Impact of Spiritual Retreat to the Mental

Health of Students in San Policarpo

National High School

A Qualitative Research

Presented to

The Faculty of Senior High School Department

SAN POLICARPO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

San Policarpo, Calbayog City

Prepared By:

Gilmar, John Rey Gal C.

Sabilao, Kathleen Kaye

Pacheco, Vienne Xyra

Lentejas, Jiya Aika B.

Contacto, Ashlee

Lucis, Rochel

Tonie Rose S. Lauderes

Research Adviser

June 2022
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

INTRODUCTION

I. Background of the Study

Students if nurtured and trained well, they have the potential to take the country to

heights of glory. Being aware of this, all governments have focused on the education,

development and training of the youth. Mental health essentially deals with cognitive behavior

and emotional framework of their personality therefore reflecting our ability to cope with life

hardships, stress, and challenges resulting into building of relationships with our fellow beings.

Anxiety and stress are the leading causes of death among youth in India. Mental illnesses, if

untreated, contribute to poor performance in schools, less employment opportunity and increased

rates of suicide among youth. (Sawshilya, 2018)

Student mental health concerns are on the rise (Chirikov et al., 2020). Schools expanding

mental health support do so amid regular questions of efficacy (Chamberlin, 2009). Despite

many well-intended initiatives, mental health trends have not changed much over the years.

Despite the vast social and medical developments our world has witnessed recently, mental

health remains a controversial and stigmatised subject. Most individuals facing mental health

issues still avoid facing these due to a distorted negative perception of them. Mental health

problems are common but help is available. People with mental health problems can get better

and many recover completely. (mentalhealth.gov)

Teachers have greater influence and spend more time with teenagers than almost any

other adult, and in many circumstances, teachers have more influence and spend more time with
them than their parents. Because children spend so much time at school, it's only natural for

instructors to be on the lookout for indicators of mental illness. Educators and administrators

need to be aware of mental health concerns and be ready to act if required.

Spiritual retreats have become very popular for individuals seeking to create personal

spiritual or psychological growth. Spiritual retreat programs have developed in many religious

and secular traditions and typically incorporate a variety of elements including rituals, prayer,

meditation, and self-reflection. Thousands of people engage in such retreats each year, with yoga

and meditation retreats among the most popular for both their spiritual and therapeutic value

(Edwards 2012; Hoyez 2007). These retreats are also associated with strong emotional responses,

with participants reporting that they experience reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression. In

addition, participants commonly report a sense of improved psychological well-being,

transformation in the spiritual aspects of their lives, and consequences of the retreat that are life

changing (Kennedy et al. 2002; Falken This research would like to determine the need of

spiritual recollection or retreat to strengthen the relationship of students towards each other.

Through this, the support system of each students will be strengthen and that will lead to less

involvement in depression, anxiety, and any mental issues.

ström 2010; Jacobs et al. 2013).

The researchers decided to conduct this study because we are concerned about the rising

problem of mental health concerns among students in our community. The COVID-19 pandemic

caused many students to experience despair, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. Numerous

efforts have been implemented to address student mental health, yet many students who are

experiencing mental health difficulties continue to avoid seeking help because of a mistaken

negative impression of them. This is why we decided to undertake a research on the

implementation of a spiritual retreat at our school to support our schoolmates who are dealing

with mental health concerns, where they may express their problems without fear and generate

better relationships with their peers.

 II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is supported by the theory of Miley J. (2016).According to the Meeting God

(Again) in Spiritual Retreat Theory it is a chance to get away from routine and hear stimulating

or inspirational speakers, get better acquainted with others in a relaxed environment, and

participate in games and other forms of recreation. This theory provides proof to implement

retreat among public school students, it is very important that teachers must consider the mental

health of their students. All individual have innate, natural and constructive tendencies to

develop an ever more elaborated and unified sense of self. If the individual has attained these

needs, the more their behaviours will be change. The foundation of the theory has to do with the

interaction between those who actively attend the retreat and those who do not. The theory can

be useful in understanding the lives of a student in public school. In order to recover from mental

fatigue, the mind needs to be effortlessly, rather than deliberately, engaged.

