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SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELING
spiritualpc.net / 2023 Volume: 8 Number: 1
A Spiritual Touch on Family Resilience:
A Positive Psychology Based Group Study
From Burnout To Hope
Research Article
Citation: Özkapu, D. E. & Ekşi, H. (2023). A spiritual touch on family resilience: A positive psychology
based group study from burnout to hope.
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8
(1)
,
47–66. https://doi.
org/10.37898/spc.2023.8.1.185
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a spiritually
oriented, positive psychology-based group counseling program to
increase the level of family resilience of mothers and to determine
whether this program produces a difference. The design of this study
was a convergent parallel mixed design. In the study, the two databases,
after being analyzed separately, were treated together and analyzed
using the side-by-side comparison method. A quasi-experimental one-
group pretest-posttest design was used in the quantitative part of the
study. The conducted psychological counseling group comprises ten
female parents (aged 32 to 40) whose children attend primary school.
The participants received eight sessions of the psychological counseling
program, each lasting 90 minutes and prepared by the researcher. This
mixed research includes the interpretation of pretest-posttest data
obtained from the Family Resilience Scale and the Spiritual Resources
Scale, as well as the findings that emerged from qualitative observation,
interview, recording, and analysis of documents obtained from
research participants. The quantitative portion of the research was
analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, while the qualitative
portion was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study’s quantitative
findings indicate that psychological counseling practice with the
group significantly increased the level of family resilience and the use
of spiritual resources of the participants. Six themes emerged from
the qualitative research analyses: hope, reliance (tawakkul), patience,
social support, steps to change, and resilient attitude.
Keywords:
Positive psychology • Spirituality, • Family resilience • Spiritual
Resources • Group counseling
Corresponding author:
Deniz Eröz Özkapu
E-mail: erokdeniz@gmail.com
eISSN: 2458-9675
Received: 29.11.2022
Revision: 07.12.2022
Accepted: 11.01.2023
©Copyright 2023 by Author(s)
1 Corresponding Author: Deniz Eröz Özkapu, Ministry of National Education, Kazım Ozalp Primary
School, Istanbul, Turkey. erokdeniz@gmail.com
2 Halil Ekşi, Prof. Dr., Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Marmara University, Turkey. halil.eksi@
marmara.edu.tr.
Deniz Eröz Özkapu1
Ministry of National Education
Halil Ekşi2
Marmara University
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Eröz Özkapu, Ekşi / A Spiritual Touch On Family Resilience: A Positive...
Spirituality is the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that result from one’s
relationship with the divine or transcendent (Hill & Pargament, 2003). Due to the
positivist paradigm that prevailed in the previous era, the inclusion of spirituality in
psychology took time, and the number of practices in the eld remained limited until
the early 2000s. However, research based on the consideration of spirituality as a
psychological resource has increased in the second half of the twentieth century due
to the emergence of the positive psychology movement and its inuence over time
(Shafranske & Sperry, 2007; Zinnbauer, 2009). In other words, the growing trend of
the positive psychology movement has accelerated the recognition of spirituality as a
signicant phenomenon in mental health research.
Positive psychology is a concept that seeks to make people’s life more effective
by focusing on their strengths, positive attributes, virtuous behaviors, and motivations
(Sheldon, Cheng, & Hilpert, 2011). The primary objective of the positive psychology
method is to comprehend the conditions that enhance individuals’ quality of life and
investigate the processes that will improve the lives of individuals, institutions, and
various human societies. Interventions based on the positive psychology approach
do not aim to correct what is bad or wrong but rather to support the development of
the individual by exploring ways to develop and nurture what is good (Seligman &
Csikszentmihályi, 2000). Similarly, research undertaken in the last century in the mental
health eld demonstrates that the objectives that are mainly focused on are progressing
based on individuals’ well-being or supporting this well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
Examining the basic concepts of positive psychology reveals that it contains
numerous spiritual values, including psychological well-being (Ryff & Keyes, 1995),
subjective well-being (Diener, 2005), hope (Snyder, 2002), ow (Csikszentmihalyi,
1990), and compassion. However, positive psychology’s emphasis on character
strengths is equally notable. The concept of character strengths refers to the positive
and robust aspects of individuals. Under the six fundamental virtues of courage,
wisdom, love, justice, transcendence, and equilibrium, character strengths include
values such as wisdom, love, justice, and transcendence; reasoning, creativity,
curiosity, love of learning, perspective, determination, honesty, pleasure, love, social
intelligence, kindness, justice, leadership and teamwork (Peterson & Seligman,
2004). Positive psychology bases its studies on forgiveness instead of revenge,
gratitude instead of anger or envy, and positive emotions such as happiness and hope
instead of depressive emotions (Sheldon et al., 2011).
