Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Shauna Cheney
Kaplan University
HW420-01
Professor Maule
current state of wellness. Understanding how someone views their own health in the mind, body,
and soul can help to establish a framework on which to base a wellness development plan on. I
have created an inventory in the form of a written interview that can be filled out by someone to
allow that person to self-evaluate how spiritually and psychologically healthy he or she is. As a
wellness professional, I can also look at ways I can help them by interpreting the results. For the
sake of this interview, the information will be used to help the interviewee to develop her own
spiritual and psychological health development plan. To test my inventory, I have interviewed a
woman in Arizona, California by sending her the written interview questions by email. She filled
out the questions and responded. The interviewee name is Janel, and the interview was returned
to me on May 12, 2016. I have explained the questions and the value they hold as part of the
1. Do you feel like your life has purpose and meaning? Why or why not?
This question can be valuable in an interview because it will help the interviewee
to recognize their own worth, which will set the foundation for a spiritual evaluation. It
may be difficult for those who are not aware of their purpose in life to find purpose in
their journey or meaning in being a spiritual person. Part of spirituality deals with
connecting with oneself and a higher power. If someone feels disconnected internally,
then he or she may have a hard time distinguishing connection to others. Seaward (2013)
explained that a meaningful life and having a purpose is part of spiritual health and
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2. Do you currently feel like you are a spiritual person? Why or why not?
This question will help someone to determine his or her level or depth of
spirituality currently. This question does not take into account how spiritual someone
would like to be or how psychologically healthy someone feels they are. This question is
valuable because it establishes a baseline level to work from if a person chooses to pursue
After answering question number two and deciding how spiritual one is currently,
this question can help someone evaluate how they would like to progress in the future.
Some people may feel comfortable where they are at spiritually, while others may yearn
for a spiritual life and spiritual practice. Walsh (2009) stated that if someone wants to
grow spiritually, then a spiritual practice could help with the growth process. Stating
some ways someone thinks he or she can grow spiritually can open doors for self-
guidance to a spiritual path, or that person may want to seek after a spiritual practice to
facilitate growth. It is better for people to determine what may be needed in their own
life than to have another person tell them what will help them to grow. Self-discovery is
spiritual practices, which can promote spirituality. Spiritual practice has psychological
and spiritual benefits because it helps someone to have healthier emotions and to become
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 4
more familiar with themselves and the sacred (Walsh, 2009). Walsh (2009) also
explained that spiritual practices could have positive physical benefits such as improved
sleep, decreased anxiety, reduced pain, and prolonged life. A spiritual practice is
5. Do you practice meditation? Can you explain why or why not and if you do give a
Meditation is a healthy practice and technique to release the mind from chatter,
calm the soul, and renew and refresh. Meditation is also a great way to facilitate a
connection with the spirit (Seaward, 2013). Establishing current meditation routines and
addressing the possibility for improvement, can help an individual to recognize any forms
of meditation that they engage in which can lead to spiritual and psychological health.
Again, the self-discovery effect of the interview questions can help someone reflect and
ponder on what meditation means to them individually. There are so many different
forms of mediation and asking someone what forms they currently practice can help that
As someone self-evaluates his or her ability to release toxic emotions, they can
interviewee is able to release anger and forgive when necessary, he or she can validate a
healthy trait within himself or herself. Recognizing the presence of anger and grudges
can lead to change if change is needed. Walsh (2009) pointed out that spiritual maturity
is the best way to heal agonizing emotions such as anger (p. 83). Spirituality is contingent
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on the ability to feel positive emotions that are unencumbered by darker feelings. Love,
compassion, joy, happiness, and peace are all fruits of spirituality that can freely be
experienced by the one who is spiritually in tune without lingering anger. This question
emotions.
7. Do you have core beliefs and values? How do they affect your life?
because it sets a baseline for what beliefs currently exist in ones thought pattern.
Spiritual and psychological health will generally be based upon the values and beliefs
that guide someones actions, motives, and thoughts. Understanding how beliefs and
values affect ones own life can help to highlight any that may be having negative effects
or that may be particularly beneficial. Successful relationships can be built upon health
core values, and these values can be part of spiritual and psychological well-being.
It is important to address spirituality and its role in the health and wellbeing of an
individual. If someone does believe spirituality can affect health, then he or she is more
likely to hold a place for spirituality in his or her life. If someone does not think that
spirituality affects health outcomes, then they would be less likely to have a desire for
spiritual growth. Also, the mindset surrounding the beliefs linking spirituality and health
can be part of optimistic thinking and can play a role in the psychological well-being of
an individual.
