IPPA Evidence in Action: Spirituality in Higher Education

Graphic: HANS VIVEK AT UNSPLASH

“Teachers should teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of their students and is essential if students are provided the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (hooks, 1994).

It was a profound honor to be asked to present at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Evidence in Action conference. This first-ever conference, with a theme of “Celebrating the Application of Positive Psychology,” took place virtually from March 18-19, 2021. The Conference featured over 30 hours of discussions and presentations from expert speakers and panelists representing IPPA’s six divisions. Presenters shared research as well as ideas and practical approaches that allowed participants from more than 30 countries to learn how to put the research into action. 

I was a co-presenter with Dr. Lisa Miller, founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMB) at Teachers College, Columbia University.  I have recently become the Academic Director of the SMB Masters program, and our presentation focused on Spirituality in Higher Education, an offering of the IPPA Spirituality and Meaning Division.  Featuring cutting-edge science along with a sampling of how the concepts are taught, we invited the audience to learn as our students learn.  We then shared a few exemplars of graduates of our program.

A Reason to Believe

According to Dr. Miller, spirituality is an inner sense of relationship to a higher power that is loving and guiding.  While this may seem to be a prosaic definition, the implications of one’s having a relationship with the transcendent are nothing short of extraordinary. Children with spirituality are 60 percent less likely to be depressed as teens, 40 percent less likely to engage in drug use, and 80 percent less likely to engage in some risky behaviors. Add to these findings that cortical thickness was observed in study participants who said: "spirituality is personally important” (Miller, 2016). These and many other studies were discussed concerning children’s spirituality—regardless of their specific religious traditions.

What makes the science aspect of spirituality so dynamically important is that an early relationship with a higher power serves as one of the most potent protectors against psychopathology (Miller, 2016). The protective elements alone that flow from a relationship with something greater gives us both a reason and responsibility to study the sacred. 

Following Dr. Miller’s presentation, I offered a sample from my most recent book, Learned Hopefulness: The Power of Positivity to Overcome Depression (Tomasulo, 2020), which demonstrates how the technique of “positive subtraction” can teach the impact of thwarted character strengths.  Participants were asked to identify the three character strengths they used during a peak experience. Once the strengths were identified, I told them to pretend I had transformed into an evil wizard, blocking them from using these strengths for a year.  Employing the use of a digital platform (Mentimeter), participants could say how they felt having their strengths taken away while simultaneously reading how everyone else in the group felt. As the participants watched a theme of despair, frustration, and helplessness emerge, the five-minute lesson highlighted the importance of using our strengths and the devastating impact of being in situations and environments where their use is not allowed or possible.

Finally, a review of some of our graduates helped display how they have used their SMB Masters degree. In particular, we showed examples of a student who has gone on to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with an emphasis on spirituality and psychotherapy; another student who developed a program through our spiritual entrepreneurship practicum to establish a digital platform to alleviate loneliness; and the work of Malika Chopra (Deepak’s daughter) as a consultant to Apple TV and a children’s book author.

The experience was made all the more fulfilling by having Dr. Ryan Niemiec, cofounder of the Spirituality & Meaning Division at IPPA, introduce us and invite questions from the audience.

In addition to teaching two courses in positive psychology within the SMB program this summer, I'll offer The Healing Power of Hope: Bridging Practice and Science for the first time.  Being a MAPP Alum was the best training I could ever imagine for this position.

References

hooks, b. (1994). Confronting class in the classroom. The critical pedagogy reader, 142-150.

Miller, L. (2016). The spiritual child: The new science on parenting for health and lifelong thriving. Macmillan.

Tomasulo, D. (2020). Learned hopefulness: The power of positivity to overcome depression. New Harbinger Publications.

Dan Tomasulo (C’12) Is the Academic Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, and serves as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology special section Positive Psychology. He was recently honored by Teachers College, Columbia University, with its 2021 Teaching Award.