Traditional and Biobehavioral Information in Dieting: The Anticipated Effects of Christian Weight Loss Literature

The study was designed to evaluate the effects of traditional versus biobehavioral information about dieting among individuals in early stages of dieting behavior. Forty-eight participants were presented with a message emphasizing the traditional information that weight loss is only a matter of will-power. Forty-eight participants were presented with biobehavioral information that explained why dieting is often ineffective and that other approaches could be used constructively to achieve weight loss. Twenty-four participants received a control message that was unrelated to weight Joss. The biobehavioral message was expected to result in decreases in self-blaming attributions. This was true only for those participants that had been overweight since childhood. Six current books on weight loss written from a Christian perspective are reviewed based upon the results of the study

Solitude, Silence, and the Training of Psychotherapists: A Preliminary Study

The spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude have long been practiced within the contemplative Christian tradition as a means of character transformation and experiencing God. Do these disciplines affect the use of silence in psychotherapy for Christian clinicians in a graduate training program? Nineteen graduate students in clinical psychology were assigned to a wait-list control condition or a training program involving the disciplines of solitude and silence, and the groups were reversed after the ftrst cohort completed the spiritual disciplines training. One group, which was coincidentally comprised of more introverted individuals, demonstrated a striking increase in the number of silent periods and total duration of silence during simulated psychotherapy sessions during the period of training. The other group, more extraverted in nature, did not show significant changes in therapeutic silence during the training. These results cause us to pose research questions regarding the interaction of personality characteristics and spiritual disciplines in training Christian psychotherapists

Positive Coping among Wives of Male Christian Clergy

Clergy spouses experience various life stressors, yet many cope and function effectively in the midst of their daily challenges. Mental health professionals were asked to identify wives of male clergy who exemplify emotional and spiritual health. Nominees were contacted and interviews conducted with 25 women. Each interviewee was asked about coping with normal life stressors, stressors associated with being married to a minister, and catastrophic life events. All interviews were transcribed and coded, using grounded theory. Participants emphasized the importance of spirituality, social support, limit-setting, and healthy lifestyle choices. Implications are discussed

Examples of Collaboration Between Psychologists and Clergy

Some psychologists may be interested in working collaboratively with clergy and yet may not know where to start. What kinds of collaborative projects are possible? A qualitative analysis of 77 narratives offered by psychologists and clergy involved in collaboration revealed that collaboration between psychologists and clergy currently takes place in at least four contexts: mental health services, parish life, community concerns, and academics. Reported obstacles to collaboration are also described. Essential attitudes for psychologists interested in collaborating with clergy include respecting clergy as professionals, willingness to venture out from traditional professional settings, and exploring innovative collaborative possibilities

Spiritual Directors and Clinical Psychologists: A Comparison of Mental Health and Spiritual Values

We surveyed a total of 315 spiritual directors, psychologist members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), and psychologist members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to determine their respective values on ten mental health themes derived from Jensen and Bergin (1988), and three spirituality scales drawn from the writings of John of the Cross. All three groups endorsed the value of expressing feelings, personal autonomy and maturity, and integrating work and leisure. CAPS psychologists and spiritual directors endorsed more than APA psychologists the values of spirituality, forgiveness, and the three John of the Cross scales. Spiritual directors reported greater endorsement of the self-awareness and growth theme than did psychodynamic psychologists who, in turn, reported greater endorsement than cognitive-behavioral psychologists. The results are examined in light of the pre-Enlightenment paradigm and value system in which spiritual direction and Christian theology are rooted

Spiritual Directors and Clinical Psychologists: A Comparison of Mental Health and Spiritual Values (Taken from Chapter 3 of Spiritual Formation, Counseling, and Psychotherapy)

We surveyed a total of 315 spiritual directors, psychologist members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), and psychologist members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to determine their respective values on ten mental health themes derives from Jensen and Bergin (1988), and three spirituality scales drawn from the writings of John of the Cross. All three groups endorsed the value of expressing feelings, personal autonomy and maturity, and integrating work and leisure. CAPS psychologists and spiritual directors endorsed more than APA psychologists the values of spirituality, forgiveness, and the three John of the Cross scales. Spiritual directors reported greater endorsement of the self-awareness and growth theme then did psychodynamic psychologists who, in turn, reported greater endorsement than cognitive-behavioral psychologists. The results are examined in light of the pre-Enlightenment paradigm and value system in which spiritual direction and Christian theology are rooted

Professional Psychology and the Doctrines of Sin and Grace: Christian Leaders’ Perspectives

What is a professional psychologist to do when a client brings up the concept of sin? To some, sin may seem like a stifling religious relic that has no place in contemporary psychology. But viewing sin from within the Christian faith, and in tandem with the doctrine of grace, can help psychologists understand why sin is such an important concept for many of their Christian clients. Psychologists’ misunderstanding of sin and grace may contribute to relatively low rates of referral from Christian leaders to clinical psychologists, and may sometimes hinder therapeutic progress. Two methods of data collection, involving a total of 171 respondents, were used to discern what Christian leaders wish psychologists understood regarding the doctrine of sin. Respondents emphasized the nature and consequences of sin, grace, and the importance of psychologists understanding sin and grace. Implications for professional psychologists are offered

Care For Pastors: Learning From Clergy and Their Spouses

Pastors and their spouses face unique challenges because of the nature of pastoral work, and yet most manage these challenges successfully. Five studies are presented which help distinguish between intrapersonal, family, and community forms of care. Pastors rely heavily on intrapersonal forms of coping such as spiritual devotion, hobbies, exercise, and taking time away from work. The marriage relationship is also quite important for most clergy and spouses. Relationships outside the immediate family are not commonly identified as coping resources. Implications are discussed

Near-Field Pressure Signature Splicing for Low-Fidelity Design Space Exploration of Supersonic Aircraft

As interest in supersonic overland flight intensifies, new ways to meet government restrictions on sonic boom loudness must be implemented. Low-fidelity aerodynamic tools, such as PANAIR, can estimate the near-field pressure signature that ultimately determines the loudness of the sonic boom at the ground. These tools can greatly benefit the exploration of large design spaces due to their computational efficiency. One of the limitations of low-fidelity tools is the accuracy of the solution produced, which is dependent on the fundamental physical assumptions made in the development of the governing equations. If flow patterns are produced that severely violate these fundamental assumptions, the validity of the near-field pressure signature is compromised. A method is proposed that splices together near-field pressure signatures from a low-fidelity and a higher-fidelity tool by cutting each pressure signature at a critical point and then blending the low-fidelity signature into the higher-fidelity signature. By splicing the signatures together, sections of the low-fidelity signature that represent fundamental violations of the governing equation are removed. This method allows for the exploration of the design space corresponding to areas on the geometry that produce accurate results in a low-fidelity signature. The method is tested on the JAXA Wing Body geometry from the Second AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop and shows that perturbations to this geometry can produce loudness results that match the high-fidelity results to within 0.4 PLdB

Obesity: A Biobehavioral Point of View

Excerpt: If you ask an overweight person, “Why are you fat?’, you will, almost invariably, get the answer, “Because 1 eat too much.” You will get this answer in spite of the fact that of thirteen studies, six find no significant differences in the caloric intake of obese versus nonobese subjects, five report that the obese eat significantly less than the nonobese, and only two report that they eat significantly more