Emotional Healing the Social Impact – Term Paper

Current Trends and Approaches in Ensuring Individual Self-Worth 

Introduction 

Psychological distress and reduced perception of self-worth are among the most challenging issues in the world today. At least at one point in the development, people experience anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, and stress. Though the adults are more predisposed to emotional distress, the young and elderly are the most affected. The fact that the children have not adequately developed to psychologically accept severe episodes of their lives while the old face different emotional challenges at the same time which lower their resilience to stress leads to this trend. The challenges that the aging face which predisposes them to stress include reduced cognitive ability, a reality that death awaits them, worries about unaccomplished ambitions and physical weakness. There are different approaches used in enhancing personal self-worth even amidst the current challenges that humanity faces. Some of these methods such as folk tales, singing, and religion have historical origins but have been slowly researched to form part of the recent interventions in psychotherapy. Other responses include guidance and counseling, religious teachings and preaching and personality training. 

Psychological perspectives of Emotional Healing, Growth, and Empowerment

From a psychological point of view, people undergo diverse experiences that shape up their emotions. In essence, emotional disposition result from the meanings that individuals develop from their daily encounters in life. Through counseling, tales, poetry, and singing, people are progressively inclined to develop positive conceptions of themselves by changing the meanings they have in every experience and feelings . For instance, a woman growing up with a history of sexual assault during childhood may develop a feeling of being “unworthy “or “damaged.” Through providing an appropriate atmosphere for the distressed to narrate their stories, such as in counseling sessions, such people are perpetually redirected to develop a positive self-image.  This self-image eventually defines the way they see themselves and the general nature of associations that they form. Different meanings result from how an individual thinks about his or her experiences. These feelings include shame, anxiety, sorrow, disgust, or anger . Through myriads of contemporary ways such as counseling, singing, songwriting, and poems, the society ensures spiritual restoration and attainment of the highest sense of self-worth among traumatized.

The fact that emotional healing is a voluntary process through which people suffering from particular psychological distress get directed towards developing more benign meanings out of their situations influences every psychiatric intervention. For instance, a young adult feeling unworthy due to past sexual abuse by an adult is made to believe that the ordeal resulted in her becoming more compassionate, resourceful, and able to appreciate life . The main aim of emotional healing is to improve an individual’s psychological growth which is essential in overcoming daily challenges that life presents. Through increased ability to cope with problems, people expand their boundaries of the self . They learn and experience a better sense of life that is more than the physical injuries they incur.

Use of Songs, Storytelling, Song Writing, and Song Journal Entries to Increase Self-Worth

Social support groups and local organizations are critical to the emotional healing of people suffering from a variety of emotional problems. For instance, an organization such as Hope by Song which works at the grassroots levels helps people to overcome their traumatizing and stressful lives through the use of music as a therapy .  Helping people attain self-worth through the establishment of a strong sense of belonging involves inspiring, educating and helping them create the artistic impression that progressively diverts their attention from the troubles they undergo at any particular time . Despite the fact that not everybody can sing or compose a song used in psychological therapy, they can write personal information in the form of manuscripts or original poems. Experts then take up these drafted materials which are embodiments of outpouring emotions and transform them to encouraging songs. The net effect is that the resultant songs offer relief, encouragement, and motivation to the suffering. 

Through songs and poems, troubled souls find an opportunity to vent out the inner feelings and share stories with the wider society. The underpinning for narrating stories is that telling out problems is an initial approach towards ensuring emotional healing . The social support networks and community groups help people with different stories including addiction, abuse, homelessness, and post-traumatic stress disorders to openly use available mechanisms such as writing, storytelling, or singing to give them out. Based on these first-hand narratives of people with a troubling past, songs of struggle and hope are created to comfort them or the others who may be silently facing similar struggles. Songs and storytelling therapies encourage innovative and more beneficial ways of thinking about oneself. Songs and narratives easily integrate into the mainstream social systems hence have higher chances of fostering in the community, greater awareness, and a deeper understanding of those in less fortunate situations.       

Inspiration, creativity, and education are easily attained through the use of music, coupled with journaling. These aspects do not necessarily require the intervention of a professional psychiatrist for people who are emotionally challenged to realize healing . Local organizations provide people suffering from distress with a chance to present their materials in the form of manuscripts or poems. Moreover, they can attend different sessions of singing the songs composed from the writings of other people. The groups such as Hope by Song make songs out of experiences with which anyone in the current life can easily identify . In essence, every song, journal, or poem identifies with the intimate, emotional, and life-changing moments of someone. 

