Therapy and Spiritual Care in a Shattered World: Transforming the Community of Healers

Thank you for a fantastic conference! Watch the conference video here. Slides from each presenter are linked below under each presentation’s summary.

The COVID-19 pandemic. Systemic oppression. Political upheaval. Human rights abuses. Increased mental health need. Climate impacts. Collective trauma. These are just a few of many national and global crises facing our world today, which have taken a unique existential toll on psychotherapists and spiritual care providers who are on the frontlines of offering support.

When we as caregivers face burnout, compassion fatigue, and personal losses, it can be incredibly challenging to continue to be emotionally present, responsive, and effective in our professional roles. 

This free online conference (October 28th, 9am – 4pm EDT), supported by a grant from the Peale Foundation, brings together leaders in mental health and spiritual care to:

  • Identify the psychological, emotional, relational, and existential impacts of companioning others amidst suffering
  • Explore personal capacities and contextual factors that can help caregivers metabolize these impacts and thrive in their work
  • Discover systemic pathways to resilience, justice, and holistic well-being

Continuing Education (CE) Credits:

  • 5.5 credit hours for Psychologists
  • 5.5 credit hours for Social Workers
  • 5.5 credit hours for Marriage and Family Therapists

The Danielsen Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The presenters will address the scientific basis for the presentation, cultural and justice considerations, limitations, and risks. The Danielsen Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

Social Work credits have been approved by the Network for Professional Education at BU School of Social Work. LMFT credits have been approved by the New England Association of Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST).

Please note: For Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists seeking CE credits outside of the state of Massachusetts, this continuing education event is in line with Massachusetts state boards’ requirements for CEs. If you are located in another state, it is your responsibility to check with your individual state board to verify the particular CE requirements for your state. 

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Funding and Conflicts of Interest: This conference is sponsored by a grant from the Peale Foundation, “Positive Psychology and Formation-Based Flourishing Among Spiritual Leaders and Therapists”. The presenters report no conflicts of interest.

Complaint Policy: Daniella Pilgrim is the administrator for this program. You may contact Daniella with any questions or complaints, or to get a written copy of the procedures for addressing complaints, at dpilgrim@bu.edu.

 

Program Information

Addressing Racial Injustice and Trauma through Research, Practice, and Community Engagement

Usha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D.
Albert & Jessie Danielsen Institute
Boston University

Abstract:
The current sociopolitical climate and the COVID-19 pandemic have been marked by a rise in explicit forms of race-based hate. Racial injustice and trauma have significant impact on a sense of identity and well-being. This presentation will focus on the impact of racial trauma as well as on strategies within and outside of the mental health professions that can promote individual and collective healing and empowerment. Specifically, I will explore how to address racial injustice and trauma through conducting culturally informed research and psychotherapy, engaging with communities to raise awareness regarding traumatic stress and mental health issues shaped by injustice, and helping communities to mobilize their strengths that facilitate healing and foster meaning-making and hope. In order to illustrate these approaches, the presenter will draw on recent research with Indian Americans and involvement with mental health education within Hindu communities in the United States. 

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Identify how racism and racial trauma impact individuals and communities.
  2. Describe how mental health professionals and spiritual leaders can collaborate to provide meaningful resources to individuals coping with racial trauma and other forms of injustice.
  3. Examine the complexities of collaborating with communities whose approach to trauma and mental health may differ from that of mental health professions.

Bibliography:

Ainslie, R.C. (2017). Immigration, psychic dislocation, and the re-creation of community. Psychoanalytic Review, 104(6), 695-706.

Akhtar, S. (2018). Humility. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 78, 1-27.

Comas-Díaz, L. (2016). Racial trauma recovery: A race-informed therapeutic approach to racial wounds. In A.N. Alvarez, C.T.H. Liang, & H.A. Neville (Eds.), The cost of racism for people of color: Contextualizing experiences of discrimination. American Psychological Association.

Orfanos, S.D. (2019). Drops of light into the darkness: Migration, immigration, and human rights. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 29, 269-283.

Tummala-Narra, P. (2020). The fear of immigrants. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 37(1), 50-61.

Williams, M. T., Osman, M., Gran-Ruaz, S., & Lopez, J. (2021). Intersection of racism and PTSD: Assessment and treatment of racial stress and trauma. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 1-19.

