A Heuristic Study:

“What does Spirituality

mean to me?"

Steve Gray

April 2018

Keele Counselling

(Research and

Practice)

Conference 2018

‘Spirituality, faith

and religion in the

therapeutic space

“The concept of spirituality has

been a consistent dimension in

my life. Whilst at times this

aspect of myself has been

ignored, denied and rejected, on

reflection, I have come to

understand that the concept of

spirituality has always been an

important part of me.”

Aim

The aim of this heuristic piece of research (Moustakas, 1990) is to

continue with my onward journey, to consider at depth, what spirituality

means to me now, and why does it continue to resonate?

Possible research outcomes:

1. Congruence (Rogers, 2004), A greater understanding of myself that

may support me both in my personal development, growth, and

therapeutic practice; particularly in my current role as a bereavement

counsellor (Milner, 2011).

2. Practice development: An increased understanding of how the

Person-Centred approach links to my spirituality, which may be of

interest to a larger counselling community.

3. Resonance: The research may resonate and be thought provoking for

other readers, on their own spiritual journey (Rogers, Kirshenbaum &

Henderson, 1999).

Why did I choose the heuristic method?

“The opportunity to look at this subject, and from a heuristic perspective,

intuitively just felt right, and resonated with not just my understanding of how

research should be conducted, but also my understanding of the individual

from a person centred perspective, mainly that every day we create our own

reality, and truth from our own unique experience” (Gray, 2015).

“One could also suggest that there exists a spiritual quality at the very heart of

the heuristic method, which can be seen in the use of language in the

literature, for example, searching, inward looking, reflective, meditative, felt-

sense, inner-awareness, meaning, intuitive, and experiencing (Moustakas,

1990, West, 2011, Sanders & Wilkins, 2010, Etherington, 2004 & Finlay).”

(Gray, 2018)

During my research I utilised the six phases of Moustakas (1990) Heuristic

method:

All data was recorded in a research journal, and relevant artefacts such as

photographs and any objects were collected indexed and stored.

1: Initial engagement Preparation work

2: Immersion “To live the question, awake, asleep and in my dreams” (West

2001 p. 129)

3: IncubationBack to normal life!! The unconscious processing or tacit knowledge,

4: Illumination Becoming aware of new insights that emerge, but ideas are not forced

5: ExplicationTo fully explore all the data gathered, consider the meanings, pulling together key themes

6: Creative synthesisCreate!!

St Beuno's ,Tremeirchion, North Wales

My Experience of the method?

“Extra pressure; the very private becomes public!”

“Stress!!! I could easily go home now!”

“The process is very fluid; today immersion and insights and creative synthesis

“I can feel the tension in my head, all you can do in the silence is think!”

“This is hard!! Wish I was interviewing others!”

“I feel like I am drowning!”

“Feel that I am gaining some real insight”

“I feel that this experience has been a really important process in my personal

development, but I probably wouldn't do it again!!!!

“The intensity of the method is powerful and at depth, It would in my view be

difficult to get this data using other methods’

The Experiencing and the journey

Walking the Labyrinth:

The spiritual and heuristic

journey!

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Antony Gormley’s Another Place, Cosby Merseyside (Photo inset)

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