Special Issue Spirituality and Disability.

When spirituality was suggested as a topic for a special issue of the Journal over a year ago, I must admit that I was concerned about exactly how to approach the topic. Spirituality and religion were subjects that had been virtually taboo in counseling and professional circles for years, yet had become very "hot" topics in the 90's.

A lot has been written on spirituality recently, and the relationship of spirituality and disability has been linked frequently in the literature. It seemed time for the Journal to focus on this very important topic. The goal of the issue was to provide a general understanding of spirituality issues, guidance on how these might be used in practice and some ideas related to future directions of spirituality as a "field of interest." Given this rather daunting task, you may well imagine my relief when Dr. Carolyn Vash agreed to be guest editor. I think the result easily surpasses the original goal.

The first article is by Dr. Ralph L. Piedmont, who answers a critically important question that we sometimes forget to ask; i.e. is spirituality a viable personality construct? Using the five-factor model of personality, his data support the conclusion that spirituality is an identifiable and measurable concept, and that it is a variable that influences personal choices and behaviors. Dr. Nierenberg and Dr. Sheldon then report on their study of the relationship of spirituality and recovery of children in a rehabilitation setting. Their study not only supports the value of spiritual and religious supports to recovery, but the article also includes a discussion of the development of spiritual and religious concepts during childhood and adolescence. The study by Dr. Nosek and Dr. Hughes specifically looked at adult women with disabilities and found that spiritual concepts and ideas were important mechanisms in transcending the challenges that accompany disability. In her article "Spirituality and Energy Medicine," Dr. Trieschmann describes her movement toward using spirituality in her work as a counselor and therapist. She allows the reader to follow her development and provides explanations of the basis for her approach. She also illustrates how these are used in her practice as a therapist. Dr. Vash in her article "Disability, Spirituality, and the Mapping of the Human Genome" then discusses the implications of technical progress, social conflicts and spirituality, and what some of the issues in the future are likely to be. In the epilogue, based on a speech she delivered in San Paulo, Brazil, Dr. Vash provides a vision of the development of these ideas on an international scale.

Spirituality is a thought provoking topic, and I found all contributions to this special issue informative, interesting, and often provocative. I want to especially thank Carolyn for her work on the issue. Her work and input were critical, and I greatly appreciate her contributions. Personally, I found her to be kind, insightful, discriminating and, at times, quite funny. It was a pleasure working with her.