Zhang, E., Hyun, S., Yip, T., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2022). Learning about discrimination during childhood: Implications for racial trauma among Asians and Asian Americans during the Pandemic. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 103250.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Tummala-Narra

Existential Overwhelm and the Value of Nurturing Questions over Time: Implications for Metabolizing Vicarious Trauma and Moral Distress to Promote Resilience

Shelly Rambo, Ph.D.
School of Theology
Boston University

Abstract:
What does it mean to be not just physically, but also existentially overwhelmed and fatigued? Many helping professionals report this phenomenon in the face of overwhelming stressors, losses, and caregiving needs of the last several years, and a growing body of literature explores compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, moral injury, and burnout as potential occupational hazards. This presentation suggests that existential inquiry—nurturing big questions over time—may be vital to countering these risks. Drawing from existential, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives, the presenter will explore these topics in conversation with one of Rev. Howard Thurman’s persisting questions—how does the human spirit accommodate itself to desolation? Thurman’s pursuit of this question over decades of his life served not only as a source of personal consolation, but also a means of fostering collective healing. Moving beyond individualistic and productivity focused frameworks for provider well-being, this presentation will explore the relevance of existential perspectives in promoting adaptive meaning-making and resilience.

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Identify and describe the unique personal impacts of their caregiving work on their experience of self, others, the world, and the sacred.
  2. Critically reflect on the role of existential inquiry as potentially vitalizing and sustaining to their work as helping professionals.
  3. Explore the contributions of spiritual and philosophical traditions as part of cultural competence and holistic provision of care.

Bibliography:

Branson, D. C. (2019). Vicarious trauma, themes in research, and terminology: A review of literature. Traumatology, 25(1), 2-10.

Captari, L.E., Hydinger, K.R., Sandage, S.J., Choe, E.J., Bronstein, M., Stavros, G.S., Shim, P., Kinatar, A.R., Cadge, W., & Rambo, S. (2022). Supporting chaplains on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed method practice-based pilot intervention study. Psychological Services. Advance online publication.

McNeillie, N., & Rose, J. (2021). Vicarious trauma in therapists: A meta-ethnographic review. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 49(4), 426-440.

Shalev, D., Traeger, L. N., Doyle, K., Kiser, S. B., Brenner, K. O., Rosenberg, L. B., … & Jackson, V. A. (2022). Turning the lens inward: The psychological elements of clinician well being. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(3), 349-354.

Sutton, L., Rowe, S., Hammerton, G., & Billings, J. (2022). The contribution of organisational factors to vicarious trauma in mental health professionals: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13(1), 2022278.

Velasco, J., Sanmartín, F. J., Gálvez-Lara, M., Cuadrado, F., & Moriana, J. A. (2022). Psychological effects of professional exposure to trauma and human suffering: systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380221074314.

Vanhooren, S. (2022). Existential empathy: The challenge of ‘being’ in therapy and counseling. Religions, 13(8), 752-763.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Rambo

Preventing Burnout and Promoting Flourishing: The Roles of Relational Character Strengths

Jesse Owen, Ph.D.
Department of Counseling Psychology
University of Denver

Abstract:
Burnout is a risk factor for psychotherapists, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the levels of stress on mental health providers and clients alike. Therapist burnout is a significant predictor of client outcomes and therapists’ retention in the field. In this presentation, the salient literature on therapist character strengths that are associated with preventing burnout and promoting therapist flourishing will be provided. We will have an engaging, experiential session for therapists to deeply engage the material.  

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Identify three ways in which therapist burnout manifests within their practice. 
  2. Develop strategies to promote character strengths to avoid burnout and promote flourishing.
  3. Examine relational strategies that fit with their context and needs in order to support ongoing professional development.

Bibliography:

Aafjes-van Doorn, K., Békés, V., Luo, X., Prout, T. A., & Hoffman, L. (2022). Therapists’ resilience and posttraumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 14(S1), S165.

Allan, B. A., Owens, R. L., & Douglass, R. P. (2019). Character strengths in counselors: Relations with meaningful work and burnout. Journal of Career Assessment, 27(1), 151-166.

Davies, S. M., Sriskandarajah, S., Staneva, A. S., Boulton, H. C., Roberts, C., Shaw, S. H., & Silverio, S. A. (2022). Factors influencing ‘burn‐out’in newly qualified counsellors and psychotherapists: A cross‐cultural, critical review of the literature. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22(1), 64-73.

