Efficacy of Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program for Clergy in Myanmar

Efficacy of Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program for Clergy in Myanmar

James Cin Len Khai* and Ma. Lourdes C. Medina

The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas,

Manila, Philippines

*Corresponding Author

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2024.1107017

Received: 11 June 2024; Revised: 25 June 2024; Accepted: 26 June 2024; Published: 30 July 2024

ABSTRACT

Spirituality appears to be important aspect in pursuing happiness for religious people. They believe that spirituality is a way through which their deepest desires are met by connecting with God, the transcendent (Corwin, 2014). As a result, religious people generally believe that dedicating their lives to God in the love and service of His people is the way to pursue happiness (Mudge, 2021). The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an adjunct therapeutic intervention for clergy who are low in their spiritual health and psychological health. The researcher developed a Mindful based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program integrating theories of cognitive, mindfulness and meaning management and coined a name as “MiPSIP”. The program intended to improve spiritual health and psychological health among the clergy in Myanmar. The study used true experimental research method, and pre-test post-test group design. This study was conducted in two phases: the first phase was the development of the intervention and the second phase was the experimental validation of the intervention. This intervention was subjected to expert validation. The result of the study shows a significant improvement of spiritual well-being and psychological well-being among clergy. The data obtained from the administration of the pre-test and post-test scores of SHALOM, PWBS and the personal data sheet were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics. Frequency and percentage were used to come with a presentation of the demographic profile of the participants. The pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group indicated significant differences as the results of frequency and percentage of participants on psychological well- being shows that 92% of novice clergy and 96% of senior priests reported high overall spiritual well-being. The result revealed that MiPSIP was effective in improving spiritual health and psychological health of clergy.

Keywords: Spiritual well-being, psychological well-being, clergy, efficacy, MiPSIP

INTRODUCTION

Spiritual well-being is a new concept that is known as the fruit of several attempts to establish a link between spirituality and well-being and an indication of the underlying state of a person’s spiritual health (Dadfar et al., 2016). In addition, according to Shirzad et al. (2020), spiritual well-being is also measured by the quality of the relationship that one has with oneself, with others, with the environment and with God, or Transcendental. It is to be noted that relationships in themselves do not make a person spiritual, but rather the quality of those relationships that one has with self, with others, with the Transcendent, or God and with the environment would appear to be the indicators of the current state of one’s overall spiritual health or well-being. Although the mind cannot be seen directly, its capacity can be ‘assessed’ by using various IQ measure; so too, spiritual well-being is reflected in the quality of relationships that people manifest in the four relational components, namely, personal, communal, transcendental, and environmental component.

Spirituality is defined as something opposite to the material, the corporeal, the rational, the scientific, and the secular. It is a way through which one connects to the Ultimate and a dimension that exists from birth and is a person’s effort to grasp and accept themselves, their relationships with others, their place in the universe, and the meaning of life. Spirituality covers beliefs about health, disease, death, and the afterlife, as well as the belief in an entity or higher power (Cemile, 2020).

Well-being is perceived as a complex issue related to human nature; people experience different aspects of wellness in their lives. Recently, spiritual well-being has been suggested as a critical component of overall well-being alongside mental, physical, and emotional health. A person’s overall health and happiness should take into account their spiritual state. Worry for one’s soul involves broadening the definition of spiritual health, acknowledging the existence of spiritual issues, and treating such issues accordingly (Pate, 2022). In the study of Moons (2019), spiritual well-being has been found to reinforce psychological function and adaptation. It is an important part of overall health and is believed to contribute to a person’s adaptation to illness. Zarrin (2016) added that spiritual well-being had a positive relationship with healthy behaviors, life satisfaction, quality of life, an increased state of subjective health, and self-management.