This question can be valuable in helping someone open his or her mind to the
possibility for mysterious events that act as tutoring moments. Having a knowledge of
someones belief system regarding unexplainable events can help determine where his or
her mindset is currently. The importance of the question is to dig a little deeper into the
Optimism is linked to health in the mind, body, and spirit. Optimists have longer
lives, get sick less, and have fewer diseases (Seligman, 2006). Establishing someones
level of optimism can help to determine how healthy he or she will be. Asking someone
if they are optimistic helps to unravel how someone sees himself or herself
large determinant of the mental health of an individual since they are less likely to be
depressed.
Whether or not optimism plays a role in someones health can determine what
mental and emotional support the physical body can receive in the healing process. If
someone does not belief that his or her thoughts can affect the body, then the mind, body,
and spirit cannot be connected in the healing process. Seligman (2006) stated that
optimistic people who think positively about health are more likely to be healthy. The
12. On a scale of 1-10, how much time do you spend on your spiritual health? Mental?
Emotional? Physical?
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Asking someone how much time they currently spend on different areas of his or her
health can help to determine any deficiencies or imbalances. As someone realizes what areas
of his or her life are taking priority, he or she can determine if any changes are needed to
13. Do you think you are emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually healthy? Why or why
not?
Asking someone if they think they are healthy mentally, physically, spiritually, and
emotionally can help that person to determine if they are where they want to be. Setting
goals for change first will require motivation and a person has to want to change to see any
results. As a person reflects upon his or her current state of wellness, they may recognize
This question is valuable because I want to know what the interviewee liked and disliked
about the interview to help me in establishing questions in the future that will help a person
achieve spiritual and psychological health. If there are strengths and weaknesses in the
questions that are posed, then it will help me to differentiate if my interview was effective.
15. How has pondering these questions helped you in evaluation your current spiritual and
psychological wellness?
The ultimate goal of this interview is to help someone to determine his or her spiritual
and psychological wellness. It is important to know if the questions helped him or her to
The final question is valuable because it helps the interviewee to recognize if the
interview has helped him or her to want to change. If that person has identified any
Q: Do you feel like your life has purpose and meaning? Why or why not?
A: I feel like my life has purpose and meaning because of the way I choose to live my life. I
believe that it has a purpose because of the actions that I do and the person that I have
chosen to become. I believe this is something that we each can decide. I have tried to
create more purpose and meaning in my life by having a deep concern and care for
others. I feel it is important to show empathy toward others even if you cannot always
understand what they are going through. This life is a difficult one and sometimes people
just need to know that they have someone around who cares by spending time with them.
I can think of many times in my own life when I have gone through situations that were
difficult, trying, and troublesome, and I just needed to feel like someone in the world
cared about me. This is how I have tried to create purpose in my life, by showing others
that I care about them, and that they are not alone.
Another way that I have found purpose in my life is to serve others. I love to see
someone's day brightened by doing a random act of kindness to help him or her know
that he or she is not forgotten in a sea of people. Every single pertinent person matters
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 9
and we need each person because everyone contributes different qualities and talents to
the world. I try to look for people who are by themselves and may not feel included and
go out of my way to make them feel important. I feel good about myself when I am able
to help others and hope that I have been able to make a difference in someone's life by
just a small act of kindness. Some people may call it service, others may call it being
intuitive to another's needs, but people always need help and assistance and if you open
I can remember very specific people who have done or said something nice to me when I
was growing up, and they had an impact on my life. Wouldn't it be great if someone
thought about you that way and you had no idea that all these years or even decades later
that they remember you because of one little thing that you did. You never know when
something that you do for someone else can leave an impression on him or her that lasts a
lifetime. I really do think the more you can look towards others and see the needs that
they might have will add purpose and meaning to your life.
Q: Do you currently feel like you are a spiritual person? Why or why not?
A: I do feel think that I am a spiritual person, but I can look back and see times in my life
when I was more spiritual than I am now. Perhaps that is because as I am married now
and have more people in my life to rely on than just my spirituality or beliefs. I have a
husband who has truly become a partner to help me, whereas when I was younger I had
to turn to God for all my support. I had a need to draw on guidance that is more spiritual
I also do not feel as spiritual today because as I have gotten older, life has gotten harder,
disappointments have become greater, and answers to questions from God do not feel as
clear. There is another phrase that I have always liked, but I do not know who said it, and
it is "If you are further away from God today than you were yesterday, who moved?
Certainly, I do not believe that God would ever walk away from us, so if someone moved
it would be me. Perhaps I do not feel answers to questions are as clear as they used to be
because he wants us to have the agency to choose for ourselves. He wants us to study out
problems on our own and not always rely on him for the answers. As I have gotten older
and experienced more in life, I should have more knowledge to discern good from evil
and discern right from wrong. I do not believe the answers come from Heavenly Father
as easily because I have more knowledge to make those decisions using what I have
learned throughout my life. I believe because of that I have learned to study things out
more myself it has made me feel less spiritual. If I really think about it, it is too easy to
be given the answers and true growth comes from analyzing all the information and
working out a solution for myself. Although I look back and it may seem I was more
spiritual in my youth, perhaps it was because all I had to do was ask and I received an
answer. Perhaps in reality, and maybe without even noticing, I have become a more
spiritual person because of the knowledge and experiences I have gone through.
Either way, I do believe I will always be a spiritual person because I cannot imagine what
A: Because I feel like I have seen a shift in my spirituality and the need to study things out
more, I think I could grow spiritually by not seeking that instant gratification to know
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 11
everything right away. To grow spiritually requires time and thought. I think it requires
looking at the world differently instead of looking at what I personally want. I have to
look at what my purpose is, what is best for my family, and what is best for others, which
is a hard thing to do. In order to grow you almost need to forget yourself. The world is a
larger place than just you and as you forget yourself, you end up learning more about
yourself and growing spiritually. I think so much of our lives are about relationships and
preparation each week by listening to speakers, talks, scriptures, and others spiritual
church. To me, it does not matter if I am teaching a large group or making a list of
Another way that I engage in spiritual practices are by being a good daughter to my
parents a good sister to my siblings, and a good wife to my husband. I think of them and
how I can serve them and go out of my way to help where I can. Serving is a spiritual
Another spiritual practice that I spend time on in my life is to be prepared for whatever
the future may hold. This can mean learning a new skill, increasing my education, or
preparing financially. There are many things that distract me spiritually, but I try to
spend time on what is most important. If I can carefully plan and prepare myself for the
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 12
regular day-to-day things, then they will not get in the way of me having time for
spiritual things.
Q: Do you practice meditation? Can you explain why or why not and of you do give a
A: I do not practice meditation. I do understand the need to have time alone to think about
things and contemplate things, but I have never had trouble finding time to be alone. I
see the need for meditation for those who have such busy and hectic lives that they have
to set aside time to be alone to block everything else in the world out. For me, that is just
simply not the case. I spend more of my time each day alone then I do with others and
because of that, it gives me a lot of time throughout the day to just be with myself and my
thoughts.
A: I am able to release anger and forgive when needed. I know people say that you should
never go to bed angry with your spouse but sometimes you do need time to yourself to
release that anger. Forgiveness cannot always be immediate and sometimes it is good to
take the night to sleep on it to see how you think or feel in the morning.
In my line of work sometimes I have to be the bad guy and send letters to people
notifying them they need to paint their house or clean up their landscaping in the front
yard. As soon as those letters are received by mail, I get a lot of angry calls and angry
emails from people who just got the letter and cannot believe what I had asked them to
clean up or do. I have found that if I quickly respond to them by email or phone it
usually escalates the situation. I have found it more helpful if I wait a day and then
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 13
respond it usually takes an extra day for the people that I work with to calm down and
look at the situation with a more open mind. I see the same patterns in myself. At first
when I get angry it is hard to see another point of view so taking time to relax and think
angry but that shock does wear off with time and you can look at a situation with a more
open mind.
As far as forgiveness goes, I have found it is easier to forgive as I have done things and
hope others would forgive me. Everyone knows that no one is perfect, and I think the
important thing is for people not to be offended. So many times people have good
intentions but things come out the wrong way or are taken the wrong way, which can ruin
relationships. I have learned there is no point in holding a grudge as the only person that
In my own relationships, I have learned that after I am angry with someone it is best to
forgive and then keep the issue in the past. Down the road if something happens that
causes me to get angry again, it is important not to bring the things up from the past
Q: Do you have core beliefs and values? How do they affect your life?
A: I have core beliefs and values that have been ingrained in me since I was a child through
my church and through my parents. They have given me a good base to live my life, and
they have helped me good decisions about things. Values and beliefs really helped me
when it came to all of the popular things in the world that teenagers face. I was taught it
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 14
is better if you can make a decision ahead of time about a particular issue so that when
you are confronted with that issue, it is not a difficult choice. When I was younger I made
up my mind that I was not going to drink, do drugs, smoke, or watch rated R movies, so
throughout my teenage years as each of those situations came up it was not a difficult
choice. Instead of drugs and alcohol, I was able to focus on good positive things that
helped me to get a job, pay for college, make good friends, and have fun and be happy. I
owe the ability to make those choices correctly to the values and beliefs that I had learned
young.
As I have gotten older I have kept the values learned from church and family, but I have
I think everyone needs a set of values to help them live their life. There are many bad
influences in the world and it can be easy to be sucked into something small that does not
seem all that bad only to have it escalate into something worse. Values remind people of
what is important in life so they can stay living the path that will lead to the greatest
happiness.
A: Spirituality does affect my health. I feel that when I am happier in life and feeling more
spiritual, I eat better. When I am more stressed about things, out of balance, or not
feeling spiritual, I eat more of the foods that create an unhealthy lifestyle, which in turn
makes me unhappy. If I eat the kinds of foods that make me gain weight, it makes me
unhappy. I link this to spirituality because when I am spiritual I tend to make healthier
If I am constantly concerned about my weight and all the junk food that I am eating and
the exercise that I am not doing, then I get consumed thinking of only myself. Thinking
only about me and my weight affects my spirituality because my thoughts are not turned
towards others, towards helping them, towards building relationships, or towards being
happy.
A: I do not believe in unexplainable events such as the ones listed. Although I have always
had very detailed dreams that I can clearly remember the next morning, I believe they are
just dreams. Sometimes I can tell it was based off whatever I was watching the night
I do believe that sometimes you can feel something like you feel you know you need to
go do something, but I believe that is spiritual guidance, which some call intuition. A
particular instance was when I was young and had been invited to spend the night at a
friends home. For some reason, I felt like it was not a good idea. The next morning the
father of that child was arrested for sexually abusing two friends who had stayed the
night. I believe this was spiritual guidance though which can be explained. I have
something, even when it is as simple as taking a different route home, I listen to that
feeling.
A: I have never thought that I was an optimistic person. I think of myself as more of a
realist. Not because I want to be but because that is the life I have had to live.
I have never been that happy go lucky carefree type and that is what I think of when I
think of an optimistic person. Sometimes I envy those types of people because it does
not look like they have a care in the world. As an example, I look at some women who
got married at 18 or 19 years old, never had to work for a living, who get pregnant, had
babies, and got to be a stay at home mom. They seem happy and they seem optimistic.
However, for me, my life is different. I have had to work hard to work to get through
college, so that I could get a well-paying job, so I could pay my bills, so I could pay rent,
so I could purchase a home, and purchase a car. I have done all of this on my own. I
really believe that when someone is by himself or herself and no one else is taking care of
them, it is very hard to be an optimistic person because you see the harsh reality of how
difficult life can be. When you have more hardships, it takes away a lot of the freedom
and carefree attitude that would make you an optimistic person. I would like to be more
A: I believe greatly that the lack of optimism can play a negative role on your health, so
therefore those who are more optimistic probably have better health because they feel
less of a burden on their lives and less stress. Because of having to work so hard at my
job, I go through multiple periods in my life where my eye twitches uncontrollably for
several months. When it first started about eight years ago, I went to doctors to find out
that it was caused by stress. It has gotten harder to maintain employment and to receive a
good wage with the increasing demands of bills in the world today. Because of this, it
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 17
causes me stress and affects my health because I know how difficult it can be to find a
I do not think being optimistic is just a way of thinking. I do not think that I could
think it would be unrealistic for me to just think that my job is going great, that the
economy is going great, and that the bills are not a reality. People who have less stress
are able to be healthier and happier. I need to reduce my stress to find greater happiness
and health. I am not sure how optimism can help me but this question has been good to
consider it.
Q: On a scale of 1-10 how much time do you spend on your spiritual health? Mental?
Emotional? Physical?
A: Spiritual 8
Mental 6
Emotional 7
Physical 6
Q: Do you think you are emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually healthy? Why or why
not?
A: Spiritual 8
Mental 6
Emotional 7
Physical 6
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 18
Q: Do you think you are emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually healthy? Why or why
not?
