Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression: The Principle of Non-Trying in the Practice of Pastoral Care

Discover a pastoral approach to depression that combines Eastern wisdom and Western science!Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression reveals a way to break the cycle of depression, not by denying it or fighting it, but by the ancient principle of wu wei, non-trying. The bleak cycle of depression starts when people experience negativity. They turn inward to try to find self-esteem, but the negativity strips all the power of self-affirmation from them. The gap between is and ought--how they see themselves and how they want to be--is too great to bridge. The cycle known as self-regulatory perseveration means that depressed persons are caught in a desperate, fruitless search for affirmation. Instead of self-esteem, they find self-criticism and further negative thoughts. Yet they keep looking . . . and looking . . . and looking. The more they look for self-worth inside, the less they find, and the harder they try--the cycle continues. When trying simply doesn’t work, wu wei, the principle of letting go, may help break that cycle. When trying simply doesn't work, wu wei, not-trying, may help. Wu wei is the principle of letting go. By giving up on the self-imposed and unattainable oughts and shoulds, the depressed person stops focusing on self. Wu wei breaks the cycle of negativity, allowing the depressed person to begin to heal.Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression offers a comprehensive discussion of depression, including: 
<ul>
<li> epidemiology of depression </li>
<li> etiology and biological causes </li>
<li> psychosocial theories </li>
<li> standard treatments of the past and present </li>
<li> pastoral care of depressed persons </li>
</ul>This important book constructs a possible approach to depressed souls weary of fighting and trying to fix themselves. Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression can bring new hope to those who most need it.

Sorajjakool, Siroj

Reference

Haworth Pastoral Press

Child Prostitution in Thailand: Listening to Rahab

What can we learn from the tragedy of these exploited young people?In Thailand, a thriving sex industry makes its money exploiting the young. Some children are coerced into prostitution and some have been sold into sexual slavery by their own families, but just as tragically there is no shortage of young girls (and boys) willing to work as prostitutes. Child Prostitution in Thailand: Listening to Rahab searches for the reasons why. This uniquely insightful book looks into the lives--and even more importantly, listens to the words--of ten Thai prostitutes. Child Prostitution in Thailand is about what we can learn from them--who they are, what they go through, and why.In their own words, the young prostitutes you'll meet in this book Thailand discuss what brought them into this life. Some have come from a tragic home situation, but not all are impoverished, orphaned, or abused. Nevertheless, they have entered into a dangerous and degrading lifestyle that often leads to violence, sickness, and early death. Of these ten prostitutes, one has already passed away and four more are dying with AIDS.This remarkable volume will help you to understand:  how Thailand's child prostitution industry developed  the impact upon girls and young women of Thailand's evolution from an agriculturally based economy to an industrial one  changing forms of child prostitution  who the customers are  the role of tourism and its impact on child prostitution in Thailand  how poverty, poor education, a sexually focused mass media, lack of religious emphasis, disability, and the lack of a clear policy on child prostitution help the sex industry to thriveThis book also explores the details of child prostitution in Thailand--for instance, in open-air “restaurants” and “pubs” in Chiang Mai, your young waitress may double as a sex worker--and her provocative “uniform” represents a dress code enforced by the establishment’s owner. A “café” is another kind of sex service disguised as (and functioning as) a bar/restaurant. Here, young girls working ten- and eleven-hour shifts in short skirts must wear price tags pinned to their shirts and may have to service five to ten clients per night.The head of the U.S. State Department's office for international women’s issues estimates that traffickers bring 50,000 women and children into the United States illegally each year. The lessons Listening to Rahab teaches can help us to better understand the situation here at home as well as overseas. A helpful appendix assessing incidents of child prostitution around the globe bring the information even more clearly into focus.

