Left Behind Series: What Happens When People Leave Religion (or reconstruct their relationship with the Sacred)?
Monday 10/23@noon in room 1030 of CEHD
What is it?
We have a set of invited talks on 10/23 at noon in 1030 of the College of Education and Human Development.
If you would like to attend, please register for free.
See below for more details about the scholars involved and why we invited them to share their recent studies, books, and grants.
Why Do Changes in Spirituality Have Implications for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience?
This set of talks is a follow-up to a prior talk by Melanie Brewster on recent work in Counseling Psychology on the need for cultural adaption of interventions for religious nones (non-believers, which might include Atheists, agnostics, or people who identify as spiritual but not religious). Melanie studied with our very own Dr. Cirleen DeBlaere at the University of Florida when Dr. Ken Rice was a professor there. Many religious nones fall into the category of what one of our guests calls the “Religious Dones”(Van Tongeren et al., 2021).
Counselors and psychologists all know that culture affects coping. Culture affects how we appraise what is happening. For example, do we see events as threatening? Do we see ourselves as having resources to cope with what is happening? Culture affects people’s resources for coping, too. We have a need for belonging and connection.
A powerful influence on culture is how people address existential questions, such as what is the purpose of life, what happens when we die, and what does it mean to life a good life? Around the world, most people turn to religious community to address existential concerns, and sociologists expect religion to keep growing globally.
Where do places like Atlanta fit in? On one hand, many people in Georgia are religious, at least for now. On the other hand, over the next several decades, researchers expect places like Georgia may see rapid changes in religion/spirituality.
These trends mean that we all probably need more training: We all need to learn as much as we can about how rapid changes in religion/spirituality may affect individuals, families, and communities as they encounter and cope with the stressors of life (e.g., normal life transitions such as parenthood, empty nesting, retirement; grief; or trauma).
We generally know that trauma can disrupt people’s meaning systems (see work by Crystal Park). Conversely, changes in one’s meaning system can lead to at least temporary vulnerabilities, as people get used to new ways of understanding and relating to the Sacred (God, nature, humanity, or whatever is considered the sources of spirituality; Davis et al., 2016). Sometimes spiritual changes can help people gain a greater sense of integrity and coherence. Other times people get stuck in a chronic state of existential pain that is associated with problems for health, mental health, and relationships (maybe start by reading Tyler Vanderweele’s work from a public health perspective). There’s a growing body of work on spiritual struggles, and one does not have to identify as religious or spiritual to experience the existential pain of spiritual struggle (see work by Julie Exline).
Overview
We invited two friends of MSTAR who have recent work focused on people who are leaving religion (or at least seeking massive changes or “deconstruction” of their worldview and seeking new expressions of spirituality). They are going to distill the practical implications of how to start thinking about people who have recently left religion behind. We end with a third teaser, a talk by our very own Sally Lee, who will describe a course (funded by a grant from Yale University) she will co-teach next Summer to address the need for more training in this important area.
Talk 1: Religious Dones: The Science of Religious Deidentification
People in the United States are increasingly leaving religion. Most of these individuals were at one time religious. However, research has largely treated all nonreligious individuals (i.e., religious "nones") homogeneously. My research examines the religious "dones," who left their religion. I'll discuss empirical data examining why people are leaving, the effects of religious deidentification, the diversity of religious dones, and unique challenges faced by those leaving their faith. I will also discuss areas for future scholarship.
About the Author:
Daryl Van Tongeren, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at Hope College and the director of the Frost Center for Social Science Research. Trained as an experimental social psychologist, he has published over 200 scholarly articles and chapters on topics such as religion, meaning in life, and virtues. His work has been supported by numerous grants from the John Templeton Foundation, and he has won national and international awards for his research, including the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award for APA’s Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) in 2022 and the Early Career Contributions Award from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. He also was named a 2016 Rising Star from the Association for Psychological Science (APS). He is a fellow of APS and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Currently, he is an Associate Editor for The Journal of Positive Psychology, and a Consulting Editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and the Journal of Social Psychology. He enjoys running, biking, and hiking near where he lives with his wife, Sara, in Holland, MI.
Talk 2: Posttraumatic Spiritual Yearning: Religious Dones in Theological Context
Abstract: Among those who leave religion, there are some who persist with spiritual desires for meaning and transcendent connection. Many of these "spiritually practicing" religious "dones" experience unique mental health challenges likely related to the religious trauma and social adversity they cite as top reasons for dissaffiliating from religion. In this talk, I'll discuss the challenges and possibilities for "remixed" spiritual experience among this population by setting faith deconstruction and reconstruction in theological context and drawing implications for mental health care among this group.
About the Author:
Preston Hill is Assistant Professor of Integrative Theology at Richmont Graduate University, where he serves as the Co-Chair of Integration and the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program. His doctoral research offers the first book-length study of Christ’s descent into hell in the theology of John Calvin. His current research focuses on reformation theology, science, and mental health. His latest publications include Dawn of Sunday: The Trinity and Trauma-Safe Church (Cascade, 2021), and a forthcoming volume entitled Christ and Trauma: Theology East of Eden (Cascade). Preston is a clinical pastoral therapist and ordinant in the Anglican church.
Discussant: What Can I Do If I Realize I Want Advanced Training on Spirituality and Stress, Trauma, and Resilience
Sally Lee and Dr. Donnie Davis will serve as discussants. They will describe practical next steps for anyone interested in seeking additional training in this important area. For a long time, most mental health professionals reported major gaps in their training in this area (e.g., some departments have zero courses and do not even include a single class period to discuss this complex area), but recent work has started to address the gap. Georgia State University is ahead of the curve and has integrated training in spirituality into research and practice. So, Sally and Donnie will give some suggestions for masters and doctoral students wanting to build skill.
About the Author:
Ye Jin (Sally) Lee is a Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student at Georgia State University. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology at Baylor University prior to the Ph.D. program at GSU. Sally is an international student from South Korea who grew up across four countries (Korea, US, Canada, Kenya). Her research interests lie in the area of positive psychology (e.g., gratitude and humility) and the psychology of religion/spirituality. She is also interested in the acculturation experiences of international students and immigrant populations. She hopes to work with Asian families and college student populations as part of her career after graduation. Outside of school, she loves traveling, journaling, and doing puzzles.