There are many similarities between spirituality and positive psychology when we
consider the phenomena in the eld of positive psychology. This demonstrates that
one of the essential areas that can be studied within the scope of positive psychology
is spirituality (Miller-Perrin & Krumreimancoso, 2015). While studying the
49
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
happiness of individuals, positive psychology assumes that systematized formations,
such as spirituality/religion, are the factors that affect the happiness of individuals. It
argues that religious behaviors and thoughts are essential structures for people to live
peacefully and happily (Emmons & Hill, 2001). From this perspective, spirituality
can be used as a signicant resource in promoting mental health in practices based
on positive psychology.
In positive psychology, resilience is one of the most critical concepts for supporting
mental health, and the relationship between resilience and spirituality is frequently
studied. Although this concept was initially considered in terms of individual
resilience, over time, it has also been studied in terms of family, community, and
institutional resilience (Gordon & Song, 1994; Walsh, 1988; Allison et al., 2003;
McCubbin & McCubbin, 1996; Skovholt et al., 2001). Family resilience is expressed
as the ability of family members to cope effectively with life changes, stressful
situations, or unfavorable circumstances (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1996). Examining
the denitions used to describe the concept of family resilience reveals that two
primary themes are highlighted. The rst is the family’s exposure to any threat or
stressful situation, and the second is the family’s ability to adapt in the face of this
challenging experience (Rutter, 2006).
Family resilience is shaped by the belief systems within the family, the way the
family is managed, and the communication processes of family members. Families’
belief systems, on the other hand, include evaluation of suffering and crises,
commitment to the family, having integrative values, making sense of unfavorable
situations, courage, optimism, having a positive outlook centered on power, faith, and
religious/spiritual rituals (Walsh, 2006). Similarly, Defrain (1999) emphasized that
spirituality is a crucial resource that family members use to overcome challenging
and stressful life circumstances.
All forms of spirituality in human life contain four fundamental elements. These
four fundamental elements are relationships, values, meaning in life, and commitment.
Each of these values has been proven to be directly related to the negative life
experiences or stressful situations that a person encounters (Seaward, 2005). All
of these values, behaviors, and attitudes mentioned are strongly associated with an
individual’s level of resilience. In many communities, spiritual/religious practices
(prayer, meditation, thinking work, journaling, yoga, mindfulness) are increasingly
adopted as a coping resource (Neal, 1999). In various domestic and international
research on the signicance of religious/spiritual resources in coping with stressful
situations, spirituality has been found to play a signicant role in the literature
(Benzies & Mychasiuk,2009; Bayraklı et al.,2011; Özbay & Aydoğan, 2013; Bhana
& Bachoo,2011; Klerk & Greeff, 2011; Tekdemir & Gürses, 2020).
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Eröz Özkapu, Ekşi / A Spiritual Touch On Family Resilience: A Positive...
When one considers the relationships between the phenomena of spirituality,
resilience, and positive emotions as a whole, one nds that they have two essential
elements in common. These fundamental elements are expressed as personal meaning
and life purpose (Smith et al., 2012). Personal meaning can be dened as goals that
a person considers essential in life and the motivation to achieve those goals. The
individual’s self-determined goals for this purpose constitute the life purpose. The
person who has a personal meaning acts regularly and consistently for the sake of
that meaning and experiences a sense of satisfaction when they achieve those goals
(Reker, 2000). Given all of this information, it is believed that spiritually oriented,
positive psychology-based group counseling that increases family resilience in
mothers will have important effects on increasing the resilience of individuals.
Looking at the literature, we nd several group counseling practices where positive
psychology and spiritual resources are discussed together (Elham et al., 2015; Fallah
et al., 2011; Lambert et al., 2010; Peng, 2015; Park & Peterson, 2008). All of these
research ndings are signicant indications that religious/spiritual-based positive
psychotherapy approaches provide effective results, particularly for people with a strong
spiritual/religious orientation. In addition, it was noted that when relevant research was
examined, there were a limited group and mixed-method studies for parents.