Spending time spiritually is a different experience as a person improved mental

functioning. At the most basic level, once the mind is cleared from cognitive clutter and

distractions there is a recovery of directed attention. Subsequently, an individual can reflect, both

on personal unresolved problems and then on priorities, goals and their potential future (Herzog

et al., 1997)

III. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

1. What are the mental
health issues faced by the
students of San Policarpo
National High School?
2. How does mental
issues affect their
performance in school and
relationship with their
Assessment on the impact of  Assessed impact of
the spiritual retreat to the spiritual retreat to the
mental health of students in mental health of
San Policarpo National High students.
School.
Through:
 Acton Plan
 Survey
 Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the conceptual model of the study on the impact of spiritual retreat to the

mental health of students.

The first frame presents the input of the study that includes profile such as gender, age

and grade level. The second frame presents the process of the study that involves assessment of

the impact of the spiritual retreat to the mental health of students of San Policarpo National High

School through data-gathering with the use of survey, documentary analysis, interview and

thematic analysis. The third frame presents the output of the study which includes the assessed

impact of spiritual retreat to the mental health of students and the action plan. The arrows from

the input to the process and to the output show the connection and transformation of the profile

and aspects with the actions taken into results that are considered as output.

IV. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study aimed to determine the impact of spiritual retreat to students in San Policarpo

National High School.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the mental health issues faced by the students of San Policarpo National

High School?

2. How does mental issues affect their performance in school and relationship with

their classmates?

3. Does the retreat program have an impact to lessen any mental health issues if they

are spiritually active?

 V. Significance of the Study

The researcher believes that this study will not only yield data that will be helpful to her,

more so to the following groups of people:

Students: The result of the study will help students and give many benefits that lead to

personal and spiritual growth. Students create new ways to relieve stress and find a new level of

calm during school retreats. Retreats not only reduce stress, but also provide your teens with the

opportunity to build meaningful relationships with other students and create a sense of belonging

to the school community.

Parents: The result of this study will help them dealing with the problems with their

children's mental health issues. The retreats’ result will help them in dealing with the problems

with their children’s mental health issues which is not easy to know.

School: The result of this study can help school as well as the guidance counselor and

teachers to know what the main problem of the students and immediately formulate actions to

avoid possible negative effects that can harm the well being of the students under the

supervision.

Future Researcher: This result will benefits the future researcher to draw pertinent

result to their studies.

Philippine Mental Health Association. Inc. : The result of this study will help them

strengthen their promotion of mental health disorder.

 VI. SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The scope of this study will be the impact ot spiritual retreat to the mental health of

students in San Policarpo National High School. The primary subjects of this research study will

consist of the Grade 11 students enrolled in academic year 2021-2022. The respondents will be

limited to twenty (20) Grade 11 students who are in the ABM section of San Policarpo National

High School in the City of Calbayog.

VII. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Spiritual Retreat. A spiritual retreat is an important break, a few days spent in prayer

alone with God. It is the spiritual equivalent of an annual car inspection or medical check-up:

time in the presence of God, examining our Christian lives to try to see where we’re at and how

we can to improve our relationships with God and others.

Mental health. Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to

think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and enjoy life. On this basis, the promotion, protection

and restoration of mental health can be regarded as a vital concern of individuals, communities and

societies throughout the world.

 Mental Illness. Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion,

thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress

and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The following chapter will discuss research surrounding retreat structures. These topics

provide a basis for understanding what is currently known about retreats and the impacts

experienced because of them. This chapter will provide the investigator a background reading

aspect, which have been studied (Francisco, Z. 2004).

I. Related Literature

The word retreat typically brings to mind the following scenario: students leaving campus for a

day or weekend and experiencing presentations, discussions, and various activities that seek to
promote the key goals of developing personal spirituality or faith, building a community of faith,

or learning to foster faith in others. (Block, 2016)

Some retreats create the type of atmosphere that leads to results that transform the

experiences of people in other settings outside of the retreat. In another similar area and

Exploring the effect of the inclusion of retreat programming, as related to the overall

Effectiveness of a leadership course, Paoletti (2016) examined the effect of adding in a Retreat

on the well-being of the participants. Paoletti (2016) completed a quantitative study where well-

being was measured through self-report scores on the WarwickEdinburgh Mental Well-being

Scale (WEMWBS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Center for Epidemiologic

Studies Short Depression Scale (CES‐ D 10). Paoletti’s (2016) results suggest that adding a

retreat to a leadership program can amplify positive effects on students. The scales used within

the study measure overall mental well-being, life satisfaction and depressive feelings, not

specifically tied to any particular time and place. Amplification of scale improvement based on

inclusion of a retreat applied to settings both inside and outside of the retreat and course. This

amplification could lead to continued impacts in the long-term.

