Daryl R. Van Tongeren – författare

This book draws from cutting-edge psychological research to provide advice for people who are undergoing religious change.Americans today are leaving religion in record numbers. For many, the faith, practices, and institutions that once provided comfort and guidance no longer fit their beliefs and values. This shift often comes with a price, however. While turning away from religion can bring about freedom, awe, and wonder, it can also engender a profound loss of meaning, purpose, community, and identity. It can threaten our relationships with friends and family. And it can pose a significant challenge to the mental health of even the most resilient among us.    How can people who are no longer served by traditional religion find new meaning and purpose? How can they process the grief that often accompanies religious or spiritual change? And how can they address challenging interpersonal relationships with people who do not support or understand their religious change? In this book, psychologist Daryl Van Tongeren draws from psychological theories and research to examine the emotional and social processes involved with religious change and offers science-based guidance for building a new life-with or without religion.  If you are rethinking your religious beliefs, have experienced religious loss or struggle, or have undergone a significant religious change, you are not alone. By understanding how people before us have left or transformed their religion, we can discover new ways of finding peace, experiencing meaning, and, if desired, engaging with the transcendent. Let their wisdom-and this book-be your guide.

Learning how to do research well is not easy, and for newer scholars the process can feel overwhelming. Using clear and supportive language, this book is designed to help graduate students and early career professionals in psychology develop skills to effectively work through the research process.  Chapters cover the essential character traits and skills that are necessary to become an effective researcher, walk through the main steps for completing a research project from start to finish, and discuss considerations when building a career and research program.Rather than the nitty-gritty of research methods, authors Joshua N. Hook, Don E. Davis, and Daryl R. Van Tongeren focus on the big picture of what is required in research. Chapters in the first section address overarching principles-the personal growth, attributes, and habits that are important to develop to become a successful researcher. The second section illustrates the key steps in completing a research project from start to finish, from formulating an idea for a project, to completing a literature review, collecting data, analyzing data, and writing up the results. The third section discusses developing a research program and transitioning from graduate student to professional-topics such as collaborating with others in research and mentoring students. This section is full of practical advice the authors learned from mentors and from personal experience.  Written for people with a broad range of career goals, and with the mentoring relationship in mind, the book helps mentors and students form productive relationships that feel mutually beneficial and rewarding. Each chapter aims to help students and professionals along their research journey, and teaches them not just how to survive the process, but thrive.

This book shows mental health professionals how to help clients deal with existential uncertainties and find meaning as they grapple with their religious and spiritual beliefs.As more individuals leave organized religion, deconstruct long-held beliefs, or seek nonreligious spirituality, their existential and spiritual needs often surface in therapy, whether as a presenting concern or a deeper undercurrent. Clients turn to therapists, counselors, social workers, and other helping professionals, desperate for answers. Drawing from cutting-edge research and clinical wisdom, this book provides tools and guidelines for providing culturally competent spiritual care to help clients along their journeys of religious and spiritual change.The authors introduce their existential distress, growth, and engagement (EDGE) model to help clients make sense of their religious/spiritual identities, develop new worldviews, adjust their morals and values, and cultivate meaningful social connections.They explore the five existential realities that clients often struggle with when their faith is in crisis. These include freedom (the conflict between autonomy and responsibility); isolation caused by loss of community; identity, which includes lacking a clear narrative of one's life journey; death anxiety; and meaninglessness, both in the grand scheme of things and in one's day-to-day life.

Showcasing cutting-edge research in a dynamic area, this authoritative volume explores how people navigate psychological experiences that are fundamentally about the nature of existence. In 65 compelling chapters, preeminent editors and contributors describe the field's conceptual foundations, methods, and contemporary findings. The Handbook is focused on issues of "being and becoming" in mental and social life, including: time, aging, and death; freedom, authenticity, and moral responsibility; isolation, uncertainty, and shared reality; culture, the self, and identity; the quest for meaning and purpose; religion and spirituality; and awe, personal growth, and what comprises the "good life."