The purpose of this study is to implement a group counseling program based on
spiritually oriented positive psychology and to test the effectiveness of this program.
In this context, answers were sought to whether there are changes in the level of
mothers’ family resilience and their use of spiritual resources, as well as the type and
quality of these changes.
Research Process
Research Model
This research employs a convergent parallel mixed method design. In the
convergent parallel mixed method, quantitative and qualitative data are collected
simultaneously, but the obtained data are analyzed independently. The basic
assumption of this approach is that both qualitative and quantitative data provide
the researcher with different types of information. In this design, qualitative data
reecting participant viewpoints and quantitative data derived from measurement
instruments are collected. The ndings obtained from the analyzes are examined to
see if they corroborate one another (Creswell, 2017).
The dependent variables of the study are mothers’ level of family resilience and
their use of spiritual resources, and the independent variable is a psychological
counseling program with a positive psychology-based spiritually oriented group.
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Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
The mothers who will take part in the study were selected using the criterion
sampling method. Criterion sampling is a technique for reviewing and analyzing
situations based on predetermined criteria (Patton, 2015).
In the quantitative part of the study, a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-
posttest design was used. The quantitative part of the study was analyzed using the
Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, one of the non-parametric tests (n<30). In the qualitative
part of the study, a thematic analysis was conducted.
Study Group
The study group in this research consists of ten mothers between the ages of 32
and 40 whose children attend a public primary school in the Sultangazi district of
Istanbul. Participants in the study group were selected from among parents who
indicated that they had difculties coping with challenges in their family life with
their children, spouses, or extended families and that they needed to demonstrate
their ability to cope with these difculties.
Research shows that mothers have to cope with many difcult situations on their
own, both in the family and social life (Demirgöz Bal, 2014; Elçi, 2011; Powell
& Greenkouse, 2010; the Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry General Directorate,
2010). Since the work to be implemented to develop family resilience of mothers,
who play one of the most critical roles in family and community life, will positively
affect their individual and family lives, the entire study group consists of mothers.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of positive
psychology-based spiritually oriented group counseling in enhancing the family
resilience of mothers. The content of group counseling sessions has been prepared
to be related to family resilience by shaping the concepts of responsibility, trust,
hope, contemplation, compassion, and gentleness, which are regarded by spiritual
systems and form the foundation of the positive psychology approach. The aims of
the spiritually oriented positive psychology-based group counseling program were
determined to be becoming aware of family experiences and building a relationship
with the spiritual aspect, the group members’ reviewing their spiritual backgrounds,
recognizing that spirituality is also a resource in the face of life’s obstacles,
recognizing the relationship between family resilience and spirituality, and effecting
the awareness gained on the individual to exhibit a more resilient stance in the face
of family problems in daily life.
The majority of group counseling methods and approaches as an intervention
within the scope of the research were prepared by the researcher herself. However,
the “Spiritual Life Maps” (Özkapu, 2022, pp. 349-357) and “Journey to Values”
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Eröz Özkapu, Ekşi / A Spiritual Touch On Family Resilience: A Positive...
(Yavuz, 2022, pp. 53-61) activities were used by quoting in the second and third
sessions, respectively. A lecturer who is an expert in the Department of Guidance and
Psychological Counseling examined the planned program, and required adjustments
were made in response to this review. The psychological counseling program with
this group consists of eight 90-minute sessions. Counseling sessions with the group
were held once a week in a suitable room of the public school where the children of
the participating parents were enrolled.
The Flow of Research
The ow of the research is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
The Flow of Research
• Announcing the “Positive Psychology Based Spiritual Oriented
Family Resilience Group Work” to the parents.
• Participant selection based on criteria identied from a participant
pool formed among volunteers.
• Establishment of the experimental group.
• Application of pre-testing.
• Holding 90-minute group counseling sessions once a week for eight
weeks, as planned by the researcher.
• Post-test application following the eighth session.
• Testing hypotheses and discussing ndings.
Content of Group Counseling Sessions
Session 1: Information and orientation; family and resilience concepts.
Session 2: Practices of recognizing the spiritual past and spirituality as a coping
resource.
Session 3: Spiritual life patterns, discovering values, and developing a sense of
purpose
Session 4: Religious/spiritual leaders’ important personality qualities and parenting
processes.