Hou, J. M., & Skovholt, T. M. (2020). Characteristics of highly resilient therapists. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(3), 386-400.

Houshangi, H., Khanipour, H., & Farahani, M. N. (2022). Therapist attitudes and countertransference as predictors of professional quality of life and burnout among psychotherapists. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. Advance online publication.

Johnson, J., Hall, L. H., Berzins, K., Baker, J., Melling, K., & Thompson, C. (2018). Mental healthcare staff well‐being and burnout: A narrative review of trends, causes, implications, and recommendations for future interventions. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 27(1), 20-32.

Lakioti, A., Stalikas, A., & Pezirkianidis, C. (2020). The role of personal, professional, and psychological factors in therapists’ resilience. Professional psychology: research and practice, 51(6), 560-570.

Watkins, C. E., Jr., Hook, J. N., Owen, J., DeBlaere, C., Davis, D. E., & Van Tongeren, D. (in press). Multicultural orientation in psychotherapy supervision: Cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural opportunities. American Journal of Psychotherapy.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Owen

Cultivating Cultural Fortitude: Acts of Interpersonal Courage in Times of Uncertainty

Karen Tao, Ph.D.
Department of Educational Psychology
The University of Utah

Abstract:
Patient-provider interactions and healthcare workplace dynamics are often influenced by individuals’ cultural frames of reference (e.g., religion, race, sexuality, social class), involving intricate negotiations between what we say and how it is received. Inevitably, there are moments where intention and impact do not align, and result in interpersonal ruptures (e.g., microaggressions; racism). In the current sociopolitical climate, these ruptures create seemingly irreparable rifts, which compounded by an overburdened healthcare system, increases psychological and physical stress for providers and staff. Our individual responses to these interactions often include minimizing the critical incident, publicly calling out a person or their behavior, or cutting off relationships. In this presentation, we consider a different approach by using a tool based on the concept of Calling In. Calling In (visit the work of: Loretta Ross & Ngoc Loan Tran) refers to a compassionate stance we can take when experiencing or witnessing a cultural rupture within our communities. It involves a balance of humility and cultural fortitude. Cultural Fortitude is broadly defined as cognitive, emotional, physiological, and relational strength in the face of psychological discomfort, which can spark motivation and courage to move toward interpersonal repair and healing. This presentation will consider how concepts from Calling In and Cultural Fortitude may open possibilities for healing communities to foster deeper connections, take care of each other, and to flourish. 

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Identify the three roles within a Calling In situation (e.g., witness, deliverer, receiver).
  2. Recognize how the concept of Cultural Fortitude can be utilized within interpersonal rupture-repair situations.
  3. Identify at least one situation the concept of Calling In and Cultural Fortitude can be applied within their own healing community.

Bibliography:

Adams, M. C., & Kivlighan III, D. M. (2019). When home is gone: An application of the multicultural orientation framework to enhance clinical practice with refugees of forced migration. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 50(3), 176-183.

Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., Owen, J., Hook, J. N., Rivera, D. P., Choe, E., … & Placeres, V. (2018). The multicultural orientation framework: A narrative review. Psychotherapy, 55(1), 89-100.

Hashtpari, H., Tao, K.W., Merced, K., Arvizo, J., Hernandez, J. (2021). What does it mean to be Mexican (American)? Exploring Youth Ethnic Identity. The Counseling Psychologist, 49, 423-457.

Kuo, P. B., Hashtpari, H., Chea, C. J., & Tao, K. W. (2022). Centering and decentering client disclosures: A qualitative study of therapists’ responses to clients’ experiences of discrimination. Psychotherapy. Advance online publication.

Kuo, P., Imel, Z.E., & Tao, K.W. (2021). An experimental analogue evaluation of Asian/Asian Americans’ immediate reactions to therapist microaggressions. The Counseling Psychologist. 49, 754-780.

Paquin, J., Tao, K.W., & Budge, S.L. (2019). A social justice framework for ethical psychotherapy research. Psychotherapy, 56(4), 491-502.

