See Below:
1. Pastoral Concerns About Potential Flu Pandemic:
Noticing and Ministering with Fear
2. Spirituality in Counseling
3. Pastoral Perspectives on Stress and
Anxiety in our Current National Climate
4. What is a Panic Attack?
What Can I Do to Handle an Attack?
5. Your Group Tense? What’s a Leader To Do?
To read Tom Camp's Faith articles in THE ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, Google http://onlineathens.com/staff/camptom.shtml
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Pastoral Concerns About Potential Flu Pandemic:
Noticing and Ministering with Fear
Tom Camp, Samaritan Counseling Center of Northeast Georgia, 2009
The World Health Organization in June declared the swine flu a pandemic. This week an Oconee County girl was diagnosed with the swine flu, the first reported case in the Northeast Georgia Health District. When news programs report this information, many of us feel a sense of fear; others may deny that it will actually threaten them or even happen. These are natural responses, and these responses are in every congregation. Neither response is healthful.
There is a chronic sense of fear in our society, especially after the World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings and the increased security in airports. Insecurity has increased with the recent economic uncertainty. The fact of a pandemic that the World Health Organization recently announced is now “unstoppable” will add to this fear.
This article is intended to increase awareness of a possible need for intentional ministry and careful planning in response to fear among parishioners, to provide some understanding of the nature of fear and denial, and to offer some possibilities for ways to design ministry should the pandemic have more detrimental effects in our community.
Fear
There is a lot we can do to manage our fear in ways that produce very positive results. First, let’s notice how damaging fear can be if not managed appropriately.
Fear may be felt at various levels of awareness, so we may have fear and not know it. Regardless of the level of awareness, fear has mental, emotional, physical and spiritual results:
- Mental - Fear creates thought patterns (“stories” or “narratives”) in our minds that increase the fear, so it becomes a vicious cycle: initial fear creates thoughts that tell stories of how bad it might be which then create more fear. Mental clarity is clouded and distractibility, inattentiveness, and confusion result. Faith narratives of hope and deliverance are alternatives to these narratives of fear.
- Emotional - Fear spawns other feelings such as fatigue, irritability, suspicion, boredom, and sadness. These negative emotional states are stressful for relationships and tend to spread the anxiety throughout systems such as families and congregations. As anxiety increases in any system, emotional functioning regresses into quick-fix mentality, blame-displacement, and restricting contact to groups perceived as safe.
- Physical - Fear and related emotions in the mind create bodily responses like an increase in physical tension and a flood of stress chemicals such as cortisol and adrenalin. When these stress chemicals are repeatedly increased there is damage to the body, tension becomes chronic, and relationships suffer. In addition, stress supresses the function of the immune system, making the person more susceptible to any disease.
- Spiritual - Fear focuses us on a future danger and generates worries about safety for ourselves and our loved ones. This focus on the future danger clouds our awareness of God’s presence with us in the present moment, and it is God’s felt presence that is the ultimate answer to fear.
Denial
Denial is an emotional function that blocks the flow of information and energy in the body and in a larger system in order to protect that system from painful or negative information. It is a very effective buffer when we have powerfully painful information to absorb. However, when the denial continues it also blocks the flow of other information and energy such as creativity in problem-solving, compassion, and enjoyment of abundant life.
Confrontation of denial often is threatening and produces additional layers of protection rather than openness to the truth.
Ministry with Fear and Denial
Holy Silence
Holy silence is the quieting of the mind (those thought patterns or narratives!) to allow the core Self and Soul space to sense the presence of God in the great emptiness of eternal silence. Many people find it threatening or uncomfortable to practice silence, so congregational practices that offer small amounts of silence (1-3 minutes) along with education about how it works, can introduce people to the practice. It is important to teach breathing (welcoming the Breath of God) as a focus of awareness during the silence.
As people are more comfortable with silence, intentional periods of longer silence are a spiritual discipline that can be learned from meditation and Centering Prayer teachers. Research has demonstrated that 20 minutes of Holy Silence can significantly reduce stress chemicals in the blood; increase connective tissue in areas of the brain responsible for thoughtful problem-solving, compassion, and morality; improve immune function; reduce irritability and inattentiveness. For centuries spiritual leaders have known that Holy Silence opens our awareness of the presence of God.
