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Unit 9 Assignment- Final Project- Spirituality Interview

Eric J. Sugrue

Department of Health and Wellness, Purdue Global University

HW420: Creating Wellness- Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Professor Mark Maule

December 14, 2021

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Unit 9 Assignment- Final Project- Spirituality Interview

I chose to do the interview with a great friend of mine. He started out as my co-worker who

trained me when I first got hired at my previous job. He became my first friend in Indiana and

we have known each other for roughly five years. I knew him and his family are relatively

religious, attending church on Sundays and living a life through God. “Noah” and I usually

talked about sports, life, and family. We had never really talked into a deep meaning like

spirituality, so this was a new atmosphere for us. He gave great answers and I was very surprised

at how spiritual he was and how in tune he was through spirituality, not just religious aspects

either.

1. What does spirituality mean to you?

- This question is broad but truly identifies the individuals thinking of spirituality. It

helps the practitioner see where the person is at in their quest to find peace within

their mind-body-spirit.

- Noah describes spirituality as faith-based for himself but recognizes that it can

depend on the individual’s circumstance. He also states that he has recently branched

out of strictly faith-based and has used nature with meditation.

- I was genuinely surprised by his answer on his outlook on spirituality. As a

practitioner, Noah would be on the right track toward successful spiritual wellbeing. I

think he would have an impact on his friends and family based on his answers of

keeping an open mind and branching out when something is not working that they

regularly use.

2. What are some factors that encourage your spirituality?

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- Seeing where the person comes from and their background to why they practice

spirituality or if they don’t. This question can really open the gates to a better

interview and let the person self-reflect in the moment.

- The factors that play a role in his life started with family, he grew up in church and

every Sunday they attend the church they set their roots in. He has found that nature,

walking, and riding bikes on the nature trails around town have connected him even

more to spirituality. Something I found interesting is, walking barefoot to connect

more to earth and nature as a whole.

- To help him in the future this will help guide his thoughts when he gets off track. I

think he may feel overloaded with the church setting and may just need to focus on

the outside/nature of spirituality. It can show him that he does not need to be in a

building of worship to feel a connection with his spirituality. His spirituality can

come from greater things that God put on earth for us to use in meditation, such as

nature.

3. How would you describe your spirituality?

- Here, we get to see the patient’s specific spiritual wellbeing and if they are looking to

make further changes within their spirituality. This can also be looked to for them

opening up to the practitioner and making the conversation flow more.

- He sat back for this one to rethink this question. He likes to use meditation to clear his

headspace and tries to use it daily if possible. He explains using it earlier in the day

benefits him the most. Noah also uses prayer at night before going to bed. At the end

of his answer, he states it is an ongoing process making gradual steps toward his

goals.
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- Seeing him use both of his main aspects of spirituality during the day and also

keeping them separate can be a good thing. If he was to hit a plateau, the practitioner

could suggest using them together. This allows the practitioner to make tweaks to his

daily spiritual formalities.

4. Do you think you can improve your spirituality or are you at your peak?

- This question will prove to the practitioner if they are truly spiritual people. In

spirituality, most all know that it is an ever-growing modality. If one says they are at

their peak, they should also state they know there will be higher peaks to come as

well. It also lets the practitioner know where the individual is at on a scale in their

specific spirituality.

- He is always trying to improve it and does not think he is at his peak yet. Saying it is

a daily change for most, as well as a lifelong process through the growing pains of it.

- We are able to allow him to see where he is and where he needs to improve. It allows

for self-reflection and self-thought, to permit self-growth in the ever-changing

process. Another instance Noah can use is self-renewal, relinquishing old partial

identity and becoming further expanded, to be closer to himself (Blair, 2017).

5. What are some specific examples of how you can improve your spirituality/what

makes you at your peak?

- This question allows the patient to open their minds to new ideas. It is important to

get them on a more open-minded quality of thinking, both in the real world and in

their spirituality.

- To improve his spirituality, he has to understand where his flaws are and try to

improve on them. Setting goals is s a helpful tool that way he does not feel
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overwhelmed if trying to change too much at the same time. He also knows there is

individuality to spirituality, so trying to be at the same level as someone else does not

help improve his own spirituality.

- Noah’s answer took me off guard and helped me even realize some new meaning

behind spirituality. The answer can be used to help him slow down and reanalyze his

situation in the future. It helps him step back and look at the bigger picture through

the changing processes.

6. Are there jobs/tasks that need your spirituality to help?

- It shows the individual that everyday life can call upon them and their spirituality to

help get them through tough times. They do not have to be reliant on their own

strength. Spirituality has the strength to it and helps with tedious or tough tasks. It can

also humble the individual to ask for help.

- He uses it for his 9-5 job that is repetitive, some days are dreadful especially if he is

having a daunting day. He uses it to help with his dad’s landscaping when he is not in

the mood to help. They have over seven acres, but he uses his spirituality to get

through the tasks.

- This question I believe stopped him up. He sat for a couple of seconds to gain his

thoughts on how he actually uses his spirituality. I do not think he realized how much

he uses it to get through his days. If the practitioner saw him struggling, they could

recommend using a Paid Time Off day. This allows for him to regain his focus and

reset.

7. Do you have toxic relationships/friendships?

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- I personally love this question to ask patients. It shows them how these relationships

are affecting their spirituality. Also, shows them how many relationships/friendships

are truly harming their growth. We usually do not sit and think of all the toxicity in

our life, and it can be a stressor we are unaware of.