Tao, K.W. & Gloria, A.M. (2019). Should I stay or should I go? Persistence factors for STEM women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 43(2), 151-164. 7

Tao, K.W., Owen, J. & Drinane, J.M. (2017). Was that racist? An experimental study of microaggression ambiguity and emotional reactions for racial-ethnic minority and white individuals. Race & Social Problems, 9, 262-271

Tao, K.W., Owen, J. & Pace, B.T., & Imel, Z.E. (2015). A meta-analysis of multicultural competencies and psychotherapy processes and outcome. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 337-350.

Trevino, A. Y., Tao, K. W., & Van Epps, J. J. (2021). Windows of cultural opportunity: A thematic analysis of how cultural conversations occur in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 58(2), 263–274.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Tao

Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression during COVID-19: Pathways to Resilience and Holistic Flourishing Informed by Longitudinal Research with Religious Leaders

David C. Wang, Ph.D.
School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy
Fuller Seminary

Abstract:
This presentation will explore the contributions of psychology and religion/spirituality towards a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between human and spiritual flourishing. Theoretical and empirical literature on the spiritual and holistic flourishing of current and future religious leaders will be reviewed and provide a context for a presentation of recent findings from a John Templeton Foundation funded 3-year longitudinal program of research involving over 1,500 individuals affiliated with 18 Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Historically African American, Episcopal, and Orthodox seminaries. Drawing from analysis of data collected both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the presenter will draw out practical and empirically-informed pathways towards holistic well-being—even within contexts of mass trauma and prolonged challenge and distress.

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Identify at least three empirically informed predictors and correlates of spiritual and human flourishing.
  2. Describe at least three empirically informed predictors of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. Critically reflect on at least two ways in which spiritual well-being, character/virtue, and mental/emotional well-being are interrelated.

Bibliography:

Grandi, A., Zito, M., Sist, L., Martoni, M., Russo, V., & Colombo, L. (2022). Wellbeing in workers during COVID-19 Pandemic: The mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between personal resources and exhaustion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1714.

Greene, T., Bloomfield, M. A., & Billings, J. (2020). Psychological trauma and moral injury in religious leaders during COVID-19. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S143.

Jankowski, P. J., Sandage, S., & Wang, D. C. (2022). Virtues as mediators of the associations between religious/spiritual commitment and Well-being. Applied Research in Quality of Life. 

Jankowski, P. J., Sandage, S., Hill, P. C., & Wang, D. C. (2021). Relational spirituality profiles and flourishing among emerging religious leaders. Journal of Positive Psychology.

Lehr, F. (2022). Clergy burnout, revised and expanded: Surviving in turbulent times. Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Porter, S. L., & Wang, D. C. (2021). Does Christianity work? Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, 14, 131-136.

Sandage, S.J., & Harden, M.G. (2011). Relational spirituality, differentiation of self, and virtue as predictors of intercultural development. Mental Health, Religion, & Culture, 14, 819-838.

Sandage, S.J., & Jensen, M.L. (2013). Relational spiritual formation: Reflective practice and research on spiritual formation in a seminary context. Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, 33, 95-109.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Wang

Seeking Well-Being in Territories of Despair: Relational Strengths for Practitioner Formation

Steven J. Sandage, Ph.D., LP
The Albert & Jessie Danielsen Institute
Boston University

Abstract:
This presentation will utilize the relational spirituality model (RSM; Sandage, Rupert, et al., 2020) to interpret empirical research on risks for burnout and trauma and pathways toward well-being for therapists and spiritual care providers. The relational development emphasis of the RSM will serve to frame key individual, interpersonal, organizational, and wider sociocultural diversity factors that form potential risks and resources for helping professionals in the current United States context. The challenges to relational ecologies of care provision often include multi-dimensional existential anxieties activated by suffering and trauma exposure, systemic forms of injustice, and ambiguities for seeking formation-based training and professional growth.  Relational strengths for practitioner formation in professional communities will be highlighted along with strategies for countering three common risk dynamics (i.e., over-functioning, reactivity to conflict and difference, hiding the self) that impede holistic well-being. 

Learning Objectives
Participants will:

  1. Describe three key evidence-based risk dynamics for burnout and trauma among helping professionals. 
  2. Identify four relational strengths of individuals and organizations that can promote well-being among helping professionals. 
  3. Analyze well-being risk and resource factors based on key tenets of the relational spirituality model. 

Bibliography:

Hersh, M. A. (2022). The thriving therapist: Sustainable self-care to prevent burnout and enhance well-being. American Psychological Association.