Not all retreat experiences lead to transformation. Cardoso (2014) studied an inner

healing retreat at The Divine Retreat Center in India. The findings revealed that the change

process unfolded through seven superordinate themes: Crisis, Surrender, Opening up,

Confession, Counselling, Inner Healing, and Baptism in the Spirit. The authors reported: “The

results were highly individualized, meaning that there were those participants who benefitted

from the retreat and then those who did not have as impactful of experience” The change

process, described here in the short term, was highly dependent on the individual and less

dependent on the retreat structure. The study did not study the impact over time, rather it was
within the timeframe of the retreat programming. This reveals the challenge of timing of the

research and the highly individual nature of impact. All of these studies:Calabrese & Wilson

(1993); Heft and Davidson (2003); Hoffman (1994); Paoletti (2016): Shek (2012), affirm the

importance of structuring the retreat to meet the needs of participants and the outcomes desired.

Consideration should be given to: the general culture of the generation of retreat participants, the

desired outcomes of the programming, the evaluation criteria to measure effectiveness, and the

importance of how individual and group differences impact outcomes both at a group and

individual level.

Johnson (2015) as “the process of removing individuals from their normal everyday

environments”. Removing participants from their typical lived experience can foster the removal

of emotional barriers and distractions. Thus, this study found that allowing them to better engage

in the deep reflection encouraged on the retreat. The final theme uncovered by Nelson-Johnson

(2015) was radical hospitality, or a hospitality that emerged because the retreat was structured to

be completely focused on the retreatants, creating an atmosphere of elevated care and generosity.

There are clear parallels to the findings of Antrop-Gonzalez and Martel (2008), to Burke (2012),

Seichas (2009), and Nelson-Johnson (2015) in terms of structure of the retreat and the outcomes

realized therein. Common to each author was a description of the retreat that included the use of

time, space, connection, modeling, and expectation for sharing. Each of these were described as

necessary components in achieving the outcomes and would be well suited as components of a

retreat designed to build community, empathy, and personal transformation. The question

remains if these outcomes are short or maintained in longer term.

 II. Related Studies

The retreat industry is a niche sector of the wellness tourism industry that focuses on

transformative experiences that aim to improve the health of participants through healthy

lifestyle experiences, along with providing the skills and knowledge to help maintain healthy

behaviours. There were 23 studies (reported in 28 articles) included in this systematic review,

published over a 22-year period from 1995 to 2017 and involving 2592 participants.

The findings from the reviewed studies suggest there are many positive health benefits

from retreat experiences that includes improvements in both subjective and objective measures.

Most studies used a quasi-experimental design with small sample sizes, poorly described
methodology with little follow-up data and reliance on self-report questionnaires to report on

psychological and spiritual benefits. The results from the most rigorous studies that used

randomized controlled designs were consistent with less rigorous studies and suggest that retreat

experiences can produce benefits that include positive changes in metabolic and neurological

pathways, loss of weight, blood pressure and abdominal girth, reduction in health symptoms and

improvements in quality of life and subjective wellbeing.

In addition to facilitating general health improvements, there is evidence that retreat

experiences can have a positive impact on chronic disease processes and provide benefits for

some people with life threatening and/or chronic diseases. Of the four studies of retreat

experiences aimed at improving quality of life for cancer patients, all showed some benefits from

retreat participation, including improvements in quality of life, depression and anxiety scores,

and increased telomere length, with benefits being recorded up to five years post-retreat.

Similarly, benefits of retreat participation are reported for people with multiple sclerosis with

improvements in quality of life along with physical and mental health being evident up to five

years post-retreat. Not all measures in the studies of life-threatening chronic diseases improved,

and as they are all small, poorly-controlled studies, more rigorous research is needed.