Collection of
qualitative
data
53
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
Session 5: The relationship between patience as a spiritual resource and family
resilience.
Session 6: The relationship between the concepts of responsibility, trust, and
contemplation from spiritual resources and family resilience
Session 7: The relationship between hope as a spiritual resource and family
resilience.
Session 8: Concluding, sharing of experiences.
Data Collection Tools
Family Resilience scale: The 37-item scale created by Kaner & Bayraklı (2010)
has four sub-dimensions: combativeness, commitment to life, self-efcacy, and
control. The scale is of the 5-point Likert type. High scores on the scale suggest that
the individual has a high perception of resilience. In the data set obtained from female
participants, the internal consistency coefcients of the scale were found to be .90
for the sub-dimension of combativeness and challenge, .87 for the commitment to
life sub-dimension, .71 for the self-efcacy sub-dimension, and .43 for the control
sub-dimension.
Spiritual Resources scale: Çelimli et al. (2019) conducted the Turkish language
validity and reliability evaluations of the scale, which was developed by Westbrook
et al. (2018). The scale consists of 24 items and contains four sub-dimensions:
religion, nature, humanitarianism, and transcendence. The coefcient of test-retest
reliability was determined to be .65. For all sub-dimensions, Cronbach’s alpha
internal consistency coefcient of the scale was determined to be .88.
Findings
Quantitative Findings
Table 1
The Results of The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests for Pretest-Posttest Scores of Sources of Spirituality of
Experimental Group
N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Z
Experimental Group NegativeRank 0 ,00 ,00 -2,807
PositiveRank 10 5,50 55,00
Ties 0
Total 10
P<.05
As evidenced by the table, the difference between the mean scores was found to
be statistically signicant as a result of the Non-Parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks
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Eröz Özkapu, Ekşi / A Spiritual Touch On Family Resilience: A Positive...
Test, which was used to determine whether there was a signicant difference between
the pretest and post-test scores of the participants in the Spiritual Resources scale
(Z=-2.807; p<05). The stated difference favored the post-test. As a result, after the
group practices, it was discovered that the level of using the spiritual resources of the
mothers who formed the experimental group increased signicantly.
Table 2
The Results of The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests for Pretest-Posttest Scores of Family Resilience of Experimental Group
N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Z
Experimental Group NegativeRank 2 3,75 7,50 -2,040
PositiveRank 8 5,94 47,50
Ties 0
Total 10
P<.05
As displayed in the table, the difference between the mean scores of the
experimental group was found to be statistically signicant as a result of the Non-
Parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, which was used to determine whether there
was a signicant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the participants
in Family Resilience scale (Z=-2.040; p<05). The stated difference favored the
post-test. As a result, after the group applications, it was discovered that the family
resilience levels of the mothers in the experimental group increased signicantly.
Qualitative Findings
Statements of participants before group counseling and themes. At the
beginning of the group counseling practice, the participants were asked about the
challenges they had encountered in family life and their feelings and views regarding
these obstacles. The emergent themes are described below.
Intolerance: This theme represents the participants’ behaviors toward their children
that they are unhappy with but continue to display because they cannot tolerate them.
Below is a selection of examples from the participants’ statements on this theme.
P1: According o what I’ve learned from books I’ve read or psychologists I’ve seen on TV, the
behaviors I exhibit have a negative impact on my child.
P3: I struggle for the sake of my child, after all. I say it in a friendly way, and I get angry
when my child still doesn’t do it.
P9: I love my children so much, but I am not always patient with them. Even though I don’t
want to, I insult them when angry. I feel regret later, but at that moment, I can’t help myself.
These participant statements demonstrate that there are some actions that mothers
unintentionally engage in during the child-rearing process and that they experience
feelings of regret as a result of these behaviors. The mothers’ expressions indicate
they are unaware of what they can do to be more patient in this regard.
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Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
Helplessness: This theme contains the participants’ statements that they do not
know what to do in the face of difculties they experience in the family. Below are a
few selected examples of this theme.
P1: I tried everything. No matter what I do, nothing works.
P3: I make that much effort. I try to avoid using bad language. Neither his father nor I even
gave him a ick. But even on doing the homework, we’re still unable to agree. Both his father
and I tried. We speak with his teacher. Again, it doesn’t work. Day by day, I begin to believe
that there is nothing I can do.
