Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has created profound upheavals in today’s society, accompanied by psychological effects. The discomfort experienced during the pandemic accompanied by the increased availability of time has offered many people the chance to reconnect with their spiritual dimension, which is considered a vital resource in managing the stress produced by the perception of risk to their health. This study addresses the motivations that led research participants to choose to receive spiritual support via a 10-week training. The work also explores the changes perceived by the participants as they overcame the difficulties resulting from the pandemic. The research involved nine people between the ages of 19 and 59 who took part in an online experience focused on the spiritual dimension. Almost all the participants came from an area in Northern Italy most affected by the pandemic. A qualitative research design was used, with semistructured interviews designed to understand participants’ views on the topic under investigation. The areas that emerged from the interviews concerned the motivations that led the participants to choose a spiritual support process, the role of spirituality in daily life, and the changes participants experienced after the conclusion of the experience related to managing the stress caused by the pandemic. In agreement with the existing literature, the results show that spiritual support can be useful in counteracting the negative effects of the pandemic, producing improvements in the quality of life.
Highlights
The thematic analysis allowed several macro areas to emerge within the interviews related to the motivations that had prompted the participants to seek spiritual support; the importance that religion and spirituality had in their lives; the changes that the interviewees perceived as a result of the spiritual support training they participated in; and the role that their spiritual path has had in helping them withstand the distance and isolation caused by COVID-19
The motivations reported by the participants related to their decision to seek spiritual support were mainly related to a desire to increase their self-esteem and improve their relationship management
This study confirms the importance of spiritual counseling
Summary
This study used qualitative research and a thematic analysis (Testoni et al, 2020). The study was inspired by the grounded theory approach (Corbin & Strauss, 1990; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Grounded theory is a research approach that originated in the social sciences, and it intends to generate a theory based on the data and shaped by the opinions of the participants, moving beyond description and toward a theoretical explanation of a process or phenomenon without testing an existing hypothesis (Turner & Astin, 2021). Semistructured interviews were used for data collection and were created to explore participants’ views on the topic of interest. Semistructured interviews consist of closed and open-ended questions, often accompanied by follow-up questions focusing on the why or how of a particular respondent’s answer. Dialogue can build around topics that emerge naturally, rather than slavishly adhering to literal questions like a standardized survey, and delve into totally unforeseen issues (Adams, 2015)
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