Supporting Student Mental Health through Christian Vocation and Personal Meaning

Christian Vocation & Personal Meaning: Supporting Student Mental Health Rachel F. Pickett, PhD Professor of Psychology NetVUE Program Development Grant

Lutheran Vocation Calling from God Vocation is all our relationships, situations, context and stations in life We are called to live out our faith in even the most ordinary tasks/roles Sacrificial love for our neighbors Service & Citizenship Kolden (1983); Veith (2011)

Vocation: Vital to Higher Education Ongoing, lifelong learning endeavor Potential to bring various disciplines into meaningful dialogue Opportunity to use time and safe space of college to explore self Develop Christian citizens and servants who will impact the world Cunningham (2016)

Christian Vocation & Life- Span Development Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood Identity Development Multicultural Considerations Middle Adulthood Generativity Late Adulthood Wisdom Cahalan & Miller-McLemore (2017)

COVID19 & Mental Health www.apa.org/topics/covid-19 APA s Stress in American Survey High Levels of Anxiety & Burnout Disruption Linked to Depression Five to Thrive Checklist Healthy Habits Productive Coping Skills Mental Health Support Social Support Don t Wait Ask for Help Various Resources

Humanism Carl Rogers Person Centered Therapy Components of healing relationships Unconditional Positive Regard Authenticity Empathy Discussion Techniques Basic Listening Sequence Avoid giving advice Refer to experts

Campus Resources Counseling Center Student Health Center Career & Academic Advising (FAST) Behavioral Intervention Team Evelyn s Place (Mequon) JED Campus Campus Safety Suicide Hotline

Vocation & Well-Being Relationship between personal meaning & psychological well-being Personal meaning mediated negative effects COVID had on mental health Personal meaning buffered against threats of the world Religious commitment beneficial to psychological well-being Religious commitment psychological well-being Sense of calling related to positive outlook Various Resources

Vocation & Well-Being Personal meaning & psychological well- being was connected to: Optimism Social Support Positive Coping Skills Vocational discernment focused on our presence in the world from Kingdom of God perspective Link between faith & mental health See mental health as mission of the church? Various Resources

Living Vocationally: Journey of the Called Life Preparing for the Journey Freedom & joy from becoming the person God s love created us to be The Journey of the Called Life Companions on the journey teachers, mentors, family, and friends Virtues for the Journey Attention, Humility & Gratitude Fidelity, Justice, & Courage Hope & Patience Wadell & Pinches (2021)

Called to Share Our Narratives Our lives are cultural texts that are interpreted as stories Educators Stories Self-Introduction How the subject first engaged us Why we teach Key component for self unity Helping others, moral commitments, prosocial goals, positive reframing Redemption most powerful story Cunningham (2017); McAdams (2006)

Intentional Vocation Program Planning Developing good vocation programs requires honest conversation Introduce to students right away Develop throughout the college experience Embed in curriculum, co-curricular programs and institutional/departmental culture What would make a vocation program successful in your department? Clydesdale (2015)

Vocational Reflection Exercise What connection between vocation and well-being stood out to you most? What s your vocational narrative as it relates to mental health/resilience? New ideas for incorporating vocation into your work with students? Other take-aways?

References Arslan, G., Yildirim, M., & Leung, M.M. (2021). Mediating effect of personal meaning in the prediction of life satisfaction and mental health problems based on coronavirus suffering. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg2021638379 Cahalan, K. A., & Miller-McLemore, B. J. (2017). Calling all years good: Christian vocation throughout life s seasons. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co: Grand Rapids, MI. Clydesdale, T. (2015). The purposeful graduate: Why colleges must talk to students about vocation. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. Cook, C.C.H. (2020). Mental health in the kingdom of God. Theology, 123, 163-171. Cunningham, D. S. (2017). Vocation across the academy: A new vocabulary for higher education. Oxford University Press: New York. Cunningham, D. S. (2016). At this time and in this place: Vocation and higher education. Oxford University Press: New York. Farber, E.W., et al. (2010). Psychological well-being in persons receiving HIV-related mental health services: The role of personal meaning in a stress coping model. General Hospital Psychiatry, 32, 73-79.

References Galek, K., et al. (2015). Religion, meaning and purpose, and mental health. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 7, 1-12. Holtmaat, K. et al. (2019). Positive mental health among cancer survivors: Overlap in psychological well- being, personal meaning, and posttraumatic growth. Supportive Care in Cancer, 27, 443-450. Kolden, M. (1983). Luthern on vocation. Word & World, 3, p. 383-391. Mc Adams, D. P. (2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. New York: Oxford University Press. Rotman, M. (2017). Vocation in psychology and theology: Conflicting Approaches? Christian Higher Education, 16, 23-32. Veith, G. E. (2011). God at work. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. Wadell,P.J., & Pinches, C.R. (2021). Living vocationally: The journey of the called life. Cascade Books: Eugene, OR.