Physical Exercise
Mild to moderate physical exercise on a daily basis stimulates breathing and blood flow to areas of the body, reduces muscular tension, stimulates the release of toxic chemicals, and promotes the production of some of the same beneficial chemicals that are in anti-depressant medications.
Education
We need accurate information about influenza and the preventive health management of a pandemic. Public health officials are available to provide this information, and congregational settings are a most effective venue for this. This education needs to include
- Ways to improve immune function, including exercise, nutrition, and spiritual resources
- Preventive measures should there be a pandemic
- What to expect from your government in a pandemic
- How to manage the natural anxiety of a dangerous situation
- Ways to gauge the difference in irrational paranoia, denial, and responsible and realistic precaution.
- Effective spiritual coping methods
There are careful plans in place among many different agencies and groups for preventing and managing a flu pandemic. The availability of resources is immense. Congregations are needed as an avenue of response, but we will not be alone. Excellent sources of information and resources include:
(reach through Samaritan Counseling Center, 706-369-7911)
- GEMA (Georgia Emergency Management Authority) - http://www.gema.state.ga.us/
On left of web page, click “Disasters & Hazards,” then click “Avian and Pandemic Influenza”
Planning
In a full-blown pandemic, public gatherings will be restricted or banned to reduce the spread of the disease. Normal events that bring people together in an enclosed space, such as shopping, school, work, recreation and worship, will be affected. How can we worship together in a situation when we most need worship yet are endangering people by coming together? How can we help those who need medical care, or who need groceries and medications? How can we help families enclosed in isolated homes where stress and mutual irritation can build? And, how can we calm a fearful people with the Word of God in a way they can hear it amidst their anxiety? These are questions that concerned and prayerful congregations must ask themselves as they prepare to minister in this potential crisis.
The use of telephone calling networks, web pages, email contacts, and electronic media such as Facebook may be helpful. Radio and television broadcast worship could reach people who are isolated with messages of hope. It might be that visitation teams with appropriate protective gear could deliver needed medications and groceries and make visits. Infection control officials in hospitals and public health officials are sources of information about how we can make contact with relative safety in a pandemic.
In the case of the pandemic becoming more widespread, it will be of utmost importance for faith communities to work in mutual cooperation with government and non-government organizations so that there is coordinated and mutually informed response.
Spirituality in Counseling
Thomas Camp, M.Div., M.S., Pastoral Counselor
My commitment as a psychotherapist who is also spiritually aware is that I am intentionally aware of the spiritual dimension of a person and of a relationship between people. I remind myself through my praying, meditation, reading, and devotion each day of the spiritual dimension of life, so that I approach each counseling session in this awareness.
The ancient Hebrews struggled with their need and desire to talk about their spiritual awareness without labeling it in ways that limit it to a verbal conception. They resisted using a name for the spiritual presence, but eventually gave into the need to communicate and conceptualize, and began using words that have come to us today as “God,” “Allah” and “Jehovah.” I struggle with this same tension. When I use the word “God,” I find that some people have limiting conceptualizations of God and that it often does not promote awareness of the spiritual presence and spiritual dimension of life.
I notice that the issues that bring people to seek counseling are confusion, pain, brokenness, fear, and doubt. When people work through these issues in the counseling process, a spiritual transformation often takes place. Spiritual transformation is not religious conversion but an extra-ordinary experience in which one experiences and sees life in terms of divine grace. It may be a husband who comes to a deeper and broader awareness of his wife’s perspective, or parents who come to appreciate their children’s experiences of the world. It may be a terminally ill person who begins to experience life as an abundant gift rather than death as a threat.
It usually helps the person seeking counseling for me to speak my realization of their increased awareness of life that I see the person having. My speaking that realization increases the likelihood that the awareness will move from the unconscious, intuitive level into the cognitive and conscious awareness and therefore stay with that person.
Spiritual integration takes place in the context of a relationship in which the person experiences God's caring and forgiving grace. Spiritually integrated psychotherapy does not "do something to someone," but rather invites a person or group into a relationship that is permeated with divine presence.
