Hetty Zock’s research while affiliated with University of Groningen and other places

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Publications (10)


Positioning Chaplaincy in the Pluralistic and Multidisciplinary Dutch Care Context
  • Article
  • Full-text available

September 2023

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85 Reads

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2 Citations

Religions

Anja Visser

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Hetty Zock

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Hanneke Muthert

The professional identity of chaplains is under question because of societal trends of disaffiliation from and pluralization of religion, and of deinstitutionalization of care. Chaplaincy in the Netherlands looks to discourse around “meaning” to navigate these challenges. The use of the term “meaning” as the central concept in the professional identity of chaplaincy (and, by extension, spiritual care) is not undisputed, however. There are three related critiques: 1. Meaning and meaning-making have a strong cognitive and intentional connotation, which does not do justice to the lived experience of meaning and might lead to a medicalization of meaning. 2. The term meaning places the professional identity of chaplaincy in the instrumental discourse of other professions, which might lead to “abuse” of spiritual care toward external objectives such as health, (hedonistic) well-being, and/or economic gain, instead of internal objectives such as faith and spirituality. 3. A focus on meaning leads to a marginalization of religion, both societally and within chaplaincy, which might negatively affect chaplaincy’s core competence of hermeneutic understanding and worldview counseling. We conclude that finding one language to present the discipline might not be feasible and desirable. Instead, we advocate for the revitalization of the hermeneutic competency of chaplains.

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Erik H. Erikson, Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History (1958): A Psychosocial Interpretation of Luther and its Relevance for Understanding Religious Identity Formation Today

January 2022

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91 Reads

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3 Citations

NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion

As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, the present article discusses Erik H. Erikson’s interdisciplinary, psychohistorical study of the young Martin Luther, its reception, and its relevance for today. Erikson showed how Luther’s own identity crisis – emerging from the troubled relationship with his father – converged with a crisis in late medieval society and theology, and how being a talented homo religiosus helped Luther to solve both crises at the same time, presenting a “religiosity for the adult man” in accordance with the Renaissance need for autonomy. It is argued that during his psychosocial study of Luther and the latter’s cultural context, Erikson developed a general, existential theory of religion that is also relevant for an understanding of the search for identity and religion in modern times.


Existential Care in a Modern Society: Pastoral Care Consultations in Local Communities in Norway

June 2021

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21 Reads

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10 Citations

International Journal of Practical Theology

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Hetty Zock

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[...]

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Data from a recent survey on pastoral care consultations (PCC) in Norway (N=408) is presented, showing that PCC is a service priests and deacons provide for people in the municipality, independent of faith affiliation. The most common PCC themes regarded mental and social distress, such as grief, conflicts, and loneliness. Furthermore, illness-related themes were prominent, and a specter of religious and moral issues. We discuss the results in the context of ongoing changes and reforms in both church and health care, and point at possible health promoting dimensions of PCC as existential assistance in the space between personal network support and public health care.


Aandacht voor zingeving : Context en praktijk van geestelijke verzorging in het aardbevingsgebied van Groningen

March 2021

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10 Reads

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1 Citation

NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion

Attention for Meaning-Making Processes: Context and Practice of Spiritual Care in the Earthquake Area of Groningen In the North of the Netherlands spiritual caregivers have been employed to respond to the social and personal needs resulting from human induced earthquakes. In the Netherlands knowledge on spiritual care in times of disasters is limited. Central to the present study are two questions: How is spiritual care being put into practice in Groningen? And how do the spiritual caregivers cooperate with others in psychosocial care and in the social domain? This article describes the context, the reasons spiritual care came to be provided and the primary activities of the spiritual caregivers during their initial year of practice.