Integration of Music and Religious Journaling into the Practice of Religion to Improve Self-Worth

Religion and spirituality are tenets of socio-economic life of any society. Studies show a strong link between these two social aspects and positive mental health outcomes among people in the community. Religious music, journals, and stories are characteristically soothing thus those who closely or repeatedly indulge in them achieve spiritual uplifting. Hymns and sacred stories are often more accessible to the old who are at the risk of reduced sense of self-worth but cannot participate in routine activities9. Listening to sacred music fosters spiritual calm, mental harmony, and relief from worries. They reassure people of a better life ahead thus making them appreciate life challenges and losses as little tests of time for better things yet to cope. With mental calmness, people become less irritable or not prone to antisocial behaviors which are essential in realizing an improved sense of self- worth . Religion is a societal opium that relieves people from their troubling experiences and makes the hardships of life more tolerable. 

Music is one such part of religious practices that nurtures humility, comfort, and confidence that problems are part of the earthly life which will eventually subside through faith. Religious music and teachings (in the form of journals or periodicals) provide an avenue through which people express and connect with spirituality.  This link results in a psychological harmony with a consequence of enhancing mental health . Many religions including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and other worldviews emphasize on hope, love, and peace. The religious music embodies these teachings thus promote individual psychological wellbeing12. Research indicate that music re-establishes individuals within the wider context of religion thus shifting their thoughts and energy from annoying and painful parts of life.

Through spirituality songs, depressive patients re-establish the meaning or a purpose in their lives which illness or struggles could have diminished. The renewed sense of the self and its reinvigoration bring back the hope and vigor to contend with difficulties of life . Spirituality and religious belief can also take the form of encouraging songs that not only motivates people suffering from challenges but also teaches the community to get better meanings out of their predicaments . For instance, Horatio G. Spafford who was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago authored the song, “It Is Well with My Soul.” As a testimony of the troubles he had faced and the hope he had in God . He had lost his business a Chicago fire, his children drowned on transit to Europe, and his law firm was on the verge of collapse. In the face of all these adversities, Spafford motivated himself through the song “It Is Well with My Soul.”

Counseling For People with Low Self-Esteem, Grief, and Distress

Low self-esteem, grief, and suffering are among the principle causes of low self-worth. Self-esteem is developed right from the childhood and improves as people advance in age. However, there are some negative experiences that lower self-esteem.  For instance, living in an environment of persistent criticism and taunting lowers confidence, sudden life changes in adulthood such as the feeling of loss or unachieved aspirations are responsible for reduced esteem . Through guidance and counseling, people who are psychologically distressed go through a journey of self-discovery. The professional psychologists play the role of mediating between the “framed self” and the “real self” which improves confidence. 

Psychological distress is a common occurrence among the old, terminally ill or individuals facing critical challenges in life such as recovery from a debilitating accident. Apart from the physical pain that the illness causes, the feeling of distress increase the emotional suffering thus making it difficult for healing and full recovery from sicknesses. Grief is one aspect of mental distress which is adaptive, highly personalized, and universal response to several losses which occur towards the end of life . Though pharmacological interventions are only recommendable for cases of complicated grief, physicians support patients. This assistance works by the doctor first accepting the situations of the sick and then encouraging them to express their emotions through sobs or shouting openly. 

Conclusion

Contemporary research has led to the establishment of various approaches for the attainment of a higher sense of self-worth. These strategies include writing and telling stories, singing, poetry, listening to preaching and psychotherapy. The aim of each strategy for stress management is to enhance a positive perception of the self which is important in defining the nature of associations that one develops, the activities in which they participate and general behavior. People who cannot transform their challenging stations into songs can write them in manuscripts that are redrafted to form encouraging songs. Intuitively, sharing personal struggles offers a unique sense of relief that restores higher value for life and self-worth. 

Bibliographies

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Ashley Lopez. Apr 22, 2014. “Local Group Helps People Heal through Music” Retrieved from http://news.wgcu.org/post/local-group-helps-people-heal-through-music. 

Kinney, Judith Ann. 1988. Building self-esteem through the use of oral storytelling. M.S. University of Wisconsin–Madison 

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Kim, Sebastian, Pauline Kollontai, and Sue Yore. 2015. Mediating peace: reconciliation through visual art, music, and film. http://lib.myilibrary.com?id=888188.

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