Moreover, according to Roger (2018), spiritual well-being plays a vital role in stress management. Higher spiritual well-being made a considerable contribution to the health-related quality of life. It is also found to be strongly correlated with quality of life for those who are suffering from illness. Spiritual well-being appears to be positively correlated to psychological well-being, which is an accepted conceptual equivalent to happiness. Specific domains of spiritual well-being were found significantly associated to happiness. For instance, Keizer (2022) found that personal and communal domains were positively correlated to happiness but not transcendental and environmental domains among college students. Shirzad et al. (2020) indicated that the three areas, classified as personal, communal, and environmental well-being showed further variance regarding the prediction of happiness, but not regarding transcendental domain in the case of high school students. It was predicted that transcendent spiritual well-being might be a critical factor in relationship to happiness in a particular group such as dedicated religious or under other particular circumstances.

The study of Bunch (2021) found that both internal and external factors contribute to one’s sense of fulfillment in life. These results show that there are inconsistencies in the findings about the connection between spiritual health and contentment. These results provide strong evidence that spiritual well-being categories are important predictors of happiness, with each category positively contributing to the variation in happiness across groups. Furthermore, only high school students’ collective spiritual well-being was associated to their levels of happiness. This highlights the need of fostering a sense of belonging among the kids and highlights the significance of excellent, healthy connections for overall pleasure.

The positive relationship between spiritual well-being and psychological well-being appears to be consistent when one looks into the religious groups as well. Several studies that looked at the correlation between religion and happiness found that the different dimensions of happiness were mirrored in the characteristics of happy religious leaders. In the case of religious individuals, for example, the major sources of happiness are determined to be self-esteem and social support, encouragement and praise from the community, support from fellow priests, and encouragement from superiors, calm communal climate, and acceptance. Another source of joy for the religious might come from a sense of belonging to God and acceptance by God (Boateng, 2022).

Ley’s (2022) research support the idea that a closer relationship with God as a result of one’s prayer practice leads to greater happiness among religious individuals bolsters these findings. There is little doubt that religious people’s spiritual health may play a major role in how happy they are in other ways. This is because the elements of spiritual well-being mirror the characteristics that contribute to psychological well-being among religious individuals. For example, one’s sense of self-worth and pleasant emotions are mirrored in the individual domain of spiritual health, one’s social network and sense of community in the social domain, and one’s relationship with God in the transcendent domain. Mudge (2021) also says that there are distinct aspects that contribute to the pleasure of persons of different stages of religion. In particular, he argues that the rookie clergy’s prayer practice and sense of belongingness are important determinants of happiness. Happiness among junior clergy is highly connected with postulate actions and happy emotion. Senior clergy report high levels of contentment with their lives and their communities. The connections one has among the four pillars of spiritual health are a reflection of these variables. These results suggest that the diverse levels of religious people’s psychological well-being can be explained by differences in the various aspects of their spiritual health.

The study of Dr. G. & Friends (2022) found that the demands and challenges of the roles of clergy and priests can lead to high levels of stress, burnout, and mental health issues. Mental health issues can lead to decreased productivity, difficulty in connecting with parishioners, and even difficulties in forming meaningful relationships. Unmanaged stress can even lead to depression and anxiety, so it is vital to take the necessary steps in managing stress and burnout in order to ensure the well- being of clergy and priests. Clergy and priests need to be proactive in taking steps to manage this stress, such as setting realistic work goals, engaging in self-care activities, and seeking professional help if needed. It is important to recognize the signs of burnout and to prioritize mental health in order to prevent further deterioration. Thus, developing an intervention program and conducting experimental research on the spiritual and psychological well-being of clergy and priests is a crucial endeavor and a significant undertaking. It requires a thoughtful, evidence-based approach and a commitment to improving the lives of those who serve their faith communities (Lawrence Machogu, Dr. Tony Amissah, Dr. Maria Ntarangwe, 2022).