The finding that retreat experiences can lead to sustained and significant health

improvements long after participants return home suggests that these experiences assist guests in

making positive lifestyle changes and adopting healthy behaviours that lead to a variety of

positive psychological, physiological, cognitive, clinical and metabolic effects. The ability to

influence participants’ health once they return home is dependent on many factors including the

type of participants involved, the education and experiences provided during the retreat program,

and the provision of follow-up activities such as online coaching, nutrition programs, or follow-
up consultations with practitioners. Of the four studies that showed a reduced effect over time in

some measures, two studies did not include a follow-up retreat component.While it is not

possible to determine which parts of the retreat intervention have the greatest influence, it is

likely that improvements in health are due to a combination of psychological and behavioural

factors that lead to better coping mechanisms and enhanced resilience to stress, as well as

metabolic factors that lead to alterations in gene expression and DNA repair mechanisms that are

evident in the observed changes in the metabolome and teleomere length.

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, found that individuals who attended a

spiritual retreat for 7 days experienced changes in the dopamine and serotonin systems of the

brain, which boosts the availability of these neurotransmitters. Dopamine helps to regulate

movement and emotional responses, while serotonin helps to control emotion and mood.

Co-author Dr. Andrew Newberg, director of research in the Marcus Institute of

Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University, and colleagues say their study provides

insight into the emotional impact of spiritual practices. Since serotonin and dopamine are part of

the reward and emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understand why these practices result

in powerful, positive emotional experiences.

Spiritual retreats can be defined as a place for people of varying spiritual beliefs to

engage in practices aimed at reinforcing their faith and improving their health and well-being.

According to the researchers, an increasing number of people are visiting such retreats, and

studies Trusted Source have shown that these individuals often report a reduction in anxiety,

stress, and other psychological benefits.

 Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes and discusses how the researchers will gather the necessary data

and information that will be use in the entire study. It describes who will be the respondents and

focus of the research. This also shows the procedure of data collection and instruments used;

these chapters also discuss the research design, research method, and the research locale where

the study will be conducted.

I. RESEARCH DESIGN
 The present study is qualitative in approach and follows a case-study design; Thus, the

aim of the study is to understand the perspective of participants at the time of data gathering.

Case study research is commonly described as a form of qualitative research. A

qualitative research analyses data from direct fieldwork observations, in‐depth, open‐ended

interviews, and written documents.. Qualitative case study research differs from quantitative

research, which focuses on numerical data and uses statistics to answer a research question. In

qualitative research, researchers use non-numerical data, such as answers to interview questions,

to answer a research question. Case study research also differs from research conducted through

experiments. In case study research, the conditions of the setting and context are integral to the

research, and the researcher does not exclude or control for those factors, as in experimental

research. (study.com)

II. Locale and Time of the Study

The study will be conducted in Calbayog City specifically in the environment of San

Policarpo National High School. In the case of the focused group discussions, it will be held

inside the classrooms.

III. Respondents and Sampling Method

 Sample random sampling was used in this study. The participants of the study were the

selected twenty (20) senior high school students in San Policarpo National High School enrolled

for the academic year 2021-2022. The researchers will make direct observation and interviews to

gather their experience in spiritual retreat.

IV. Research Instrumentation

The researchers will be the data collection instrument in this study, undertaking it by observing

and conducting group interviews or conversations with chosen respondents in the school. The

researchers will also utilize questionnaires to collect data.

V. Data Gathering Procedure

Qualitative in nature, the study made use of questionnaire and actual interviews as main

tools for gathering information. First, the respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire

and were invited for an interview. Respondents could choose Filipino or English as their

medium of expression and they were asked to state without inhibition their opinions and

comments regarding the questions. Before the actual interviews, respondents were informed

that the exchanges were to be tape-recorded.

 VI. Data Analysis Procedure

Data from the recorded interviews were gathered and transcribed carefully. Answers were

categorized into two main classifications: positive and negative experiences towards the

spiritual retreat. Results were reviewed and analyzed thoroughly by reading the

transcriptions. The data were then summarized and interpreted.

Reference :

Miley, J. (2016). Meeting God (Again) in Spiritual Retreat. Retrieved from

https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/270253.pdf

Kuffner, Andrew, “Lasting Impacts from a Kairos High School Retreat: A Case Study of

Participants Three To Five years Post-Retreat Exploring the Social, Emotional, Mental Health,
and Faith Impacts” (2022). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 107.

https://pilotscholars.up.edu/etd

Naidoo, D., Schembri, A. & Cohen, M. The health impact of residential retreats: a systematic

review. BMC Complement Altern Med 18, 8 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-017-2078-4