “under the umbrella” with you in 2009.

References

Belzen, J. A. (2005). In defense of the object: On trends and directions in psychology of religion (2005). International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(1), 1–16.

Belzen, J. A., & Hood, R. W. (2006). Methodological issues in the psychology of religion: Toward another paradigm? Journal of Psychology, 140(1), 5–28

Emmons, R. A., & Paloutzian, R. F. (2003). The psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 377-402.

Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (2005). Integrative themes in the current science of the psychology of religion. In R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 3-20). New York: Guilford Press.

SPCR presents a retirement gift to Dr. Augustine Meier PhD

The Executive of SPCR took the occasion of his retirement to present a gift of a carving of an inuksuk by Isaac Oqutaq to Augustine Meier in appreciation of his 15 years of leadership and contributions to SPCR.

Farewell Address: Adios Amigos

Augustine Meier, SPCR 2008 Conference, Ottawa

Colleagues and Friends,

When I was a grad student at the University of Ottawa and living in an apartment, the majority of us covered our marked up and paint-peeled walls with posters, posters of all kinds, psychedelic posters, postmodern posters, name it. One of my posters was more modern than postmodern, and it has travelled with me everywhere I went; it has been mounted on many different walls. It is a bit tattered now, but it has continued to be a source of inspiration for me. The title of the poster is Creativity. I would like to read from the poster.

Creativity

             The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd.
             The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has
                  ever been before.
             Creativity in living is not without its attendant difficulties, for peculiarity breeds
                 contempt [and envy].
             And the unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people
                  fully realize you were right, they’ll say it was obvious all along.
            You have two choices in life, you can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can be
                  distinct.
            To be distinct, you must be different. To be different you must strive to be what
                 no one else but you can be.

Fifteen years ago when I cycled along the canal one Sunday morning, the idea of forming a Society for our graduate students popped into my head; I had no idea to where this idea would lead me. I also had no idea of the amount of effort and courage that was needed to keep the Society afloat. There was something inside of me that wanted to pursue this idea, this vision. I asked my wife, Micheline, what she thought of this vision. Her immediate answer was – pursue it. My vision was to form a home or a forum where our graduate students in pastoral counselling could meet with other graduate students and professors to share their ideas. Beginning in October, about one dozen graduate students and myself met weekly to organize the Society and to plan for its first conference the following May. Present at the first annual meeting were several professors, a dozen graduate students from Saint Paul University and myself as its first President. The following year a convoy headed by Dr. Peter VanKatwyk, arrived from Waterloo and Kitchener. Since then scholars, researchers, and practitioners from many cities in Ontario and Québec and from the United States including Maryland, Colorado, California, Chicago and Boston have made the Society their home. The Society that began at Saint Paul University in Ottawa was quickly taken out of its cocoon to become the home of scholars, researchers and practitioners from an ever increasing number of cities and institutions; it has become the home for those who want to share their theoretical ideas, research findings and practices about pastoral practice, counselling and spirituality.

The purpose or the mission of the society is to conduct multidisciplinary, multimethod and multifaith based research. The question uppermost in the minds of the researchers is: Do pastoral care and counselling make a difference in a person’s life? If so, how? In tackling these questions, researchers have devised many types of research including quantitative and qualitative research, case studies, and theoretical research. They shared their findings with each other. They also shared their findings with the broader community in terms of the four published books, one online book, the three books waiting to be published, and many articles in refereed journals. When we assess the quality of the research over the past 15 years, we see that the research has become ever more sophisticated and elegantly designed. As can be seen, the Society remains true to its mission to encourage research and to communicate its findings to the broader community.

I have been an active participant of the Society for 15 years. It has taken me to places that I did not expect such as learning to use Front Page to work on the web page and to editing books. All of these have been interesting and enriching experiences. There comes a time in everyone’s career, I believe, when one begins to think that it is time to remove oneself from leadership roles and to make room for others who have new and fresh ideas. We see this in all walks of life and most importantly in sports. I am reminded of the hockey player, Mario Lemieux who after an illustrious career with the Pittsburgh Penguins decided that it was time to hang up his skates. When he decided to leave, there were many rising stars such as Malkin and Sid the Kid Crosby who would carry on the tradition of the organization and the commitment of Mario. Seeing young rising stars who followed him, made it easier for Mario to move on.

As I look around myself this evening, I see many young and seasoned scholars and researchers – I see many Malkins and Sid the Kid Crosbies - who are dedicated to the vision and mission of the Society and who have fresh and far reaching ideas for the direction of the Society. Being aware of this makes it easier for me to move on.

One of my greatest pleasures in having been actively involved with the Society was getting to know you and the many of you who are not present this evening. I have enjoyed traveling to your universities for the annual conference – to Waterloo, Windsor, Hamilton, Sherbrooke. I have been enriched in knowing you and by working with you. These experiences will remain with me forever.