METHOD

Participants

The participants ranged in age from 20-30 (novice clergy) and 40-65 (senior priests) were randomly selected among the top 50 clergy (25 from the novice clergy group and 25 from the senior priests group) with low and moderate scores in spiritual well-being and psychological well-being based from the results of SHALOM and PWBS.  Then, the top 50 participants underwent the Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program that aims to reduce psychological distress and increasing spiritual well-being among them. Then, the post-test was administered to examine the effectiveness of the Spiritual Intervention Program among the 50 clergy with low and moderate scores in spiritual well-being and psychological well-being. The participants were informed about the purpose of the research and got consent from them. The following inclusion criteria used in this study in order to defend homogeneous of the research: Ordained priests between 20-30 years of age, and within 5 years of priestly ministry for novice clergy, and between 40-65 years of age, and within15 to 25 years of priestly ministry for senior priests; with low and moderate scores in spiritual well-being and psychological well-being based from the results of SHALOM and PWBS; and clergy who volunteer to participate in the study.

Research design

The study used true experimental research method, and pre-test post-test group design. The research was done with two groups; experimental and control with random selection of participants. Both groups of participants took pre-test and post-test. Experimental group involved in mindfulness based psycho-spiritual intervention while the control group involved in their daily schedule. Ethical guidelines were followed and got the approval from the Ethical Review Committee of the University of Santo Tomas prior to conduct the experiment.

Instruments

Spiritual Health and Life-orientation Measure (SHALOM):  This scale developed by Fisher (1999) and was used for this present study to measure overall spiritual well-being among clergy. Specifically the scale was used to assess the quality of the four relationships one has, with oneself, with others, with the environment and with Transcendent. SHALOM provides a novel means of attaining insight into the quality of these components, which reflect spiritual well-being by assessing each person’s ideals and their lived experience. This study used the lived experience to measure spiritual well-being of the clergy. It means the study used only the Spiritual Health (SHA) part of the instrument. The clergy were asked to rate each item along a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 to 5, 1 = very low, and 5 = very high. The clergy rated ideal for life orientation measure and lived experience of spiritual health separately. The reliability of this scale is adequate with Cronbach’s alpha values for the personal: 0.89; the communal: 0.79; the environmental: 0.76; the transcendental 0. 86; and overall items: 0.92 (Moodley et al., 2012).

In order to make the items become more comprehensible to the participants for this present study, some items were adapted from the modified version, suggested by Moodley et al. (2012), to replace the original items, e.g., item (1) ‘a love of other people’ will be replaced by ‘a love for other people’; item (4) ‘connection with nature’ will be replaced by ‘a connection between myself and nature’; item (5) ‘a sense of identity’ will be replaced by ‘I have an understanding of my identity’; item (6) ‘worship of the Creator’ will be replaced by ‘reverence for the Creator’; item (7) ‘awe at a breathtaking view’ will be replaced by ‘respect when I see a breathtaking view’; item (15) ‘prayer life’ will be placed by ‘ prayer enriches my life’; and item (20) “a sense of ‘magic’ in the environment” will be replaced by ‘a sense of fascination in the environment’.

Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS): Ryff’s (1989) multidimensional model of psychological well-being was employed for this present study. The 42- item version was used in order to assess the level of psychological well-being of the clergy. The original instrument consisted of 120 items, used to assess the six core domains of human health, mentioned above. However, several shorter versions have been made from the longer version: (the 84-item, the 54-item, the 42-item, and the 21-item versions respectively). These versions have been used extensively in a variety of samples and settings. This 42-item version has shown high internal consistency, Cronbach’s alphas > .80. The clergy were asked to rate each item along the 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 6 where 1 is “Strongly disagree” and 6 is “Strongly agree”

Procedure

This study is divided into two phases. First phase is the development of Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program (MiPSIP) and second phase is testing the efficacy of the MiPSIP. For the development of the of Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program (MiPSIP), the researcher followed seven stages such as review of relevant literature, assessment of the problem which includes interview and focus group discussions, preliminary draft of the MiPSIP, expert evaluation, pilot study and finalization of the MiPSIP. In the second phase, the researcher randomly selected the participants from the novice clergy group and the senior priests group based on the scores of SHALOM and PWBS along with inclusion criteria. The participants those who got low to moderate spiritual well-being and psychological well-being were selected and informed about the purpose of the study and entrusted the confidentiality. The participants were randomly selected for the intervention and assigned into experimental and control group, and got the consent form to participate in the study. As the completion of ethical requirements of the research, small version of MiPSIP was given to the control group. The pre-test and post-test scores of SHALOM, PWBS and the personal data sheet were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics. Frequency and percentage were used to come with a presentation of the demographic profile of the participants.

Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program comprises five modules with three sessions each. The experimental group received the intervention which includes lectures, various group activities, audio visual presentations, homework and so on. The whole intervention is symbolized as a transformational and renewal journey from inside to outside that is based on their physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspect of personality. The first module was meant for the rapport building and the physical aspects of the person especially the necessity of taking care of their body and the connection between well-being, and physical health. The second and third modules focused on the thoughts, emotional aspects, and the stress signals of the situations and the ways to handle emotions and stress in the daily activities of life. Fourth and fifth modules concentrated on the values and skills of the person and how the person can find meaning and how can they manage their life. The final session of the MiPSIP summarized the whole intervention learnings and helped to find out their own source of higher power and integrate with the body, mind, and spirit of the personality. Each session was administered for 60 minutes, except for the first and last session which runs 90 minutes deals with introduction and concluding activity.

The Composition of Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program (MiPSIP)

Module 1

Modules/ Themes/ Issue	Objectives	Activities	Theoretical Foundation
Module 1: Physical Sleep problems, fatigue, health concerns, Lack of enthusiasm	Session 1: Listening to body At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to describe what MiPSIP is -to relate with each other -to demonstrate group rules and time schedules -to discuss the importance of positive mental health -to explain the need to care for the body -to express the importance of personal hygiene and mental health	Opening prayer Rapport-building Group Dynamics Breathing and relaxation exercises Input session by the facilitator Group activity and discussion Activity: Newspaper and Magazines to identify healthy food and healthy life style Homework: walk, play .. . journal writing of the personal time table includes exercise, meal and body care	CBT, Mindfulness (Psycho- education, body scan, mindful eating)
Psychological negative feelings, sad, guilt, hurt, rejection	Session 2: Knowing my feelings At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to evaluate the emotions within the person -to identify the positive and negative emotions -to identify the effects of positive feelings in the body -to explain the importance of feeling in daily communication	Breathing and relaxation exercise Key message on emotions, the effect on body and mind Activity: my feeling checkup Identify and naming emotions Home work: self-talk and journal feeling map Activity: laughing exercise	CBT, Mindfulness (Psycho- education, Cognitive restructuring, body scan, mindful eating)
Psychological Psychosomatic symptoms, Anger, sad	Session 3: I can Handle my emotions At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to identify their positive and negative emotions -to differentiate negative emotions -to describe the physical and psychological reactions of negative emotions	Mindfulness Breathing and Relaxation Exercise Key message on emotions and the healthy ways to express Body Scan Activity: role play and anger management techniques	CBT, Mindfulness (Psycho- education, Cognitive restructuring, body scan, mindful eating)