- He has had them in the past and currently has them now. He said his days will get

tougher with a negative aura around him. He tries to minimize his interactions with

these people because it has a negative impact on his spirituality.

- It certainly shows in the patient’s reaction to how these relationships can haunt them

just by the thought of it. It can be used for the future to help him get out of the

friendships or move on from negative people. The practitioner can give him

recommendations on how to release these toxicities in his life to produce a more

healthy life.

8. Do you think lesser of yourself if you are unsuccessful at a task?

- This will give a more psychological evaluation for the practitioner to see where the

patient’s mental status is. They want to really know how the patient is feeling toward

themselves, to allow for growth in spirituality.

- He states in the immediate time frame of a failed task, he would say he thinks lesser

of himself. Once he has time to think of the mistake he made or refocus his attention,

that feeling goes away. Using reflection or hindsight helps him improve for the next

time.

- As a practitioner, telling him to take time to breathe in the immediate moments after

the task could help eliminate the bad thoughts. It will give him a better understanding

of his mistake and allow more time to reflect on the incident. Noah could be
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experiencing self-worth issues and not realizing he has them. When failing or being

incomplete on a task his self-worth can diminish. Ackerman (2021) says, there are

two main strategies: provide unconditional love, respect, and positive regard. The

other gives people opportunities to experience success. These two strategies can help

him success and eliminate the negative thoughts when failing.

9. Do you ever have bad, negative, or unintentional thoughts? Does Spirituality help

eliminate them?

- Another psychological question to assess the current state of mind in the patient. As

practitioners it is important to know what your patient is thinking about themselves,

so we can guide them in the right direction.

- He does have some negative thoughts depending on the day. He tries to use his

methods of spirituality to help gain power over the thoughts that may come into his

mind. People he surrounds himself with can play a role in these thoughts.

- For the practitioner, they can see his body language change in this question. It allows

them to dig deeper and find the root to these thoughts, if the patient does not answer

fully. For Noah, a plan of action would be to eliminate those people in his life for a

bit or forever. Allow him to keep using spirituality to improve his mental health.

10. How often do you have “gloomy” days?

- We can see if the individual has been paying attention to why he may be having bad

thoughts. It shows that the patient’s life is not always rainbows and butterflies, they

can have rough patches. And do they have gloomy days based on the time of year.
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- For Noah, it is the last part of the reason for the question asked. He has more gloomy

days in the winter months of Indiana because there is a lot less sunshine. Summertime

is his favorite because it allows him to get outside and enjoy nature more.

- The practitioner can use his answer to help him gain better days in the gloomier

months of the year. Maybe meeting with someone to talk to in the winter months

would help him have less gloomy days. Also recommending to take a vacation or

personal time in these months can help him.

11. Are there triggers that make you mad or put you in a bad mood? How often are

these triggers present in your life?

- The question is important for the fact it allows both patient and practitioner to see the

true reasons for negative thoughts, days, and aspects of their life. It helps bring to

light how often they are becoming negatively influenced. It shows them how their

spirituality can be hindered because of everyday life.

- He has triggers daily but focuses on what he can control within those triggers. Not

overreacting to the triggers helps him keep a calm/peaceful mind. He knows they can

affect him long-term, so why to let them affect his present state.

- We can guide Noah away from some of these unnecessary triggers in the future.

Allow him to not get distracted away from his spirituality. Helping his mental health

is a primary goal for the practitioner. We may need to take a look into these triggers

that get him in a bad mood. The could be factored in his life that he has yet to forgive.

Forgiving someone, something, or an incident can bring relief to him. Being hurt by

someone that is close to you can cause anger, sadness, and confusion, but recognizing

the value of forgiveness can improve your life (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2020).
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The question in the interview process were good and gave me the answers I was looking

for. After asking a few of them, I realized they could have been asked differently. They could

have given a better scale for me or another practitioner asking them to a patient. I do not think I

would add any more questions to the interview, I would just change around a few of the

questions on how they were asked.

Question 2- I would have rather asked “Give me two to three factors that encourage your

spirituality in life.” This question gives the practitioner a more numerical and direct answer of

what the influences are in the patient’s life. And a better understanding of where they learned

their spirituality from.

Question 4- I would have asked “On a scale of 1-10 rate your level of spirituality and why?” This

gives a quantitative answer for the practitioner to scale them on. It allows the practitioner to help

the patient improve their rating.

Question 6- I would have asked “What jobs and tasks need your spirituality to complete?” Using

the previous question, a patient could have just said “Yes” and that is it. The question was not

previously open-ended and did not leave room for discussion.

Question 7- I would have asked “What toxic relationships/friendships do you still currently

have?” This would allow the practitioner to help the patient eliminate or avoid the specific

people in their life. The patient could then focus on how to handle situations and their minds

when being around those individuals.

Question 10- I would have asked “In a seven-day week, how many days feel gloomy to you?

And are their specific days of the week?” Allowing them to see if their weeks are full of dread or

are their specific days that they do not look forwards to. The practitioner can then help the

patient conquer the specific days.

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References:

Ackerman, C. A. (2021, August 12). What is self-worth and how do we increase it? (Incl. 4

worksheets). PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/self-worth/

Blair, K. (2017, June 28). The 4 spiritual laws of self renewal. Medium.

https://medium.com/thrive-global/the-4-spiritual-laws-of-self-renewal-182c6c1398f6

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2020, November 13). Why is it so easy to hold a grudge? Mayo Clinic.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/forgiveness/art-

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