Spirituality has been described as a continual search through a relationship between an individual and God, to find the answer to the question of "what is the meaning of life?" This search may be directed through an adherence to an established religion, and acknowledgment of a higher being transcends one's physical being, or even through the principles of agnostics or atheists. The common denominator is the quest for meaning.
Victor Frankl, who lived through the Holocaust, has provided poignant arguments regarding the integrative resources of survivors in seeking meaning amidst the tragedy of the Holocaust. His existential philosophy seeks to find and realize values as a way of giving meaning to existence. He himself, a survivor of concentration camps, proved that even under extreme situations, human beings can make moral choices. He found in the camp a few prisoners who transcended their condition, and he used this as evidence for a positive and even optimistic philosophy. "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving their last piece of bread. They may have been few in numbers, but they offer sufficient
proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Frankl also quotes Nietzche in Man's Search for Meaning. "If we have a why we can endure any how." Therefore, in other words, it may be that if a servicemember with a chronic disability has a why, then he/she can face the how of coping with that disability. Thus, the spiritual question regarding a chronic condition becomes its purpose, not its mechanism.
J.H. van den Berg suggests that "the part of life that is now neglected is the life of the spirit." He hypothesizes that the helping relationship can be of greatest assistance to people by offering them an opportunity to discuss the more spiritual aspects of life. Within this helping relationship exists "an essential constituent" that Kohut describes as empathy. Kohut described empathy as "the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person." Kohut also describes empathy as threefold: "The recognition of the self in the other is an indispensable tool of observation, without which vast areas of human life… remain unintelligible; the expansion of the self to include the other, constitutes a
powerful psychological bond between individuals; the accepting, confirming, and understanding human echo evoked by the self, it is a psychological nutrient without which human life as we know it could not be sustained."
The importance of hope on the road to a servicemember's recovery cannot be underestimated. Spirituality is the seat of hope, giving one a sense of meaning in the face of adversity. With hope, future recovery becomes possible. •
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Ralph DePalo received his B.A. in Gerontology from Iona College. He went on to receive his Master's Degree from Fordham University and received a full scholarship from the National Institute of Mental Health in Gerontological Community Mental Health. He received his analytic post-graduate certificate in psychoanalytic training from The Alfred Adler Institute in New York City. He obtained his PhD in Clinical Social Work from New York University's Ehrenkranz School of Social Work. Dr. DePalo currently is an adjunct associate professor at New York University. He teaches advanced Clinical Practice with Individuals and Families in the Graduate School of Clinical Social Work and psychology in the undergraduate School of Continuing Professional Studies liberal arts program. His current research interests are post-traumatic stress disorder, spirituality, depression, and aging.