Module 2

Modules/ Themes/ Issue	Objectives	Activities	Theoretical Foundation
Modules 2 Psychological Distorted thinking, maladaptive schemas, dichotomous thinking, cognitive rigidity	Session 4: Victory over my thoughts and feelings At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to analyze the relation between thoughts and feelings -to identify some core beliefs and unresolved experiences -to enumerate the distorted thinking pattern -to identify Hopelessness, guilt, sad and unexpressed emotions	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on thought and emotion Activity: letting go Home work: practice of mindful eating, walking and ten minutes mindful meditation	Mindfulness & CBT (Psycho- education, Cognitive restructuring)
Psychological Rumination of negative thoughts Self-defeating thoughts and behavior or oneself, Negative self-talks	Session 5: Handling emotional pain At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to point out the negative emotions connected with life experiences -to express the emotional pain -to practice positive self-talk -to demonstrate emotional integrity	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on ways to handle emotional pain Activity: deep breathing exercise and mindfulness with positive self-talk Homework: Write your feelings and behavior on your personal diary	CBT, Mindfulness (Psycho- education, Cognitive restructuring)
Psychological Self-blaming Being punished, Withdrawal behavior, Rejected experiences	Session 6: Nothing will last forever At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to assess the hardship and matters of life situations -to compare between positive thinking and negative thinking -to practice positive coping styles -to explain the interconnectedness of thoughts and feelings	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on hope and future Activity: positive thinking on experiences Home work: analysis of some past experiences and see it a new perspective of thoughts	Mindfulness & CBT (mindfulness meditation, journaling, letting go, cognitive restructuring)

Module 3

Modules/ Themes/ Issue	Objectives	Activities	Theoretical Foundation
Module 3 Psychological Anxiety, lack of confidence, lack of problem solving skills, self-worth, negative outlook and experiences of life	Session 7: Gear your life At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to describe the concept of stress and its impact on mind and body -to identify the stress producing situations of daily activities -to evaluate the personal strength and weakness and stress managing skills	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on stress and its effect on the body and mind Activity: identify the stress signals in the body. Home work: deep breathing exercise for ten minutes	Mindfulness & CBT (Psycho- education, Cognitive restructuring through thought Record
Psychological Rumination of negative experiences, anxiety, fear of failure, fear of humiliation	Session 8: Homey with yourself At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to identify the problem/ cause of worry/ failure -to explain the reality and the effect of it on the body and mind -to demonstrate of the worst effect of the problem -to use positive coping skills	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on worry and its effect on body and mind Activity: demonstration of a problem and its analysis Home work: identify a special problem in the past and reformulate it with a new coping and solving method	Mindfulness & CBT (Body scan, psycho-education, Cognitive restructuring through thought record
Social and interpersonal Inhibition, Withdrawal, lack of communication skills, impatience	Session 9: Talk it out At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to articulate the effect of catharsis -to practice proper communication skills -to develop mutual trust and helping attitude -to relate with self-compassion and empathy towards oneself and to others	Mindfulness meditation and exercise Key message on talk it out Activity: sharing experiences and its analysis demonstration of communication skills	Mindfulness Psycho-education

Module 4

Modules/ Themes/ Issue	Objectives	Activities	Theoretical Foundation
Module 4 Psychological and spiritual Inability to find values of life, ambiguity in values, negative Self-worth, low self-esteem, lack of confidence	Session 10: My values Strengths At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to identify personal and religious values -to evaluate values and its effect on personality -to associate with humanity and higher power -to express personal value, family and society -to develop values and see the influence on behavior -to identify the inner source of personality -to practice disciplines in life	Mindfulness meditation with positive self-talk Key message on values Activity: identify the values and strengths of personality Home work: write down minimum five values and strengths of personality	Meaningful management Psycho-education, mindfulness Meditation
Psychological and spiritual Anger, shame, wounds of negative experiences, forgiveness	Session 11: Beauty of forgiveness At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to identify personal skills -to use positive skills in a creative way -to practice the problem-solving skills	Mindfulness meditation with mantra Key message on forgiveness Activity: process of forgiveness Home work: practice the forgiveness process	Mindfulness and forgiveness-based activity
Spiritual Meaningless of life, Lack of purpose in life	Session 12: Make my life meaningful (inventiveness of life) At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to prioritize and demonstrate the values in life -to describe the ways to find meaning in life -to use the skills to make meaning in life -to develop interpersonal relationships	Mindfulness meditation with gratitude Key message on meaning in life Activity: video viewing of Nic and discuss what did you get from it? Inspirational video of Kisu Home work: write down the personal skills or the means to find your life more meaningful	Meaning management theory, activity through creative value