P2: I no longer even say it. No matter what he does.
P8: I attempted several times to tell my husband’s family. But there is no way I can make them
listen to me. They continue to interfere with everything with my child, no matter what we say.
In the face of the challenges they confront with their children and other family
members, these statements can be regarded as evidence that mothers have a strong sense
that there is nothing left for them to accomplish. It was observed that most participants
made statements similar to the content of this statement. These statements indicate that
participants need to possess the ability to be resilient in the face of difculties.
Control Compulsion: This theme reects the participants’ perceptions of the
power of control in their life and their thoughts on how this circumstance has affected
them. Some examples from the participants’ statements on this theme are presented.
P3: Don’t you think it is right for me to want my child to be neat and clean? Otherwise, his life will
be affected badly. I realize I’m being domineering, but I believe this will better his life.
P5: It drives me crazy when girls don’t clean up their rooms and make a mess. I can’t stop,
no matter how many times I tell myself things like “hold yourself.” I tidy up instead of them,
and no matter how much I tell them, they don’t change.
P6: I’m a very obsessive person. I want everything to be neat. I keep having thoughts about
it. I reect that to my children as well. I want their stuff to be in an order.
These statements can be viewed as evidence that mothers feel the responsibility
to exert control over the majority of situations in their lives. Also, participants have
an unrealistic perception that they can control most events. The participants also
expressed how this compulsion made their lives more challenging. Therefore, it is
possible to interpret these statements as a reection of how mothers’ tendencies to
control most aspects of daily life make their lives more challenging.
Inadequacy: This theme represents the mothers’ thoughts and perceptions that
they cannot perform the obligations and responsibilities expected of them within the
family. The following are examples selected from the participants’ statements on
this theme.
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Eröz Özkapu, Ekşi / A Spiritual Touch On Family Resilience: A Positive...
P1: I don’t have enough time to spend with my children. I sometimes feel guilty about treating
them unfairly. My husband sometimes helps, but since he works all day, he doesn’t have
anything to do either.
P4: I’m a mother of three. Since my son is disabled, I spend the whole day taking care of him.
I can’t give my other two daughters any of my time. My conscience is not at all clear about
this. My husband is only home in the evenings. All he does is eat and rest. That’s how it goes.
P8: I ght with my two daughters and my son all the time because they don’t do their homework
and make a mess of the house. No matter what I say, I can’t make them pay attention to my
advice. My husband does nothing to help out. I already have my own problems. Even so, I do
my best to take care of them, but no matter what I do, we always ght.
P7: I get along well with my children and my husband. Still, I worry that I don’t spend enough
time with my two children. We nd it hard to do things as a family where everyone takes part
and shares things.
The statements of the participants are signicant reections of their feelings of
frustration and inadequacy as a result of the many responsibilities that are expected of
them. It can be observed that the expectations that exist in the nature of motherhood,
as well as the expectations established by the surroundings, force the participants.
Therefore, it is evident that this circumstance harms the lives of women who
experience intense feelings of inadequacy.
Loneliness: This theme includes statements indicating that the participants lack
the social support necessary to share their family responsibilities. Following are
selected examples of this theme.
P6: My mother-in-law lives in the same building as us. But instead of asking her for help, I’d
better do it myself. Because she gets everything done the way she wants or does it herself.
P8: No one ever asks how I’m doing. According to the people around me, I must do everything
on my own.
P10: They are my priority. I usually put my own wants last. If I want anything, I don’t say
anything about it. I can handle my own things. After all, my husband works. Also, for some
reason, if I want something for myself, I end up feeling selsh.
These statements signicantly emphasize the necessity for women to share their
responsibilities. Although many participants have large families, it is recognized that
they do not receive the help they anticipate from their husbands, relatives, or close
friends or that they are hesitant to ask for it.
Participant statements revealed during the group counseling process and
themes. Throughout the group counseling process, qualitative data were collected
from participants via observations, interviews, recordings, and documents. The
emergent themes are described below.
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Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
Hope: This theme includes statements about positive expectations that participants
have developed for the future. Below are selected examples of this theme.
P6: I’ve previously said about my desire to attend university. Despite the fact that many
things prevented this, I think I can try new things about education. I want to study something
that interests me. Nothing is ever too late.