In summary, spirituality in counseling, or spiritually-sensitive, faith-based counseling is the intentional awareness (spoken or not, labels or not) of the spiritual dimension, and it often fosters spiritual transformations in the persons seeking counseling. Pastoral Perspectives on Stress and Anxiety in our Current National Climate
Lacy M. Camp, M.Ed.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Licensed Professional Counselor
Clinical Director
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.
Proverbs 12.25
Our country is experiencing several major challenges that foster individual and systemic anxieties. We have chosen a new president, and therefore a new direction, a decision some people see as critical for the future of both our nation and the world. A major anxiety centers around the financial crisis and the worry of more financial problems to come. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as fears of terrorism and nuclear proliferation, continue to cause various levels of anxiety among our population. Local groups and individuals who are providing service in this climate are experiencing compassion fatigue in the wake of increased need.
Some degree of anxiety exists in everyone’s life. Anxiety is a nervous energy designed to prepare our minds and bodies for defensive behaviors. Short term anxiety enables us to defend ourselves from a real or perceived threat. This type of anxiety can be positive in that it motivates us to accomplish tasks, goals, or make needed change. Long term anxiety becomes destructive to our bodies, minds, souls and relationships. People in anxious states tend to have less immune function, difficulties with digestion, more irritability, less hope, and trouble resting. Anxiety leads to regression in mental functioning, so that chronically anxious people exhibit increased emotional reactivity and less ability to make thoughtful responses to problems.
How can we combat the anxiety we experience in this current climate of unpredictability? Following are some thoughts and suggestions.
Be self-aware. Notice how your body is reacting to the stress, such as with shortness of breath, headaches, grinding your teeth, tense muscles in your face and body, and other physical symptoms. These are a signal to you to altar you perspective, behaviors, and interactions in order to keep your stress and anxiety in check.
Breathe. Take the time to fill your lungs with calming breath. Even 5 minutes of slow, deep breathing allows the body to renew, refocus, and possibly see a situation in a different perspective.
Break down the problem into small, accomplishable parts. Success is motivating, and it is more possible if the goals are manageable. Instead of saying “I will get out of debt” say I will donate $10 per month toward my debt”. Lists are good ways of feeling like you have accomplished something. Always put several things on it that you know you can get done, and then feel good about marking off.
Pray or meditate. Allow yourself to give up some of the worry and to connect with the Divine Presence in your life. Practice compassion through compassionate prayer and meditation for others and the world.
Take care of yourself. Exercise, visit with friends, eat healthy and appropriate amounts, pamper yourself, get plenty of sleep. It may seem self-indulgent when there is so much at stake, but unless you take care of yourself you can’t find the energy to seek creative and realistic solutions.
Reevaluate priorities. Ask the hard questions. What is really important? Continue asking until you get to the basics and start from there, realizing this process could challenge you to make changes.
Ask for help—from friends, family, and clergy. If the anxiety persists for 6 weeks or more, ask for professional help from a doctor or therapist.
Systems also experience anxiety. Fear and anxiety are the culprits in most prejudice, hatred, and conflict, and they can lead to violence. Behavioral signs of chronic anxiety in a system include:
- Blame – projecting fault on one person or a group rather than examining all contributions to a problem or situation.
- Quick-fix mentality – seeking an immediate resolution of the problem rather than taking the time and courage to engage in a process of real change
- Herding – gathering into groups of people who agree with each other, isolating from those who are different or have a different perspective.
- Failure of leadership – loss of nerve in leaders to take the difficult and unpopular stands, to speak the truth, and to encourage common efforts.
Anxiety is the opposite of faith. Our religion calls us to trust in the ultimate goodness and love of God, and anxiety fills the soul with fear. Religious ethics call us into covenantal community and to be hospitable. Anxiety divides us with hostilities. Our bodies are temples for God, and anxiety floods the system with toxic chemicals.
This is a chaotic time. It is a time of uncertainty, and therefore a time when faith is desperately needed. We know as people of faith that exciting things come out of chaos and uncertainty. God created the world out of chaos. Moses led the Israelites out of the wilderness. Jesus was resurrected after the darkness of death. This is a time to take stock and let the pain of our experiences inform us, and let the hope of what is possible sustain us
What is a Panic Attack?
What Can I Do to Handle an Attack?