Module 5

Modules/ Themes/ Issue	Objectives	Activities	Theoretical Foundation
Module 5 Spiritual Meaningless of life, lack of purpose in life	Session 13: How can I enjoy my life (Novelty of life) At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to evaluate the learnings from past experiences -to identify the pain and joy of life -to express the higher values of suffering and pain	Mindfulness meditation Key message on meaning in life through experiences Activity: video viewing of Mother Therese, Gandhi Home work: find out the way they can help or spend their life more experiential	Meaning management Psycho-education
Psychological and spiritual life, lack of purpose in life Meaning of life, suffering and pain Spiritual meaning in life Hopelessness	Session 14: How can I view my life (greatness of life) At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to examine the pros and cons of life -to prioritize higher values of life and find the way to reach the goal of life -to discover the personality and surrounding to move forward -to practice spiritual activity to nourish and strengthen life -to use the source	Mindfulness meditation with exercise Key message on the higher power or value Activity: ritual activity of spiritual enhancement	Meaning management theory, mindfulness meditation through a ritual
Spiritual Meaning in life Hopelessness	Session 15: New life of happiness and peace At the end of the session, the participants must be able: -to identify the higher power of life and surrender to that power -to articulate the integration of body, mind and spirit	Mindfulness Meditation with exercise Key message on the Spiritual aspects of life Guided meditation Activity: to take note to home back Post-test of SHALOM and PWBS	Mindfulness guided meditation

Data Analysis

The data obtained from the administration of the pre-test and post-test scores of SHALOM, PWBS and the personal data sheet were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics. Frequency and percentage were used to come with a presentation of the demographic profile of the participants.

RESULTS 

Level of pre-test and post-test results of spiritual well-being (SHALOM) of novice clergy and senior priests

For pre-test, the results of frequency and percentage of participants on spiritual well-being suggest that 40% of novice clergy and 40% of senior priests reported low overall spiritual well-being; 60% of novice clergy and 60% senior priests reported moderate on spiritual well- being. Together, 40 % of the novice clergy and 40 % of the senior priests are below average in spiritual well-being (see table 1).

For post-test, the results of frequency and percentage of participants on spiritual well-being suggest that 92% of novice clergy and 96% of senior priests reported high overall spiritual well-being; 8% of novice clergy and 4% senior priests reported moderate on spiritual well-being. Together, 0 % of the novice clergy and 0 % of the senior priests are below average in spiritual well-being (see table 2).

Table 1. Pre-test: Frequency and Percentage of Respondents on the Scores of Global Spiritual Well-being (N=25)

Level	Score	Novice Clergy		Senior Priests
		Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
High	4.5 – 6.0	–	–	–	–
Moderate	3.5 – 4.5	15	60	15	60
Low	1.0 – 3.5	10	40	10	40
Total		25	100	25	100

Table 2. Post-test: Frequency and Percentage of Respondents on the Scores of Global Spiritual well-being (N=25)

Level	Score	Novice Clergy		Senior Priests
		Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
High	4.0 – 5.0	23	92	24	96
Moderate	3.0 – 3.9	2	8	1	4
Low	1.0 – 2.9	–	–	–	–
Total		25	100	25	100

Level of pre-test and post-test results of psychological well-being (PWBS) of novice clergy and senior priests

For pre-test, the results of frequency and percentage of participants on psychological well- being suggest that 40% of novice clergy and 40% of senior priests reported low overall spiritual well-being; 60% of novice clergy and 60% senior priests reported moderate on spiritual well-being. Together, 40 % of the novice clergy and 40 % of the senior priests are below average in spiritual well-being (see table 3).

For post-test, the results of frequency and percentage of participants on psychological well- being suggest that 92% of novice clergy and 96% of senior priests reported high overall spiritual well-being; 8% of novice clergy and 4% senior priests reported moderate on spiritual well-being. Together, 0 % of the novice clergy and 0 % of the senior priests are below average in spiritual well-being (see table 4).