Through my involvement with the Society, I have met many people to whom I am very grateful. I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to you and the contribution of all of you who have assumed executive positions in the Society – the Secretaries, Treasurers, Program Coordinators, Membership Coordinators, and President-Elects, to all of you who have presented papers at conferences and to those of you who supported us by your presence. A special thanks to the Presidents of our Society who have provided its leadership – here I want to mention Al MacMillan, Peter VanKatwyk, Martin Rovers, Thomas O’Connor and our current President, Carrie Doehring. Here I would like to say a few words to you, Martin. You have been a member of the Society for ten or more years. During this period you are the one colleague from this University that has consistently come to the SPCR annual conferences. Your support of the Society and your presence at the annual conferences has been very meaningful for me. Thanks.

I want to express my appreciation to my special friends and colleagues, Shelley and John, who are present this evening to celebrate with me the ending of an important and rewarding chapter in my career. A very special thanks to you, Molisa, for having been a dedicated partner of the Society. Since very young, you began to stamp and stuff envelops and more recently you helped out at the registration table and at the table for selling books. Thanks for all of this. I would like to express my appreciation to you, Shelley, for helping out on several occasions with the preparation of the conference material, the registration of participants and with the receptions.

A very special thanks to you, Micheline. Although you did not hold any executive positions, your contribution to the Society is significant. You were the co-editor and Translator of the NewsLetter, for over 10 years you Chaired the Local Planning Committee, and for most of our annual conferences, you were the M.C. It is with your encouragement that we pursued the dream to form the Society. You can rightly be called its co-founder. Again, thanks to you Micheline and Molisa, for your support in my work with the Society, for your very active participation in the affairs of the Society, and for tolerating my many absences from home and from family and couple life.

To all of you present here this evening, I want to say that I will remain a member of the Society but in a lesser role; I will not abandon nor orphan you; I will come to the annual conferences particularly those held at Saint Paul University and consider presenting a paper. As my last word to you my friends and colleagues,

Adios Amigos.

SPCR 15^th Annual Conference, St. Paul University, May 1-3, 2008

This conference was a success, with 38 registrants for the pre-conference workshop and 2-day conference. Thanks go to Martin and the Ottawa crew who staged a educational, yet fun conference.

Pre-Conference Workshop: Strengthening Family Resilience: Clinical

Applications by Froma Walsh, PhD

Dr. Froma Walsh facilitated a day long workshop on family resilience. Families experience stress, loss, and crisis everyday, and this is normal. Families respond to these stressful situations in various ways: by falling or drifting apart or by learning the art of resilience by struggling through the stress to gain strength. Dr Walsh defines resilience as the ability to withstand and rebound from crisis and prolonged adversity, strengthened and more resourceful. Other words for resilience include facilitating, coping, adapting, healing, connecting, moving on, collaborating, navigating, overcoming, forgiving. Resilience shifts the focus from deficits to strengths and resources. Resilience includes a spiritual component as families dig deeper to overcome crisis and stress. The heart and soul of resilience is believing, and making meaning of new situations. Holding such a positive outlook requires that families become masters the art of the possible, accepting what can be changed and living with uncertainty. Walsh states that mastering the art of the possible is when you “do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are”.
References:

Walsh, F. (2006) Strengthening Family Resilience. Guilford Press
Walsh, F. (2003) Spiritual Resources for Family Therapy. Guilford Press.

SPCR Awards, 2008

Distinguished Career Research Award given to Dr. Froma Walsh
Dissertation Award given to Susan Kim, MA, recent graduate from St Paul University.

SPCR 2008 Conference Poster presentation Prize Winners

1. Myrta Rivera
2. June Gillbertson
3. Debbie Lou Ludolph

Book Review

The Spiritual Care Giver’s Guide: Transforming the Honeymoon in Spiritual Care and Therapy (2008), by Thomas St. James O’Connor, Colleen Lashmar, Elizabeth Meakes. Publisher: CAPPESWONT (Southwestern Ontario Region of the Canadian Association for Pastoral Practice and Education and Waterloo Lutheran Seminary: Cost: $40.00 (Can)

This book is an excellent read of spiritual care and counselling, its identity, practice and relationships, for all beginning practitioners, and for veterans who need to be refreshed by, as well expressed in the words of VanKatwyk (chapter 1), “seeing the same differently”. It is a guide, but a modern guide, a new guide, a holistic guide to chaplaincy, pastoral counselling and supervision. While the experiences practitioner would not hear new words and concepts, (s)he will read them in different ways, for new contexts, with deeper insight. The book delivers on its promise to “bring transformation and be a helpful guide on one’s journey in spiritual care and therapy”. Beginners will obtain new insights into theological reflection, the character and training for spiritual care practitioners, healthy patterns of relating with patients/clients, needed competencies for the future of spiritual care: supervisors will welcome conversations on positive experiences in CPE and mindful mentoring; experienced practitioners will glean practice insights from spiritual care with disabled patients, from Muslim faith perspectives, working with marginalized populations. (Review by Martin Rovers, PhD)