Non-Denominational Spiritual Care Givers and the Development of their Spirituality

January 2021

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38 Reads

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5 Citations

Health and Social Care Chaplaincy

In the Netherlands, a growing number of spiritual care givers are working without being endorsed by any church or worldview organization. Since 2015, these non-denominational spiritual care givers can undergo an assessment of their “spiritual competence” on top of their Master’s degree in Spiritual Care, which leads to a mandate in this area. This enables them to obtain full membership of the professional Association of Spiritual Caregivers in the Netherlands (Vereniging van Geestelijk VerZorgers, VGVZ), from which they previously were excluded. The VGVZ seeks to secure the quality and professionalism of spiritual care, and full membership is a condition typically required by clients or employers. The VGVZ’s Professional Standard outlines the membership criteria and states that a spiritual care giver needs to have both a certain expertise, derived from a Master’s degree, and authorization, derived from an endorsement or mandate that ought to safeguard their spiritual competence and authentic, lived spirituality. However, as this study illustrates, the terminology used in the Professional Standard is rather unclear. Reference is made to “spiritual”, “worldview” and “hermeneutic” competencies, which are all situated in the domain of substantive, process-orientated and personal capabilities. This article critically examines the notion of spiritual competence as a leading concept in the acceptance and assessment of non-denominational spiritual care givers. By doing so, it offers a novel systematic analysis of the field and sets the agenda for future research.


Religious or Spiritual Experiences and Bipolar Disorder: A Case Study from the Perspective of Dialogical Self Theory

October 2020

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386 Reads

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6 Citations

Religions

In this article, a case study will be presented of a person with bipolar I disorder, who struggles to interpret his religious experiences and how they are related to the disorder. The analysis builds on a larger study into religious experiences within the context of bipolar disorder (BD). In this previous study, medical and religious explanatory models for religious experiences related to BD often appeared to go hand in hand in patients who have had such experiences. In this case study, the various ‘voices’ in the interpretation process over time will be examined from the perspective of the dialogical self theory of Hubert Hermans, in order to explore the psychological dimension of this process. The case study demonstrates that a ‘both religious and pathological’ explanatory model for religious experiences consists of a rich and changing variety of I-positions that fluctuate depending on mood episode. Structured reflection from a spiritual and from a medical perspective over the course of several years helped this person to allow space for different dialoguing ‘voices’, which—in this case—led to a more balanced attitude towards such experiences and less pathological derailment. The systematic reflection on religious experiences by the person in the case study was mainly conducted without help of mental health care professionals and was not derived from a DST perspective. It could be argued, however, that DST could be used as a helpful instrument for the exploration of both medical and spiritual ‘voices’ in the interpretation of religious experiences in both clinical practice by hospital chaplains and by other professionals.


Reinventing spiritual care in a secular context: the chaplain as entrepreneur

October 2020

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7 Reads

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1 Citation

Dans nos sociétés sécularisées, où sont prônées laïcité et neutralité, on assiste à un effort de conceptualisation pour penser la spiritualité en clinique. Cet effort s’organise autour d’un consensus consistant à placer la personne humaine au centre de la prise en soins. Serait-il alors possible d’envisager un avenir construit sur une « spiritualité universelle » au-delà des religions et des barrières culturelles ? Dans cette perspective, l’anthropologie proposée par Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) constitue un paradigme fédérateur entre théologiens, accompagnants spirituels, soignants, médecins, psychiatres et psychothérapeutes permettant de nourrir et d’entretenir un dialogue fécond pour les questions soulevées par ce que l’on peut ranger sous l’appellation de « clinique du sens ». En effet, le terme « sens » occupe un rôle central aussi bien dans la pensée de Viktor Frankl que dans la plupart des modèles de « Spiritual Care ».


Human Development and Pastoral Care in a Postmodern Age: Donald Capps, Erik H. Erikson, and Beyond

April 2018

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600 Reads

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20 Citations

Journal of Religion and Health

This article discusses Donald Capps’s use of Erik H. Erikson’s life-cycle theory as the basic psychological framework for his theory of pastoral care. Capps was attracted to Erikson’s existential-psychological model, his hermeneutic approach, and his religious sensitivity. Capps’s thought develops from first exploring biblical foundations for using Eriksonian theory for pastoral care to gradually embracing certain postmodern features. The article concludes with reflections on the usefulness of Erikson’s life-cycle theory and Capps’s work for contemporary pastoral care.