Table 3. Pre-test: Frequency and Percentage of Respondents on the Scores of Psychological well-being (N=25)

Level	Score	Novice Clergy		Senior Priests
		Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
High	4.5 – 6.0	–	–	–	–
Moderate	3.5 – 4.5	15	60	15	60
Low	1.0 – 3.5	10	40	10	40
Total		25	100	25	100

Table 4. Post-test: Frequency and Percentage of Respondents on the Scores of Psychological well-being (N=25)

Level	Score	Novice Clergy		Senior Priests
		Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
High	4.5 – 6.0	23	92	24	96
Moderate	3.5 – 4.5	2	8	1	4
Low	1.0 – 3.5	–	–	–	–
Total		25	100	25	100

DISCUSSION

The result of the study proved that the psycho-spiritual intervention developed by the researcher termed as “MiPSIP” is an effective therapeutic intervention, a valid and reliable program for both novice clergy and senior priests who are low in their spiritual health and psychological health to find their purpose and meaning in life with their priestly ways. As a priest, it is necessary to address their spiritual health in a meaningful way. So helping priests with low spiritual health requires comprehensive assessment and collaborative work of spirituality, psychology, and social intervention can treat low spirituality effectively. In this intervention, CBT techniques were used to assist the participants to identify their faulty thinking and the effect of it’s on the negative feelings. Behavior modification and mindfulness techniques supported to overcome the stressful situation and move forward with the hope of enthusiasm and embrace a non-judgmental attitude towards feelings and situations. Mindfulness helps the participants to be in the present with a non-judgmental attitude and concentrates on the positive aspects of the personality. Community support and prayer life is crucial in developing spiritual well-being. The pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group indicated significant differences as the results of frequency and percentage of participants on spiritual well-being and psychological well-being show that from 60% to 92% of novice clergy and from 60% to 96% of senior priests reported high overall spiritual well-being and psychological well-being. The result revealed that MiPSIP was effective in improving spiritual health and psychological health of clergy. From the scores and levels of SHALOM in Table 1 & 2 and PWBS in Table 3 & 4, there is significant difference on the spiritual well-being and psychological well-being of the clergy before and after the integration of Psycho-Spiritual intervention program. The participants expressed their gratitude and satisfaction regarding the intervention and reported a positive outlook of their life and meaning. They were able to accept the realities of life and situations without judgment and comparisons as a new insight and purpose, and ready to share their life for a higher purpose.

The newly developed Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention Program (MiPSIP) comprises of five modules with three sessions each. The first module was meant for the rapport building and the physical aspects of the person especially the necessity of taking care of their body and the connection between well-being, and physical health. Session one focuses on listening to body and with the discussion on how to relate with one another, the importance of positive mental health, the need to understand to take care for the body and to express the importance of personal hygiene and mental health. Session two is about knowing ones feelings and to evaluate the emotions within a person, to identify the positive and negative emotions, to identify the effects of positive feelings in the body, and to explain the importance of feeling in daily communication. Session three explores on how to handle ones emotions as to identify their positive and negative emotions, to differentiate negative emotions and to describe the physical and psychological reactions of negative emotions.

The second and third modules focused on the thoughts, emotional aspects, and the stress signals of the situations and the ways to handle emotions and stress in the daily activities of life. Session four focuses on how to have victory over thoughts and feelings, and analyze the relation between thoughts and feelings, to identify some core beliefs and unresolved experiences, to enumerate the distorted thinking pattern, and to identify hopelessness, guilt, sad and unexpressed emotions. Session five is how to handle emotional pain and a discussion on pointing out the negative emotions connected with life experiences, expressing the emotional pain, practicing positive self-talk and demonstrating emotional integrity. Then session six deals with a topic on ‘nothing will last forever’ and assesses the hardship and matters of life situations, compares between positive thinking and negative thinking, practices positive coping styles, and explains the interconnectedness of thoughts and feelings.  Session seven concentrates on ‘gear your life’ to describe the concept of stress and its impact on mind and body, to identify the stress producing situations of daily activities and to evaluate the personal strength and weakness and stress managing skills. Session eight focuses on a topic of ‘homey with yourself’ in order to identify the problem, cause of worry, failure, to explain the reality and the effect of it on the body and mind, to demonstrate of the worst effect of the problem and to use positive coping skills. Then, session nine is ‘talk it out’ to articulate the effect of catharsis, to practice proper communication skills, to develop mutual trust and helping attitude and to relate with self-compassion and empathy towards oneself and to others.