Holden, C. L., & Jeanfreau, M. M. (2021). Are perfectionistic standards associated with burnout? Multidimensional perfectionism and compassion experiences among professional MFTs. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal.

Jankowski, P. J., Sandage, S. J., Ruffing, E. G., Crabtree, S. A., Bell, C. A., & Park, S. H. (2022). A mixed-method intervention study on relational spirituality and humility among religious leaders. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 9(2), 87–102.

Lee, M. K., Kim, E., Paik, I. S., Chung, J., & Lee, S. M. (2020). Relationship between environmental factors and burnout of psychotherapists: Meta‐analytic approach. Counselling & Psychotherapy Research, 20(1), 164–172.

Ruffing, E.G., Bell, C.A., & Sandage, S.J. (2021). PTSD symptoms in religious leaders: Prevalence, stressors, and associations with narcissism. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 43, 21-40.

Sandage, S.J., Rupert, D., Stavros, G.S., & Devor, N.G. (2020). Relational spirituality in psychotherapy: Healing suffering and promoting growth. American Psychological Association.

Shell, E. M., Hua, J., & Sullivan, P. (2022). Cultural racism and burnout among black mental health therapists. Journal of Employment Counseling.

Shell, E. M., Teodorescu, D., & Williams, L. D. (2021). Investigating race-related stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress for Black mental health therapists. Journal of Black Psychology, 47(8), 669–694.

Swenson, C. R. (2019). The role of the consultation team in supporting therapists and preventing burnout. In S. Dimidjian (Ed.), Evidence-based practice in action: Bridging clinical science and intervention. (pp. 366–379). The Guilford Press.

Yang, Y., & Hayes, J. A. (2020). Causes and consequences of burnout among mental health professionals: A practice-oriented review of recent empirical literature. Psychotherapy, 57(3), 426–436.

Click here for a link to the presentation slides:

Sandage

 

Presenter Bios

Usha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D., LP, is a clinical psychologist and the Director of Community-Based Education at the Danielsen Institute and Research Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. Her research and scholarship focus on immigration, trauma, race, and culturally-informed psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Her publications include over 90 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in books. She is also in independent practice, and works primarily with survivors of trauma from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. She is the author of Psychoanalytic Theory and Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy (2016) the editor of Trauma and Racial Minority Immigrants: Turmoil, Uncertainty, and Resistance (2021), both published by the American Psychological Association.

Shelly Rambo, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Theology at Boston University School of Theology. Her research and teaching interests focus on religious responses to trauma and moral injury. She is author of Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining (Westminster John Knox, 2010), Resurrecting Wounds: Living in the Afterlife of Trauma (Baylor University Press, 2017), and co-edited volume with Wendy Cadge, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction (UNC Press, 2022). She is currently directing a Lilly Endowment grant (“Trauma-Responsive Congregations”) focused on supporting urban congregational leaders in their efforts to respond to collective trauma.

Jesse Owen, Ph.D., LP, is Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver. He has over 150 publications, book chapters, and has co-authored two books (Therapists’ Cultural Humility; Research Design in Counseling). He was funded by JTF’s Bridges project as a Co-PI of a project investigating spiritually-integrative therapy in a correctional context. He is also Co-I on two federally funded projects. His area of research focuses on psychotherapy processes and outcomes with an emphasis on therapist effects, multicultural processes (including cultural humility), and the interaction between techniques and the therapeutic relationship. Dr. Owen is the Editor of one APA top-tier journal (Psychotherapy) and was previously an Associate Editor for the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Archives of Sexual Behavior. He was awarded the Early Career Award for two APA Divisions [Divisions 17 (Counseling Psychology); 29 (Psychotherapy)] and is also an APA Fellow for his contributions towards the promotion of psychotherapy. Dr. Owen also engages in clinical practice with specialties in treating both individuals and couples.

Karen Tao, Ph.D., LP, is Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, University of Utah. Dr. Tao’s research interests are focused on the reduction of disparities in the access, service, and quality of mental health and education for marginalized groups. Dr. Tao has published on multicultural orientation, cultural humility, and other multicultural processes in psychotherapy. She has utilized a wide range of methods to identify factors related to client improvement (e.g., meta-analyses, qualitative, mixed methods). Dr. Tao is a Co-Investigator on the U. Denver site project will lend her theoretical and clinical skills to researchers at the various sites and will assist with writing and dissemination in interdisciplinary cultural networks.