Children's Books

Routledge

Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals

Learn to respond effectively and appropriately to spiritual needs in a health care setting Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals explores the principles of spiritual care as applied to clinical practice. This book focuses specifically on the significance of spirituality in clinical settings with practical suggestions on how to apply these principles in the healing process. With chapters that begin with clear objectives and end with guided questions, this valuable textbook provides a framework that will aid health care facilities in addressing spiritual needs in a clinical setting and help faculty in mentoring students in the field. This practical guide will help you learn when and how to address spiritual issues in health care with patients for whom illness creates a crisis of faith as well as those for whom it provides support. Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness highlights not only the importance of health care professionals in providing emotional, mental, and spiritual care, but the necessity for them to address their own spirituality as well. The book includes the experiences and case studies of skilled authorities mostly from the Judeo-Christian or Judaic tradition who identify principles that they found to be important in working with patients from a wide diversity of spiritual traditions. Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness provides you with detailed information on: 
<ul>
<li> “Ministryhealing”—a model of wholeness and healing that incorporates an integrated view of humanity through the four domains: spiritual, emotional, physical, and social </li>
<li> the physiological impacts of humor and hope on mood, the neuroendocrine hormones, and the immune system </li>
<li> spiritual coping with trauma—an overview of the research literature and how to address the spiritual coping needs and concerns of patients </li>
<li> the role of faith in providing meaning to physical illness and the importance of the role of the health care professional in first understanding, and then assisting the patient in their struggle to find meaning </li>
<li> the key components of spiritual care to increase the efficacy of spiritual caregivers </li>
<li> the bereavement process with regard to religious, cultural, and gender variations, and the role of the healthcare professional in providing support </li>
</ul> This book shows you not only how to meet the spiritual needs of patients from a diversity of faith traditions, but how to overcome challenges to your own spirituality, such as “difficult” patients and patients whose cultural outlook is so different from your own it causes discomfort. Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness will help all health care professionals who want to bring spirituality into their medical, dental, nursing, occupational therapy, or physical therapy practice.

Lamberton, Henry

Religion & Spirituality

Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals explores the principles of spiritual care as applied to clinical practice, including perspectives on the theology of healing, the connection between body and spirit, and the roles of faith and meaning. This book focuses specifically on the significance of spirituality in clinical settings with practical suggestions on how to apply these principles throughout the healing process. With chapters that begin with clear objectives and end with guided questions, this valuable textbook provides a framework that will aid health care facilities in addressing spiritual needs in a clinical setting and help faculty in mentoring students in the field.

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Dr. Siroj Sorajjakool draws on more than ten years of studies on health benefits in relation to spirituality to provide methods of spiritual care that speak to the soul.

When Sickness Heals: The Place of Religious Belief in Healthcare

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Alternative Medicine

Templeton Fondation Press

In When Sickness Heals, Dr. Siroj Sorajjakool draws on more than ten years of studies on health benefits in relation to spirituality, especially focusing on the function of "meaning." He expounds on his theory that healing is primarily the function of meaning, and meaning transcends sickness and even death itself. He concludes that what people ultimately seek in life is the healing of their souls.   Sorajjakool brings many Eastern and Western resources to his conversation on health, meaning, and healing. He incorporates the perspectives of theologians and philosophers like Paul Tillich, Carl Jung, Søren Kierkegaard, Raimundo Panikkar, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and John Macquarrie; as well as references to religious texts, including yin and yang, and alchemy. A clear, distinct understanding of spirituality in clinical contexts is presented, with an argument for the role of meaning in the healing process, based on evidence that there may be healing even in the face of death. Sorajjakool identifies the transitional processes people may go through as they seek to make sense of their experiences during a health crisis. He suggests an alternative approach to spiritual assessment and provides methods of spiritual care that speak to the soul. 

Templeton Press

"Words,"writes Chuang Tzu, "are for catching ideas; once you've caught the idea, you can forget the words." In Do Nothing, author Siroj Sorajjakool lends us some of his insightful words to help us all "catch" the provocative ideas of one of China's most important literary and philosophical giants—one who emerged at a time when China had several such giants philosophizing on Tao or "the Way."
Though his thinking dates back to the fourth century, Chuang Tzu's Tao has profound implications for our modern lives. He welcomes an existence that is radically removed from the image of normalcy that society often projects, wherein the individual must always strive for more, always seek greater productivity, and always try to better him or herself and his or her place in life. Chuang Tzu would posit that the definitions of normalcy, success, and happiness are arbitrarily assigned and that our rigid and unquestioning adherence to these so-called "norms" leads to existential restlessness and unease. Instead of striving, he would say, be still. Instead of acquiring, embrace nothingness. Instead of seeking to understand the limitlessness of the universe during your brief and extremely limited existence, enjoy the wonder of it.
Siroj Sorajjakool suggests that when we can embrace nothingness, we undergo a spiritual transformation that liberates us to see more clearly and truly find ourselves. He offers a very personal exploration of Chuang Tzu's Tao, first in its historical and literary context, and then in the context of our twenty-first century existence. What emerges is a liberating and highly readable meditation on the many lessons we can "catch" from Chuang Tzu on how we view our aspirations, our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures, and what it means to be a worthwhile person.

Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sorajjakool, Siroj. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sorajjakool, Siroj

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sorajjakool, Siroj. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression: The Principle of Non-Trying in the Practice of Pastoral Care

Child Prostitution in Thailand: Listening to Rahab

Child Prostitution in Thailand: Listening to Rahab

Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals

Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals

When Sickness Heals: The Place of Religious Belief in Healthcare

When Sickness Heals: The Place of Religious Belief in Healthcare

Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy