Psychology of Religious Coping and Psychotherapy

Religious Coping

Turning to spiritual beliefs to cope with life events, involving primary and secondary appraisal (Nelson, 2009)

Primary Appraisal

Initial evaluation of a life event as a threat, challenge, or beneficial (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985)

Secondary Appraisal

Decision on how to respond to a life event after primary appraisal (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985)

Control

Facilitating self-control and control in the community through religion (McCullough and Carter, 2013)

Interpretive Control

Allows construing events through a different lens, often involving a sense of God behind events (Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982)

Predictive Control

Allows hoping that things will turn out all right, often using promises in sacred texts (Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982)

Vicarious Control

Belief that God is in control even if the individual is not (Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982)

Meaning

Making tragedy meaningful, often forming a meaning system central to life's goals and existence (Park et al., 2013)

Global Meaning

Includes beliefs, goals, values, and sense of purpose, threatened by stressors and restored through meaning making (Park, 2013b)

RCOPE Measure

A measure of religious coping developed by Pargament et al. (2000) to assess five functions served by religion, including meaning, control, comfort/spirituality, intimacy/spirituality, and life transition

Transactional Model

Exemplified by the cognitive appraisal model of coping, offering a scaffold for integrating religion in coping (Gall & Guirguis-Younger, 2013)

Pargament's Model

Defines coping as a search for significance in times of stress, involving an orienting system and specific coping methods (Pargament, 1997)

Positive Religious Coping

Strategies from a secure relationship with God and a sense of spiritual connection with others, associated with better physical and mental health (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005)

Negative Religious Coping

Associated with negative psychological adjustment to stress, including spiritual discontent and demonic reappraisal (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005)

Park and Slattery Model

Describes how religious dimensions of life impact and are impacted by overall well-being, influenced by mental health and type of religious coping used (Park and Slattery, 2013)

Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy

Pargament's model built around life being focused on the sacred and the pursuit of the sacred, involving spiritual discovery, pathways toward the sacred, and coping with stresses and crises (Pargament, 2007)

Salience of Spirituality

Assessment of the client's spiritual and religious functioning, including metaphysical worldview, religious affiliation, religious orthodoxy, problem-solving style, spiritual identity, value-lifestyle congruence, God image, doctrinal knowledge, and spiritual health and maturity (Plante, 2009)

Spiritual Tools for Therapy

Interventions for therapy with empirical support, including forgiveness, gratitude, kindness, social justice, prayer, meditation, and ethical values and behavior (Plante, 2009)