Fourth and fifth modules concentrated on the values and skills of the person and how the person can find meaning and how can they manage their life. Session ten focuses on ‘my values strengths’ with a discussion to identify personal and religious values, to evaluate values and its effect on personality, to associate with humanity and higher power, to express personal value, family and society, to develop values and see the influence on behavior, to identify the inner source of personality and to practice disciplines in life. Session eleven deals with ‘beauty of forgiveness’ to identify personal skills, to use positive skills in a creative way, to practice the problem-solving skills.  Session twelve focuses on ‘make my life meaningful (inventiveness of life)’ to explain how to prioritize and demonstrate the values in life, to describe the ways to find meaning in life, to use the skills to make meaning in life and to develop interpersonal relationships.  Then session thirteen is ‘how can I enjoy my life (novelty of life)’ with a discussion to evaluate the learnings from past experiences, to identify the pain and joy of life, and to express the higher values of suffering and pain. Session fourteen deals with ‘how can I view my life (greatness of life)’ to examine the pros and cons of life, to prioritize higher values of life and find the way to reach the goal of life, to discover the personality and surrounding to move forward, to practice spiritual activity to nourish and strengthen life and to use the source. Session fifteen concentrates on ‘new life of happiness and peace’ to identify the higher power of life and surrender to that power, and to articulate the integration of body, mind and spirit.

The experimental group received the intervention which includes lectures, various group activities, audio visual presentations, homework and so on. The whole intervention is symbolized as a transformational and renewal journey from inside to outside that is based on their physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspect of personality. The final session of the MiPSIP summarized the whole intervention learnings and helped to find out their own source of higher power and integrate with the body, mind, and spirit of the personality. Each session was administered for 60 minutes, except for the first and last session which runs 90 minutes deals with introduction and concluding activity.

CONCLUSION

MiPSIP was intended to enable people to learn to become more aware of their bodily sensations, thoughts and feelings associated with low spiritual health and psychological health and to relate constructively to these experiences. The participants reported significant improvement in their executive attention and their ability to act with awareness which was helped by the mindfulness skills. Mindfulness skills help the participants to concentrate on their awareness and identify the emotions without judging or neglecting. Participants reported mindfulness meditation helped them to experience more on relaxation than on bodily pain and whereby they got the strength to control their pain. MiPSIP was leading the participants from their inner world to an outer world, a journey from themselves to others, a transformational and renewal journey. MiPSIP was focused on the inner aspects of personality, their skills, talents and their positive relationship with the environment which all help them to create and find their own meaning in life. The participants gave feedback on their awareness of their strength which could provide a meaningful life and means to flourish life with purpose through the session of focusing on their strengths and skills based on meaning management theory. They were able to see their purpose of life based on their values and strengths. Mindfulness based Psycho-Spiritual Intervention helped the participants’ improve in spiritual health and psychological health and enriched by meaning of life. This intervention helped them reduce their negative thinking styles and rumination which promotes positive attitudes and well- being. The participants were able to see their purpose of life through the guided meditation and the life experiences of the people whom they provided big contributions to the world where they were ineffective in their strength and sources. This intervention proved effectiveness in improving low levels of spiritual health and psychological health among clergy. Further studies with female religious people with low spiritual health and low psychological health are strongly recommended.

The researcher received no financial support from any funding agencies.

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