Considering the Liberating Effects of Contemplative Care
In a world which is becoming increasingly smaller, spiritual care demands attention to a global population. July is minority mental health month. It is, therefore, a time set aside to emphasize the unique needs of those whose challenges do not fit mainstream paradigms. My twenty- year experience of providing spiritual care to a primarily minority population has motivated me to research and verify the peculiar contexts, concepts and concerns effective for individuals with unemancipated ancestors. The work engaged in these efforts has generated a contemplative approach. This strategy is applied as a means to facilitate internal liberation for individuals restrained by ancestral histories of enslavement.
Unemancipated ancestry is complicated by existential uncertainty and phenomenological complexity. Self-concepts are compromised; self-perspectives are challenged; and self-value is constricted. These realities represent the state- of- being for many in minority populations prior to the occurrence of events requiring care interventions. Thus, it is essential to consider culturally sensitive care modalities in this still evolving global society.
It is reasonable to assume spiritual care providers are somewhat adept with contemplative strategies, such as guided meditation, journaling, and reflection stimulated by music. Those who engage in contemplative approaches may recognize these strategies as an invitation to unknowingness. In contemplative spaces, sacred surrender will establish a context to bolster self – concept of the other, while submissive searching will provide an opportunity to release pre-conceived ideas and open a place for exploration of uniqueness of the other. This kind of openness plants seeds for helpful understanding to bud, which may blossom into liberative human interaction. Liberative human interaction is useful for drawing out unrealized mental, emotional, and spiritual oppression. For some, there are even “invisible” physical chains arresting the body and causing physical discomfort.
In the aforementioned circumstances, contemplative approaches are valuable because the overarching goal of this modality is to increase self-awareness, which is necessary for uncovering effects of existential enslavement and improving well-being, which is severely compromised among many in minority populations. Contemplative approaches also view past trauma and emotional challenges as barriers preventive to a person’s internal wisdom serving as a healing resource for unhelpful existential realities and harmful phenomenological perceptions. With these principles in mind, I developed a contemplative therapy, which received a copyright in November of 2023.
The goal of my contemplative approach is to guide individuals on a journey to tap internal wisdom. This spirit-of-wisdom therapy elevates self-concept by inviting individuals to participate in designing the solution to their dilemma—to become a “knower” in the process. Meditation exercises facilitate this phase of the intervention. The therapy also encourages developing a level of self-compassion and understanding which allows replacement of harmful thoughts and narratives with honorable and self-justifying ideas. Journaling assists in this phase of the therapy. The therapy evolves into collaborative conversations which elicit the construction of redemptive outlooks. Self-reflection is a primary activity during the construction of redemptive outlooks.
As we reflect on the needs of individuals with unemancipated ancestors, contemplative approaches in a liberation construct are worthy of consideration.
Rev. Dr. Williams is a former professor of Biblical and Pastoral Counseling who is currently in private practice serving individuals challenged by grief, trauma, and attachment wounds. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist with expertise in pastoral theology and narrative theology. She has fifteen years of experience in congregational ministry and has practiced as a licensed therapist for twelve years. Williams is also currently an ACPE trainer for spiritually integrated psychotherapy. She holds a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling and Psychology and a Doctor of Ministry in Narrative Theology. She has expanded her expertise with certifications in clinical trauma provision, grief recovery, narrative therapy, and spiritually integrated psychotherapy.