Sweet Delight and Endless Night: A Qualitative Exploration of Ordinary and Extraordinary Religious and Spiritual Experiences in Bipolar Disorder

December 2017

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172 Reads

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21 Citations

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

The authenticity of religious and spiritual experiences during mania is an important subject for bipolar patients. The exploration of such experience in bipolar disorder is the central point of this qualitative study. A psychiatrist and a hospital chaplain conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with recovered participants, recruited from mental health care institutions in the Netherlands, the patients’ association and via the internet, about their religious and spiritual experiences during illness episodes and in stable times. A variety in types (such as divine presence, unity, mission, meaningful synchronicity) during mania was reported, which were on a sliding scale with experiences/views in stable times in more than half of the interviews. During depression, absence of religious or spiritual experience was predominant. The reported experiences were viewed by most participants as both authentically religious or spiritual but also related to the disorder, requiring therefore language that transcended medical terminology. Also indicated is the relevance of the results for fundamental discussions about the nature or religious experience.


Citations (7)


... The term meaning making, or meaning in life (in Dutch: zingeving), is becoming more central for the professional identity of chaplaincy in the Netherlands (Glasner et al., 2023;Jacobs et al., 2024;Visser et al., 2023). However, there is disagreement about this concept within the chaplaincy profession. ...

Reference:

Interfaith Collaboration: Boundary Crossing in a Participatory Action Research Project with Health Care Chaplains in The Netherlands
Positioning Chaplaincy in the Pluralistic and Multidisciplinary Dutch Care Context

Religions

... The findings further illustrate that mutual or communal care plays a crucial role in pastoral care within the movement. Research participants depicted this approach in their oral account of how some of them as ordinary members of the local church visit the sick and the needy to pray with them and share scriptures with them (Danbolt et al., 2021). ...

Existential Care in a Modern Society: Pastoral Care Consultations in Local Communities in Norway
  • Citing Article
  • June 2021

International Journal of Practical Theology

... In 2012, an earthquake of magnitude 3.6, then the largest earthquake in this region, caused great concern. Various technical studies have been conducted on these earthquakes [2][3][4]. Even though the earthquakes in Groningen do not have a devastating impact, their impact is still significant because the earthquakes are close to the surface (3 km), and a 100-metre-thick sandstone reservoir leads to subsidence [5]. ...

Aandacht voor zingeving : Context en praktijk van geestelijke verzorging in het aardbevingsgebied van Groningen
  • Citing Article
  • March 2021

NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion

... The persistence of worldview might seem in contrast with our increasingly secular society. However, according to Taylor (2007), the secular age does not imply that the influence of (religious) worldviews has declined. Instead, it is characterized by a constant interplay between religion and secularism. ...

Non-Denominational Spiritual Care Givers and the Development of their Spirituality
  • Citing Article
  • January 2021

Health and Social Care Chaplaincy

... An example of a quest for meaning of religious experiences related to bipolar disorder is described in a detailed case study from the perspective of Dialogical Self Theory, developed by Hubert Hermans (Ouwehand et al. 2020b). 'Peter', who was raised as an atheist and converted to Christianity later in life due to his religious experiences during (hypo)manic episodes, shows the complexity of the process of interpretation over the years and the struggle of a person to find a more balanced attitude toward his religious experiences. ...

Religious or Spiritual Experiences and Bipolar Disorder: A Case Study from the Perspective of Dialogical Self Theory

Religions

... In 34 semi-structured interviews with recovered Dutch bipolar patients, religious and spiritual experiences, interpretations thereof, and their cultural influence on the lives of the participants were explored (Ouwehand et al. 2018(Ouwehand et al. , 2019b. A variation of experiences, perceived as religious or spiritual, was found, mostly positive and often related to mania (Ouwehand et al. 2018). ...

Sweet Delight and Endless Night: A Qualitative Exploration of Ordinary and Extraordinary Religious and Spiritual Experiences in Bipolar Disorder
  • Citing Article
  • December 2017

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

... In terms of existential search, if the patient has a sense of meaninglessness in life, the aim of spiritual care would be, for example, to help them find a role that they can fulfill regardless of their physical fitness. According to Zock [42], spiritual care should aim to help individuals become more insightful in their lives. The key question is: "How can an individual regain a sense that their life constitutes a meaningful and comprehensible whole in the face of an ongoing process of change?". ...

Human Development and Pastoral Care in a Postmodern Age: Donald Capps, Erik H. Erikson, and Beyond

Journal of Religion and Health