When you experience extreme worry and panic, it is helpful to understand what is happening so that you can use some fairly simple methods to calm the panic. When the panic is calmed, you can think more creatively and find ways to handle the problem, or, in many cases, find that the problem is not as impossible or dangerous as it seems while you are in the state of panic.
A “panic attack” is an intense form of more generalized worry, and it can be debilitating and extremely distressful. Panic involves messages from the limbic system of the brain that there is imminent danger. The result of this message from the brain is the secretion of adrenalin and other chemicals that cause
- shortness of breath (sometimes including difficulty breathing),
- increased heart rate and blood pressure (sometimes including pounding in the chest),
- tense muscles (sometimes to the point of physical pain),
- scattered and unorganized thinking
- intensified fear.
These conditions interfere with rational evaluation of a situation and with problem-solving abilities. In a panic attack, the brain is overwhelmed with emotional energy of fear. In this state you are not able to engage the thinking parts of the brain to more accurately evaluate the dangers and to problem-solve.
Calm the Body
The major way to respond to a panic attack is to calm the body, therefore calming the emotional energy of fear. Taking slow, deep breaths and doing slow, gentle stretching of major muscle systems will help if continued over a period of time.
Breathing exercise
Breathe in to the count of 4, hold the in-breath for 2 counts, and exhale to the count of 5. Repeat three times. Then inhale to the count of 5, hold the in-breath for 3 counts, and exhale to the count of 7. Let the breathing return to natural rhythms.
Walk slowly around the room or yard for three or four minutes, and then repeat the breathing sequence.
Some physical stretching and movements
- Slowly and gently reach toward the ceiling or sky, stretching from the tip of the toes to the tip of fingers of raised hands.
- Bracing yourself with a steady chair, wall, or piece of furniture, raise a leg and hold it in the raised position for 3 counts, then lower it and raise the other leg. Raise legs to the front, side, and rear of your body, and be sure to balance the number of leg raises on each side.
- Stretch your arms out to the side. Gently rotate your body, twisting at your waist, to the right, hold 6 counts, and then to the left, holding for 6 counts. Repeat several times.
- Get down on your knees and hands (“on all fours”) and slowly rotate in a gently swinging motion, leaning forward, then leaning backward toward your heals, and to the right and to the left.
You may need to repeat these sequences every ten to fifteen minutes because the fear and panic will attempt to take over again.
Focus the Mind
When the mind is overwhelmed with fear and panic, it cannot think clearly and is scattered in its awareness. There are several ways to organize the scattered mind and focus on evaluation and problem-solving.
- a. Write on a sheet of paper a description of the fear. Describe it as accurately as possible. Notice that as you write (address the fear directly) it will initially increase. So, go back to the calming of the body exercises above.
As you describe the situation that causes the fear, you will find that the situation becomes clearer, more understandable. With more clarity about the source of the fear, you will be able to do problem-solving.
b. Outline the fear and begin addressing each aspect with at least one way to respond that will help to decrease the danger. This is the beginning of problem-solving.
- Talk to someone about the fear. This listening person must be someone who can stay relatively calm and listen without immediately offering suggestions.
- Focus the mind away from the fear by engaging in
- play or imagination
- meditation – focused awareness of your breath or of God’s presence,
- short-term entertainment such as watching a funny television program, listening to music.
You can return to the cause of the fear at any time. Temporary focusing away from the fear is a way to relax and refresh so that you can address the fear more creatively.
If the situation that caused the panic, once evaluated clearly, is not as dangerous as initially experienced, this may be all that is needed.
If you are able to calm the panic and do effective problem-solving about the situation, you may find that the situation is handled and is no longer a cause of fear.
If the fear returns, it is important to seek professional help to
- evaluate the reality of the danger,
- do effective problem solving,
- strengthen stress management resources, and
- handle the emotions of fear and the physical reality of panic.
Mindfulness based counseling, and increased awareness of your body and its messages, can actually strengthen the energy pathways in the mind that control panic and increase problem-solving skills.
Tom Camp, M. Div., M.S.
pastoral counselor, marriage and family therapist, spiritual guide, meditation teacher, crisis counselor, organizational consultant
Your Group Tense? What’s a Leader To Do?
Margaret Herrman, Ph. D.