A: No, I do not think that I am emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy at
this time. Somewhat depressing, I know. The reason I had to answer no is because the
last four years of my life I have had to focus on one area of my life and so have become
very unbalanced. I have been trying to get pregnant and have a child, but it is not going to
happen. It has been a long emotional rollercoaster and has taken a toll on me physically,
emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I have a lot that needs to occur to get myself in a
A: Self-evaluation is not always easy and that is what this interview felt like to me. It was a
self-evaluation and it brought up difficult feelings. It is not a bad idea for people to stop
and evaluate their life and who they are, where they are at, and what direction they want
their future to go in. I think in general, life is hard, but I think experiences are important
to share so people do not feel alone in those things they have gone through. As people
share, I think they realize they have more in common with everyone else than they
realize. Sometimes I look at parts of my life, just see the negatives, and just see how hard
it has been. I do not think we were meant to live this life just working to pay the bills, I
think we are meant to enjoy it. I think we are meant to put less focus on material things
so that we have the time and the energy to do things that are enjoyable. It is difficult each
week when Sunday evening comes around and you have that dread of going back to work
on Monday. It feels like you just have to do it all over again; work for a week, have one
or two days off, repeat. I always think there must be more to life than just this. But I
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 19
think the truth of the matter is that we can lighten our load in the decisions that we make
that can lead to living a healthier lifestyle by making sure our body, mind, and spirit are
well-balanced. We will never get out of working, we will never get out of having bills to
pay, but perhaps there is a better way to lighten the load by finding employment that you
enjoy and not letting the weight of the world be solely on your shoulders.
I had an assistant at work who once told me "love your job and you'll never work a day in
your life. I remember thinking, oh great, I just hired an optimist. Wouldn't that be great
to have that outlook since our jobs take up such a large part of our life? Wouldn't it be
great if we truly could love our job so much that it never felt like actual work? Therefore,
optimistic, and find greater happiness in my work. I need to get healthier and happier.
Q: How has pondering these questions helped you in evaluation your current spiritual and
psychological wellness?
A: Now that my husband has decided to add on an extra year of school to complete his
masters along with his bachelors degree we have had conversations on how I am going
to make it through another two years of working. Perhaps it is time to look for another
type of employment that would be more fulfilling in my life. Perhaps that would help me
to feel like I have a better purpose in life if I enjoyed what I did for work.
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 20
I think I also plan to try to not be so hard on myself. You know what they say, "we are
our own worst critic. I think we can all be a little too hard on ourselves sometimes when
really we are doing okay and we should not worry so much. I know I have a lot to be
grateful for and should try harder to remember that the good outweighs the bad.
Conclusion
According to the inventory questions and the interview that was done, Janel could use
some help to improve her spiritual and psychological wellbeing. Janel struggles with being
optimistic and recognizing the positive in her life. Due to her lack of optimism, she struggles
physically and spiritually. Psychologically, she could be healthier if she were to shift her
thinking from pessimism and realism to optimism. She is healthy emotionally in the aspect of
anger and her ability to forgive. Janels life has purpose and meaning, and she has recognized
her love of helping others helping her to feel fulfilled. Spiritually, Janel is mostly healthy. She
has good values and beliefs, a thriving spiritual practice, and a belief in things that are spiritual.
Although Janel is relatively spiritual, she does express a need to improve her spirituality,
optimism, and to decrease her stress. As a practitioner, I would use the interview findings to
create a goal sheet for Janel to fill out. Since she has recognized a few areas that she would like
to improve upon, I would allow her to formalize her goals and define some objectives to reach
the goals. With her goal sheet, she could develop her own spiritual and psychological health
development plan and establish goals to achieve the plan. Allowing Janel the opportunity to
create her own goals and development plan will empower her to make the changes she desires.
As a practitioner, I would be there to offer support and accountability if she desired such
assistance.
UNIT 9 FINAL PROJECT 21
I would improve the inventory by prompting more specific answers as to why someone
feels he or she is spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy or not. I would also
ask why he or she rates the amount of time they spend on each component as such. I would ask
more specific questions about how they would like to change to feel more spiritually and
psychologically healthy. I would conclude with how the interview made them feel. I do not
want the interview to cause them to dwell on unhappiness in his or her life and would want it to
feel good once it is completed. Some of the feedback I received from Janel made me think it
brought up difficult emotions, and I would like some positive emotion to be felt as well.
Concluding with questions that had the interviewee focus on the top positive aspects of their
spiritual and psychological health would have been beneficial. In the future, I would make some
minor changes to the inventory and continue to refine the questions ability to help someone see
References
Seaward, B. L. (2013). Health of the human spirit: Spiritual dimensions for personal health (2nd
Seligman, M. E. P. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New
Walsh, R. (1999). Essential spirituality: The 7 central practices to awaken heart and mind.