SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 1

Spiritual and Psychological Inventory

Tomisha Laird

Kaplan University
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My spiritual inventory questions directly relate to the aspects of wellness that introduce one

into a more positive spiritual state. I chose to focus on the four pillars of wellness as they pertain

directly to what one needs to focus on to reach a higher spiritual level. The concept is based on

the complete circle, the circle of mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Without this circle, one is

unable to reach a precise level of spirituality. Each pillar of wellness can be associated with ten

questions to help identify where you are in your spiritual journey. These questions, when

answered honestly, can help us to get a better assessment of how we can continue to make

ourselves spiritually stronger.

1. What do you do to improve upon yourself intellectually?

Engaging our minds in active thinking helps stimulate cognitive function. Reading novels

for enjoyment engages your mind by using your imagination to visualize the authors

words, and it also stimulates an emotional response.

2. What stimulates your thoughts?

This determines what stirs your mindset. It helps you to analyze the thoughts that may hold

you back or that can equally promote you into a healthier mindset. Improving upon

ourselves intellectually, stimulating our thoughts, evaluating what our main focus in life

should be, and visualizing our goals are only a few of the thoughts we can ponder to

stimulate our minds.

3. Do you get at least 8 hours of sleep every night?

Most of us do not get nearly as much rest as we should. It is recommended that as adults,

we should sleep at least eight hours a night. This is needed for our bodies to be able to heal

and recover from the chaos of the day. Additionally, this is how our body recharges and

heals damage most effectively.

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4. Do you meditate or pray?

Meditation and prayer is that time needed to center oneself. That time needed to clear your

head of all thoughts of the day. With meditation, we can learn how to transform our mind

from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy (HM, 2016).

5. Are you aware of the values that define you?

Our values directly contribute to our beliefs and how we impact others throughout our

lives. If one has a strong value system, our outlook on life can be optimistic. Through this

optimism, we can continue to portray a healthier more effective work environment.

6. Do you practice in good faith?

Practicing in good faith is similar to being giving of oneself. This would be taking the time

to help others who may be less fortunate than we are. Simply helping others expresses

good faith and well-being. Our well-being can be derived from how we feel of ourselves in

regards to how others see us.

7. Are you able to express your feelings?

Expressing our feelings and embracing our different emotions is as key to spirituality as

any other aspect. Our emotions can dictate much of what we experience in life. They

dictate how we react to situations that may be beyond our control and how we react to

others. Actively embracing our feelings helps us to be expressive on another level.

Emotional well-being is defined as the ability to feel and express the entire range of human

emotions (everything from anger to love) and to control them, not to be controlled by them

(KU, 2013a).

8. Do you share life experiences?

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Helping to teach others based on our own experiences is one of the best things we can do.

Teaching others based on our own trials and tribulations in life helps us to not only help

others but to have a better understanding of how we made it through the things we made it

through. What we take from our life experiences as far as our emotions are concerned is

our ability to find that emotional control. We take from our life experiences a variety of

emotions. Often times, it can be something negative that led us to the point of needing to

find a successful balance. This is similar to the concept of embracing our shadow.

There are others who exploit their shadow side and capitalize on their negativity; as you

begin to cultivate the relationship with your inner self, you encounter the face of the dark

side; as you continue to cultivate this internal relationship, embracing the shadow becomes

easier (KU, 2013b).

9. Are you able to take time to do things that bring you joy?

Similar to setting aside time to meditate and pray, taking the time to do the things that bring

us joy is a must. Without knowing ourselves and the things that make us happy, we can

spend a lifetime trying to make others happy. This does not mean that you have to abandon

all of what you know to be selfish. It just simply means that we can take the time to read

that book we have always wanted to read or watch that movie we have always wanted to

see.

10. Do you practice in a healthy diet and exercise?

A healthy diet and exercise is one of the most pivotal portions of completing the four

pillars. Without a proper diet, our body can experience disease and conditions related to

obesity. These can include heart conditions like congenital heart disease. As an adult, we

should be getting at least 150 minutes per day of moderate physical activity. Exercise
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improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by

improving self-esteem and cognitive function; exercise has also been found to alleviate

symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal (NCBI, 2006). This helps us with

our cardiovascular health. Additionally, incorporating muscle strengthening into our

routine three days a week, can improve our metabolism. Our body is our vessel and if our

body is not healthy we cannot be complete.

This gives us a brief outlook of what is needed to help develop our spirituality. Composing

this, I was able to complete an interview and assess a client looking to improve upon their

spiritual and psychological well-being. After answering the questions, we will evaluate the

clients spiritual state and what we can do as a team to help improve upon the process and what

we have determined. The clients answers will be based on a scale of 1-9. 1 being strongly

disagreed and 9 being strongly agree.

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Client Interview and Assessment

Utilizing the following scale, please assign a number from 1-9 on the line provided. This will

gauge how you view yourself and how you relate to the provided statement.

1. I constantly improve upon myself intellectually. 7

2. I consistently have stimulating conversations or thoughts. 8

3. I regularly get at least eight hours of sleep. 6

4. I am able to take time to pray or meditate enough. 6

5. I am aware of the values that define me. 8

6. I regularly practice in good faith. 7

7. I am able to express my feelings. 4

8. I am open you sharing my life experiences with people. 9

9. I am able to take time to do things that bring me joy. 4

10. I practice in a healthy diet and exercise. 7

Total Score: 66

Results:

Totals averaging 0-30: clients could potentially be in need of deeper spiritual guidance.

Totals averaging 31-60: clients are moving in a positive direction however; guidance is still

needed to deepen their spiritual growth.

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Totals averaging 61-90: clients are on track for achieving a higher spiritual state. The possibility

exists that they to may help others assess their spiritual and psychological inventory.

My client scored a 66 out of a total 90 points. This puts him in the range of moving

forward in a positive direction with a chance of achieving a higher spiritual state. In speaking

with my client after the assessment, he felt as if a scale made him more comfortable as opposed

to writing his true feelings down on paper. He felt as if this was a way of communicating

without being judged or uncomfortable. He did note that this scale made him immediately start

to assess many of the things he does in his life. Additionally, my client noted that expressing his

feelings and taking the time out to enjoy what he loves to do most is his greatest weaknesses.

From there, I was able to provide him with small suggestions he can do to accomplish a better

understanding of how to incorporate a little time in his day to do the things he desires to do.

Overall, I feel as if the assessment was successful. At this time, I would not change any

of the questions because I believe that they are and will continue to give a client an idea of what

they are facing within their own spiritual journey. The four pillars are linked to the questions

that I presented to the client. Fulfilling the wellness paradigm is the key to achieving a better

spiritual mindset. Perhaps the most accurate definition of holistic wellness is this one: wellness

is the integration, balance, and harmony of mind, body, spirit, and emotions that lead to optimal

well-being, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (KU, 2013c).
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References

How to Meditate (HM). (2016). How to meditate. Retrieved from http://www.how-to-

meditate.org/

Kaplan University (KU). (2013a). Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for Personal

Health. Human spirituality: the neglected component of well-being (if you cannot

measure it, it is not real.) Retrieved from

https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284090444/cfi/6!/4/2/24/18@0:89.4

Kaplan University (KU). (2013b). Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for Personal

Health. Embrace the shadow: domesticating the ego. Retrieved from

https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284090444/cfi/20!/4/2/26/14/4@0:26.1

Kaplan University (KU). (2013c). Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for Personal

Health. Embrace the shadow: domesticating the ego. Retrieved from

https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284090444/cfi/6!/4/2/20/2/2@0:0

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). (2006). Exercise for mental health.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/