Consultant in Facilitated Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
Group tensions (like any pain) come in different shapes and sizes; numerous sources propel tensions into a group’s life. Effective leaders read tensions when they are subtle; act quickly to the harness energy; and direct their group’s momentum toward positive outcomes like undoing bad habits or recreating success for future achievements. Any group’s tension can erupt into open conflict, but whether it simmers below the surface or erupts, capturing the energy then spinning it toward greater productivity, enhanced camaraderie, or life giving change is one mark of an effective leader.
Turning what many people consider to be lemons into lemonade is a tall order since we all struggle to overcome at least three obstacles: (1) children learn to run from, not toward tension (as in not touching hot surfaces). Lessons stick so typical adults neither sense nor choose effective actions; (2) we exist in an argumentative society. If someone actually confronts tensions, arguments not dialog ensue; and (3) effective solutions emerge from talk and listening not debate. Talk and especially listening require time, patience and respect for self and the other. Since we also live in an instant gratification culture, real dialog is rare.
This article explores how effective leaders move groups through and beyond tense times. While I refer to groups, the word in this context applies equally to small, on-going gatherings such as a church class or book group; to more formal organizations like non-profits and agencies providing vital services; to complex institutions like schools, hospitals, government agencies, church structures or even corporations. My theme focuses on simple steps leaders can take to counter lessons learned.
Countering Messages. Years ago I attended a facilitation class. The leaders talked repeatedly about important group values such as:
- search out valid information – avoid assumptions;
- choose action freely based on valid information;
- act on commitments you make to your group; and
- apply compassion to yourself and others in your group.
Again, a tall order to fulfill especially when a group harbors tension. So, how?
Seek Clarity First, know yourself. What inspires you? What are your limitations? Remember situations that bug you, I bet someone stepped on a hot button. What makes you sad? After over 40 years of working on fights, I can list some, not all, of my hot buttons. How does this help? I try to monitor and reset my reactions when I am offended. Instead of exploding or taking a hike mentally, I focus even harder and turn to compassion. I encourage the other person to talk so we gain valid information we both need to move forward.
Next, flip the situation. Healthy group members including leaders assert personal needs and irritants. A way to do that so others can hear you involves reliance on “I statements.” “I statements” are nifty little tools that force speakers to state feelings as well as specific actions they want changed. Instead of attacking someone as a “bad person” you reveal aspects about yourself, offering valid information, and avoid assumptions all in your quest for self awareness.
Help Others Attain Clarity People reveal their thinking and feelings when they trust you. Try to balance cheerleading, coaching, and correcting. Be a Grinch or a Santa Clause as different situations dictate. People mimic authentic versus superficial moves when they see a leader responding in authentic versus superficial ways. Superficiality and valid information are bipolar opposites.
Help people express themselves. A really common mistake we all make is to assume we know what someone is saying. Under the best of circumstances less than 5% of all communication is accurate. So, you will win any bet that people in a group are “poor communicators.” We all are.
In a recent workshop on leadership and conflict I conducted, I said: “I love snow.” And then invited participants to tell me why I love snow. By the way, I love snow because of the peaceful silence of a snowfall. To demonstrate how incorrect assumptions are I went around the room asking each person to reflect out loud on my love of snow. I used empathic listening, relying on silence and respectful eye contact. Silence coupled with empathy and genuine curiosity prompted: “you like to stay home from work.” “you like to play in snow.” “you love the beauty of snow.” “you love to make snow angles.”
No response was on the money while before my prompts each person “knew” exactly what I was saying. Assumptions are dangerous especially since we act on wrong assumptions all the time. These wrong actions lead conversations and groups off track. Heading in a wrong direction is compounded when members scramble to protect the wrong person from embarrassment or when energy is wasted as people scurry to restate what they thought was a perfectly clear statement.
Just at that point when you are sure you know what someone is saying, fall back on empathic listening tools, sometimes referred to as Rogerian tools (after the psychologist Carl Rogers). Slow down, couple soft prompts with silence: “Uh huh?” to encourage a speaker to think and explore with you what they are thinking. Thus, you and the speaker share more valid information in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.
Act Compassion We all trip over ourselves on a daily basis. How can we be expected not to trip over others as well? Genuine curiosity, coupled with heartfelt caring for yourself and others goes a long way to helping you lead others effectively.
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