Spotlight Series: Dr. Holly Oxhandler
This week we are highlighting Dr. Holly Oxhandler, PI for sub-project 3.
In a podcast with CXMH, Dr. Holly Oxhandler discusses her Namaste theory, how she developed it, and how helpers can use it to cope with their helping responsibilities. The seven stages are: speed, slow, steady, still, see, shift, & serve.
Dr. Oxhandler goes into further detail of these seven stages in her newest book, Soul of the Helper. Her book documents her research and personal journey in the intersection of mental health and spirituality and encourages people to find the Sacred within so that they can better see, serve, and honor the Sacred in others.
You can find the book and ways to purchase it here →
Dr. Oxhandler’s research has demonstrated that including clients’ religion/spirituality (RS) into treatment plans has shown potential to improve outcomes. Existing ethics mandates also require various helping professions to include RS in treatment when appropriate for the client. This article outlines methods that have been used to assess RS competence in mental health professionals and provides possibilities for improving these evaluative measures:
Oxhandler, H.K. & Pargament, K.I. (2018). Measuring religious and spiritual competence across helping professions: Previous efforts and future directions. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 5(2), 120–132.
