Running Head: UNIT 9 ASSIGNMENT

Unit 9 Assignment
Hannah Jackson
Kaplan University

HW420-01
Professor Mark Maule
September 29, 2015

Unit 9 Assignment
The person I chose to interview is a young woman in her early twenties that I have
known for several years. I chose her because she recently made a big move from California to

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Washington to be with her family. I know from the past years that she hold on to unhealthy
relationships (family or otherwise) and is frequently burdened with stress. She is familiar with
alternative ways of thinking, but has not gotten too much into it. I thought she would be a good
person to interview because of what I know about her, but I do not speak to her frequently. I
chose some questions before knowing who to interview and then I made some questions after
knowing. I thought this could give some variety, but it may also work against me.
The questions I have chosen to ask are as follows:
1. Do you feel as though you are in a good state of wellness?
2. Do you believe you have a strong mind/body connection?
3. Do you have a strong personal value system?
4. Do you think you have healthy relationships with those around you?
5. What distractions do you face that might take you off your spiritual path?
6. What are some ways you deal with stress?
7. Are you familiar with what triggers your stress?
8. Do you think you have any material attachments?
9. Do you take any time to spend time with yourself?
10. How do you react when you hit a roadblock?

Question 1 helps me address rather Abby thinks she is in need of change. She gave me a
short and simple answer, just, Yes, but everyone is in need of improvement, right? I think I
would have said the same thing myself, to be honest. Question 2 makes it a little more specific
by addressing the mind/body connection. She said, Im pretty sure I have a good mind/body
connection. I know when Im not feeling well or something isnt right with my body.
Not that many people stop to ask themselves what their personal values are. When you
ask someone what their values are, you can tell by their expression when the last time they
thought about their personal values was. Values are the abstract ideas that we give importance to,
so everyone has them even if we do not know them. When I asked Abby if she thought she had a
strong personal value system, she gave me a confused look. She even tried to change the subject

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at first. Once we got back to it she said, Thats a tough one, but yes because I don't self harm or
talk down on myself and don't let what others say affect the way I see myself. I could tell she
did not want to go into any further, so I did not ask any more questions.
Question 4 discusses if Abby feels she has healthy relationships with the people around
her. She said she thinks she has some good and bad relationships. Abby said she knows she may
hold on to unhealthy relationships and that it has been a struggle for her throughout life. If it is a
family relationship or a love interest, she said she always feels obligated to fix that person. This
is the first question that she really went in depth about, so I could tell she was asking for help.
Question 5 is asking what distractions Abby feels might take her off of the spiritual path.
She said, Distractions that take me off my path would have to be negative people. Distractions
always start as attractions (Seaward, 2013). So the negative people she mentions were not always
viewed that way. This questions goes right back to question 4 relating to unhealthy relationships.
Since I know stress is something Abby frequently deals with, I asked how she deals with
stress in question 6. All she said was, not well. She feels as though once she stresses about one
thing it just leads to another and another. This snowball effect just leaves her feeling down and
overwhelmed. Having this information lets me know that Abby does not have any way at all of
dealing with stress currently. Question 7 asks if she knows what her triggers might be. Feeling
like I let someone down triggers stress, or if I dont do something to the best of my ability, was
her answer. This gives me quite a bit more information that it looks. For question 3 she said she
does not let what people say affect her, but the answer to the current question says otherwise.
This also means that integrity might be a good start for building a value system.
Question 8 talks about material attachments. Often material attachments can keep us from
reaching our highest selves. The spiritual path is about egolessness. It is a daily challenge to

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achieve emotional and material detachment. It can also be distraction from your path. The only
attachments I think I have is my phone and maybe my shoes, Abby laughed. I can see how she
does not think she has any material attachments considering she up and left to be close to her
family in another state.
Question 9 I think is really important. It asks if Abby takes any time to spend for herself.
Abby said, I spend a lot of time alone. I think that I need it and it helps me get back to who I
am. She also said that after long days at work where her focus is on other people is when she
feels she needs time alone the most. A lot of the time we may get caught up in the turmoil of life
and forget to nurture ourselves. But if we do not take care of ourselves, how can we take care of
others?
Question 10 asks how Abby reacts when she hits a roadblock. Roadblocks can show up in
many forms. It could be a job, a person, an illness, and so on. The ego then distorts this
roadblock to try and distract the spirit (Seaward, 2013). I asked Abby this because she is so
frequented by stress. Maybe the triggers to her stress are a larger roadblock instead. She said she
does not know of any roadblocks she is facing currently. After a little while she replied again and
said, Maybe not going to school is a roadblock for me. It just never seems to happen.
All ten of these questions help me to address Abbys current situation and where she is
spiritually. I would first suggest that Abby finds her personal value system. There are several
exercises for doing this such as writing down times when she was happiest or proud. What was it
about those moments that made them so? Abby says that negative people are her biggest
distraction from her path. I would try to design a plan that assists her in detaching herself from
these relationships so she can move forward. Lastly, I would find some spiritual exercises that
she would enjoy. This could include meditation or simply taking a walk. While all of the

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questions served their purpose, but I feel like I could do without question 8. It did not quite flow
with the rest of the questions. It might be more beneficial for another person however. Question 3
is important, but in the future it might be a good idea to break it up into more specific questions
so that the interviewee is not as intimidated.

References
Seaward, B. (2013). Health of the human spirit: Spiritual dimensions for personal health (2nd
ed.).