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Enhancing Awe, Wonder and Empowerment in Counseling
#empowerment #strengthsbased #spirituality #pastoral counseling
Objectives
⢠Explore how awe and wonder can enhance feelings of empowerment and reduce distress
Distress
⢠When people feel distress they often feel disempowered, hopeless
⢠Distress triggers the amygdala and the HPA-Axis (fight or flee) and propels people in to âDefault Modeâ responding
⢠Mindfulness (sometimes spurred by awe and wonder) downregulates the DMN and activates the Executive Control Network which allows people to become aware of possibilities and options
Awe, Wonder and Curiosity
⢠Awe experiences can be characterized âperceived vastness/profoundness/greatnessâ and a âneed for accommodationâ or an adjustment of our understanding of the world (learning)
⢠People switch from âDefault Modeâ to âExecutive Controlâ
⢠When people feel awe, their attention becomes focused on something extraordinary
⢠Awe can be thought of as a temporary form of mindfulness
⢠When you feel awe and wonder you often want to continue to experience it, to see it again and maybe (but not always) to understand it
⢠Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at UC Berkeley, has shown that awe leads to greater humility, curiosity, innovation, happiness, and a desire to contribute to the world.
⢠In two studies, a typical awe experience was associated not only with awe, but with compassion, gratitude, love, and optimism, along with connectedness and self-relevant thoughts
⢠Awe is a complex emotional construct characterized by a mix of positive (contentment, happiness), and negative affective components (fear and a sense of being smaller, humbler or insignificant)
⢠Humility is
⢠A foundational virtue that counters selfish inclinations such as entitlement and arrogance.
⢠The realization that there is more beyond the self and oneâs impact on the world and the worldâs impact on them
⢠How can humility be helpful in treatment?
⢠Is it possible to foster empowerment and humility at the same time?
⢠When individuals encounter something that is vast and challenges their worldview, they may feel awe, which leads to self-diminishment and subsequently humility.
⢠Awe-prone individuals were rated as more humble by friends
⢠Inducing awe led participants to present a more balanced view of their strengths and weaknesses to others and acknowledge the contribution of outside forces in their own personal accomplishments
⢠How could you do this in session?
⢠One study found that inspiring awe made subjects more skeptical of weak or vague arguments, seeking a clearer understanding of what they are actually experiencing.
⢠Experiencing awe can dampen the bodyâs stress response and can change how people process information
⢠Big things may not seem as big anymore and little things we take for granted may seem more important
⢠Awe encourages you to gather information about what is actually there in the moment (mindfulness)
⢠Awe can be a catalyst for advancement
Why Not Awe?
⢠Too busy
⢠Not enough endorphins & dopamine
⢠Too threatening to recognize something bigger than me or otherâs successes
⢠What else keeps people from being able to notice or appreciate awesomeness?
⢠Note: People on the spectrum CAN feel awe and wonder as well as a host of other feelings. They may have difficulty identifying the feelings or manifest them differently.
⢠Many feelings â such as fear, anger and joy â seem to be experienced more intensely by those with Asperger profiles than by average people.
Triggering Awe and Wonder
⢠What is awe inspiring?
⢠Inspiring Awe in Children
Triggering Awe and Wonder
⢠Try to see the world through a childâs eyes (planetarium, museum, nature walk)
⢠Seek it out in person, media or VR.
⢠Journal about it: 10 minutes of awe during the day and 10 minutes of positive focus (not Toxic Positivity) at night.
⢠Tell someone about how they made a big impact on you. (Triggers awe in them) and reflect on how that experience impacts you.
Summary
⢠Too often we are in our default mode (mindlessness) and miss opportunities to notice awe-inspiring experiences.
⢠Awe experiences can mean noticing something larger than you as well as noticing how little things that we often overlook often add up and impact us (butterfly effect)
⢠Awe experiences can help us recognize progress, see possibilities and connect in unique ways
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