World Youth Day, a youth-focused Catholic celebration, is the largest recurring youth event in the world. The 10th International World Youth Day (WYD) was held from 15-20 July 2008, in Sydney, Australia and attenders participated in a week-long series of religious events and activities. Little research in English has been conducted on WYD…

Contemplative education includes practices that aim to help a person cultivate conscious awareness, especially internal self-awareness and awareness of one's connection to the world. Such practices include meditation, movement, and the contemplation of nature. Exploration is under way to determine if these practices might assist young people in…

This research was designed to answer the question, "What are the characteristics of adult to student structured mentoring programs occurring in Christian high schools?" In the process of answering this question, the following two sub-questions were also answered: "What role does the mentor and mentee play in an adult to student structured…

The present study explored a multi-construct model of moral development. Variables commonly seen in the moral development literature, such as family interactions, spiritual life, ascription to various sources of moral authority, empathy, shame, guilt and moral judgement competence, were investigated. Results from the current study support previous…

Although widespread consensus exists that the integration of Christian worldview, faith and learning lies at the heart of effective Christian education, such an aspiration has not always resulted in the embodiment of worldview principles within Christian educational contexts. In response to this dissonance, an alternative approach to integration…

This study describes the development of the Spiritual Competency Scale, which was based on the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling's original Spiritual Competencies. Participants were 662 counseling students from religiously based and secular universities nationwide. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 22-item,…

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of…

Spirituality is a potential area of concern for counseling clients. This study presents the empirical results of a survey completed by 572 counselors to determine if counselors' spiritual beliefs, experiences, or training had an impact on their focus of therapy or self-perceived competence. A counselor's personal spirituality, spiritual…

The qualitative research project, Young People and Spirituality, was conducted as part of my doctoral studies exploring the phenomenon of contemporary youth spirituality. The findings mirrored sociological accounts of postmodern religion, as most participants' beliefs fell into one of two categories: "New Age" or "evangelical". These two forms of…

In Russia, people are once more coming to realize that it is fundamentally impossible to develop a genuinely civilized society unless people are taught national, patriotic, civic, legal, moral, cultural, ethical, and universal human values. Once again, leaders on different levels have begun to talk about the necessity of going back to the…

Women of color, especially Black women, are underrepresented in the extant literature and research of adult development and mind, body, spirit leadership. This in-depth qualitative portraiture study explored the lives of three Black women who have been leading their communities as adult educators of mind, body, spirit practices. This examination…

In Overeaters Anonymous (OA), the 12-step self-help program for compulsive overeaters, binge eating is regarded as a physical, spiritual, and emotional disorder. Consequently, the program proposes recovery through the adoption of a lifestyle that leads to physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. A qualitative phenomenological study that…

This article describes what is happening in the world of spiritual supports for children and adults with disabilities and their families. The good news is that individuals with disabilities are being seen all year long in many faith communities, families with kids with special needs are being welcomed and supported, and, best of all, there is…

The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program is designed to increase psychological strength and positive performance and to reduce the incidence of maladaptive responses of the entire U.S. Army. Based on the principles of positive psychology, CSF is a historically unique approach to behavioral health in a large (1.1 million members)…

The author analyses two award-winning juvenile novels, "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson and "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary Schmidt. Each novel portrays a deep friendship between a boy and girl who cross a stream (or river) into a world that includes fantasy, play, closeness to nature and animals, and a sense of the…