David Wang, Ph.D., LP, is the Cliff and Joyce Penner Chair for the Formation of Emotionally Healthy Leaders at Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA).  He is also a licensed psychologist, pastor, and editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology. He is principle investigator of the Seminary Formation Assessment Project, a research program funded by the John Templeton Foundation conducting longitudinal empirical research on the human and spiritual formation of students enrolled in 18 Orthodox, Episcopal, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic seminaries. He is also co-principle investigator of the Trauma-Resilient Church Collective Program, a 5-year project funded by the Lilly Endowment mobilizing diverse local congregations to address both individual and systematic factors as they meet the spiritual and mental health needs of trauma survivors. Dr. Wang teaches and speaks internationally, maintains a small clinical practice in Fullerton, CA (drdavidcwang.com), is the pastor of spiritual formation at One Life City Church (onelifecitychurch.org) and serves on the advisory board of the Caring for Clergy Field Guide (ormondcenter.com/caring-for-clergy-field-guide), Joya Scholars (joyascholars.org), Speak Your Truth Today (speakyourtruth.today), and the Mosaic Center for Spiritual Formation (mosaicformation.org).

Steven J. Sandage, Ph.D., LP, is the Albert and Jessie Danielsen Professor of Psychology of Religion and Theology with a joint appointment in the School of Theology and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University (BU).  He is also Research Director and Senior Staff Psychologist at the Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute at BU and serves as Visiting Faculty in the Psychology of Religion at MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo.  His research integrates the fields of (a) positive psychology and virtue, (b) psychology of religion and spirituality, (c) psychotherapy research, and (d) intercultural competence, and he has received funding from the Lilly Endowment, the Fetzer Institute, and the John Templeton Foundation.  He is currently PI on Templeton-funded projects investigating humility and spiritual formation among religious leaders and has published empirical and interdisciplinary research in a range of positive psychology and virtue areas, including forgiveness, humility, gratitude, hope, justice, relational development, and well-being.  Dr. Sandage’s clinical specializations as a licensed psychologist include couple and family therapy, multicultural therapy, and spiritually-integrative therapy, and he has a demonstration video on forgiveness in couple therapy with the American Psychological Association. He has over twenty years of experience training clinicians in the fields of counseling psychology, clinical psychology, marriage and family therapy, school counseling, and social work. 

 

Conference Schedule

*All Times Listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

9:00 – 9:10am
Welcome and Introduction

9:10 – 9:40am
Dr. Usha Tummala-Narra: Addressing Racial Injustice and Trauma through Research, Practice, and Community Engagement

9:40 – 9:45am
Transition and Introduction

9:45 – 10:15am
Dr. Shelly Rambo: Existential Overwhelm and the Value of Nurturing Questions over Time: Implications for Metabolizing Vicarious Trauma and Moral Distress to Promote Resilience

10:15 – 10:35am
Q & A with Dr. Tummala-Narra and Dr. Rambo

10:35 – 10:45am
Break

10:45 – 10:55am
Transition and Introduction

10:55 – 11:25am
Dr. Jesse Owen: Preventing Burnout and Promoting Flourishing: The Roles of Relational Character Strengths

11:25 – 11:30am
Transition and Introduction

11:30am – 12:00pm
Dr. Karen Tao: Cultivating Cultural Fortitude: Acts of Interpersonal Courage in Times of Uncertainty

12:00 – 12:20pm
Q & A with Dr. Owen and Dr. Tao

12:20 – 1:20pm
Lunch Break

1:20 – 1:25 pm
Announcements and Introduction

1:25 – 1:55pm
Dr. David Wang: Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression during COVID-19: Pathways to Resilience and Holistic Flourishing Informed by Longitudinal Research with Religious Leaders

1:55 – 2:00pm
Transition and Introduction

2:00 – 2:30pm
Dr. Steven Sandage: Seeking Well-Being in Territories of Despair: Relational Strengths for Practitioner Formation

2:30 – 2:50pm
Q & A with Dr. Wang and Dr. Sandage

2:50 – 3:05pm
Break

3:05 – 4:00pm
Panel Discussion, Closing Remarks

Here is a link to the conference musical playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we__Dvxt3EY