P8: During this session, I looked at the little girl inside me and thought, “Wow, what have
you done with your little self?” It made me feel so good to do this. If that little girl could
accomplish that, I can do better.
P9: My soul rested. It felt very good to return to the past, to live, to feel, and to observe how
everything had passed.
The participants’ statements indicate that they have developed a perspective that
includes more optimistic future expectations. It has been observed that this hopeful
perspective positively impacts participants to make them more resilient in their
personal and family lives.
Reliance (Tawakkul): This theme comprises the participants’ thoughts and
behaviors regarding the positive impacts of incorporating the concept of reliance
into their daily lives as a result of the practices conducted. Following are selected
participant statements on this theme.
P6: I think my life has changed since we watched the video about reliance. I even showed a
few of my friends this video. I learned that most things can’t be changed, no matter how hard
I try. It also made me less obsessed.
P3: You need to make a connection to life with three words; reliance, contemplation, and
smile. Reliance is a very important concept for me in life. When I was sick and everyone was
waiting for me to die, this word kept me alive. If something is in your destiny, you can learn
from anything, even an ant, but if it is not in your destiny it wouldn’t matter even if the whole
world was put in front of you.
P4: With the help of Allah, I can overcome any difculty if I trust in Him.
P7: Sharing, and acting out past emotions has given me relief. I realized that some things
cannot be changed and that acceptance is the best way.
These sentences reect the participants’ statements regarding the processes of
accepting situations over which they have no right or power to change It was found
that all of the participants provided varied examples of reliance from their own life,
indicating that they regard reliance as a signicant coping resource. In addition, it
was noted that remembering reliance and related notions of reliance more frequently
during the process led to positive changes in the participants’ daily lives.
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Patience: This theme includes various participant expressions regarding the
attitudes they adopted toward being patient with their children following group
counseling sessions. Selected of these statements are presented below.
P3: A neighbor told me this week that he saw my older son smoking. I would have normally
acted very differently. But I paused and thought about how I should react so he can better
understand me. Then I went to him and spoke calmly. He said he didn’t smoke. I remained
silent even though I did not believe it. At least we did not ght and hurt one another.
P8: Before I say something to my son, I try to calm down. I take deep breaths. If I have to,
I go somewhere else. This helps me to be more patient with the things that anger me a lot.
P9: After we talked, I decided to say “salawat” (a religious term) to my children before I get
angry. I tried that this week. I was able to hold myself many times, but not all of the time. I
felt good that I hadn’t hurt them.
Throughout the session, it was noted that the participants developed numerous
ways to be more patient with their children. These strategies include methods that
each participant develops, such as using religious resources, breathing exercises,
remaining in the moment, and thinking. This situation can be viewed as a reection
that the participants gained the motivation to be patient in difcult family situations
and put them into practice.
Social Support: This theme reects the participants’ experiences receiving support
from their environment. Selected of these participant statements are presented below.
P3: It’s great to share and learn from each other. There were already chat groups that I
had joined, but I’ll do it more often.
P6: This group made me feel so good that it was a relief to see that other people have had
similar feelings. I wasn’t alone. My obsessions have even gotten less.
P8: I’ve been to a psychologist before but this was the rst time I opened myself to this extent.
Everyone in this group gave me condence. I’d love to have someone with whom I could
share my experiences in the future.
P10: Everyone in this group taught me something. After the group, I hope to see you. I will
do my best for it.
All of the participants reported that listening, telling, and sharing was very
benecial to them and that they have made various plans to repeat that experience
in the future. These participant statements indicate that they have formed a social
support area that they can apply against future challenges.
Steps to Change: The participants’ actions and life plans, which were shaped by
the group counseling process, are reected in this theme. The following are some
selected expressions relating to this theme.
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Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
P4: This week, I returned to my old knitting hobby this week to relax myself. I make tiny hairpins
and ornaments out of knitting for children. I don’t know how time goes by so quickly when I do
these. Having some time to myself was good for me. That can also help me make money.
P6: Although I wanted to do it for a long time, I couldn’t do it. This week, I enrolled in a
Quran course. It was great to have taken this step.
P7: I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll tell my husband what I want now. My rst goal is to tell my
husband which armchair I like better, even if they don’t like it.
P8: I placed the names of Allah above my bed. Every day, I will come to realize something
about these names and put it into action.
These statements reect how mothers have developed strategies to strengthen
their life resilience. It was revealed that each participant set various short- and
long-term goals in light of their values and took signicant steps toward achieving
these objectives. These statements might indicate that the group counseling process
provides participants with motivation and the courage to change.
Resilient Attitude: This theme comprises the participants’ statements on the
coping methods they have developed in response to life’s challenges. Below are
selected examples of this theme.
P1: My sister left us; my brother became a drug addict. We are bankrupt. Everything in our
lives has changed, but we stood up and held hands. We helped each other all the time. I don’t
know what’s next for us. Life is hard and full of surprises. But if I’ve made it this far, I’ll be
able to make it through the next ones.
P4: I coped with what happened to me after that bad thing that happened to my sister when
I was young. I got through the death of my father. I dealt with the situation of my own child’s
health. First, my faith in God and then my own strength was always with me as I did all of
these things. I hope that this is how it will be in the future.
P10: We will act as if we have armors in front of us when we don’t want to hear rumors
in conversations that can’t be learned from. I can’t wait to give it a try. If I do it without
exaggeration, it will contribute a lot to my life.
Looking at the statements of the mothers, it is noticeable that they have developed
an awareness that they can do something rather than feeling helpless in the face
of the difculties they face. These expressions can be interpreted as an essential
reection of the participants’ determination to develop critical strategies to remain
psychologically resilient by creating their unique meanings.
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Discussion
This study aimed to improve the family resilience levels of mothers by providing them
with eight sessions of spiritually oriented, positive psychology-based psychological
counseling to enable them to discover their resources and use them more effectively
in their daily lives. A pretest-posttest single-group experimental design was used in the
quantitative part of the study, whereas a thematic analysis was used in the quantitative
part. Based on the quantitative analyses conducted to evaluate the differences between
the applied group and the psychological counseling sessions, it was determined that the
group had a positive and signicant change in spiritual resources and family resilience.
By examining both the processes of the participants before group counseling and the
changes brought about by the process from various aspects, many themes were reached
by evaluating qualitative data collected during the research process.
Before the implementation of group counseling sessions, participants made statements
on the themes of intolerance, helplessness, control compulsion, inadequacy, and loneliness,
and during and after the counseling practice, they made statements that formed the themes
of hope, reliance, patience, social support, resilience, and steps to change.
While raising their children, parents may face various challenges or obstacles.
Depending on the age of the children, their temperament, or the number of children
their parents have, these difculties may vary (O’Brien, 1996). The presence of themes
obtained, such as helplessness, loneliness, inadequacy, and intolerance in the qualitative
data, maybe a similar indicator of the various difculties encountered in these areas.
It was discovered that individuals’ family resilience levels signicantly increased as
a result of the psychological therapy intervention with a spiritually oriented positive
psychology-based group. This situation serves as an example of the effect of spirituality
on resilience. The idea that spirituality is an essential component of human nature is
now widely accepted. According to research, spirituality is a valuable resource used
for coping with difcult living conditions (Ayten et al., 2012; Bryant-Davis & Wong,
2013; Cummings & Pargament, 2010; Sağlam-Demirkan, 2020; Spacious, 2019;
Zwingmann et al.., 2006). Positive religious coping describes using religious and
spiritual dimensions as a resource for coping with negative or challenging occurrences.
Positive religious coping is characterized by a secure relationship with the creator, the
development of a belief in the signicance of life, and a sense of spiritual commitment.
Spirituality, therefore, has a considerable effect on individuals and families’ mental,
physical, and social health (Gall & Younger, 2013; Pargament et al., 2001).
Family resilience refers to the ability of a family to cope effectively with life crises,
stresses, or difculties. This concept provides an explanation for why some family
dynamics remain healthy and robust while others are unable to withstand adversity
(McCubbin & McCubbin, 1988). Every family faces various problems or stress
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Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
factors from time to time. This difcult circumstance has the potential to damage
the functioning of the family as well as the potential to enhance the family if the
appropriate steps are taken (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1993). Therefore, it can be said
that the mothers’, who have a crucial role in family systems, the discovery of their
spiritual resources and their ability to utilize them to strengthen their resilience has a
protective and enhancing result.
When faced with life’s challenges, many families use the spirituality they share
based on a common belief system to exhibit an optimistic (McCubbin & McCubbin,
1988; Mahoney et al., 2001; Marks, 2004; Rew et al., 2004; Tanyi, 2006; Walsh,
1998;).95% of the parents who participated in the meta-analysis conducted by
Mahoney et al. (2001) reported that religion is an essential factor in the family. When
examining the family structure of Turkish society, it is seen that families are comprised
of nuclear and extended family structures, each with its certain value systems (Sayın,
1987). In a survey performed by the Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry General
Directorate of Family and Social Research (2010) to reveal family values in Turkey,
96.8% of participants stated that the family holds a signicant place in their lives,
and 87% stated that when confronted with nancial or moral issues, they should rst
turn to their family for support. 90.3% of the participants indicated that they would be
willing to face any challenges for the sake of their family. According to the research,
values such as loyalty, support from extended family, respect, and commitment
to religious and spiritual values were prominent; frequently praying in the face of
problems experienced in the family, adherence to religious rules in daily life, and
adherence to values that are considered important in the family are used as coping
mechanisms. This study’s qualitative and quantitative data reveal results that parallel
these ndings. In the subthemes derived from the qualitative data acquired during
the study process, it was discovered that the majority of participants used religious
rituals to overcome the difculties they met in life and that this circumstance had a
good effect on their lives. Many participants indicated that they developed coping
mechanisms, such as saying salawat, using Allah’s names, and relying on Allah.
Additionally, it was noted that there was a notable increase in the use of spiritual
resources after the program to build resilience was implemented.
Examining the ndings from qualitative data reveals the emergence of positive
psychology concepts such as hope, trust, and patience. Similar to this conclusion,
a literature review reveals that spiritually-based group counseling practices have
effective results on the development of numerous positive psychology-related
phenomena in persons. Fallah et al. (2011) conducted sessions with spiritually-based
group counseling practices for women with cancer that included positive psychology
ideas, including gratitude, forgiveness, patience, and hope. After the study, it was
discovered that there was a substantial difference in the participants’ levels of life
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satisfaction, happiness, and hope. Elham et al. (2015) carried out a study with
a spiritual/religious basis and interventions on providing hope, sharing spiritual
experiences, strengthening family ties, prayer, and worship on 66 patients receiving
treatment in the coronary care unit; it was discovered that the individuals’ anxiety
levels decreased while their well-being increased. In the study conducted by Lambert
et al. (2010), the participants were assigned the task of praying about a friend,
praying for a friend’s well-being, and praying about any subject every day for four
weeks and as a result of the application, the participants demonstrated an increase in
their capacity for forgiveness. All of this research demonstrate that spiritually-based
positive psychology practices, such as those in this study, produce positive changes
in variables related to an individual’s level of resilience.
All of the participants in the study group of this research are female. The
cultural structure of the society in which people reside establishes various patterns
and expectations for how women and men should behave and think (Powell &
Greenkouse, 2010). Most of the gender-specic expectations that people confront are
shaped within the family. When examining the roles assigned to women by society, it
is evident that there are many expectations in areas such as education, employment,
and marriage and that these expectations can negatively impact the lives of women
(Demirgöz Bal, 2014). Women in a discourse analysis on being a woman in Turkey
said they felt compelled to carry out obligations placed on them by society. However,
while most women expressed the problems they encountered in life, they talked about
the problems related to family and home life (Elçi, 2011). According to the research
conducted by the Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry General Directorate of Family
and Social Research (2010), there are many expectations placed on women in Turkey,
including family duties, housekeeping, care, economic management, relationships
with society, relationships with relatives and neighbors, and being caring and loving.
Due to these imposed gender roles, women endure various emotional, mental, and
social issues, as evidenced by these ndings. Therefore, it is believed that this study,
which was undertaken for women to enhance family resilience, will have a positive
impact on many facets of their lives.
It is believed that this research will serve as a signicant example of spiritually
oriented positive psychology-based group studies, family resilience support, and the
utilization of spiritual resources, all considered lacking in the national literature. The
application of this study to women who face many problems in the areas of child-
rearing, daily responsibilities, and family relations, and who play a prominent role in
the family is thought to increase the family resilience levels of mothers and bring about
positive changes on both an individual and social level. In addition, it is believed that
these studies can be conducted regardless of gender and age and that the implementation
of the projects will have signicant effects on the health of families and communities.
63
Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 8(1), 45–66
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