Helping the Helping Professionals – A Peale Foundation-funded Initiative

The Peale Foundation (www.pealefoundation.org) has awarded Principal Investigator Steven Sandage (Boston University School of Theology and Albert & Jessie Danielsen Institute) a $2.19 million grant for a five-year research project starting in 2022 on “Positive Psychology and Formation-Based Flourishing among Spiritual Leaders and Therapists.” This is the largest grant in the history of the Peale Foundation, which was founded by Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) and Ruth Stafford Peale (1906-2008) to promote the work of organizations seeking to integrate positive psychology and spirituality toward helping persons and communities achieve meaningful change and growth. This is also the first Peale Foundation grant to fund research and will support a multi-faceted project with spiritual leaders and therapists to foster healthy formation and flourishing and prevent burnout and vicarious trauma. This builds on our prior work at Danielsen on formation with clergy, chaplains, and therapists, and we have added a plan to implement a wider set of resources, trainings, and conference gatherings to support these leaders on the frontlines of caring for our communities and cultivate dialogue and dissemination of key points of learning.  The research will serve to identify key factors and best practices that promote health and flourishing and offset risks among these caregivers. You can read more about this project and the Peale Foundation at this link.