Life can be stressful, and joyful, and difficult, and exciting, and negative, depending on how you choose to make it. There are spiritual and psychological factors which may impact one’s overall wellness. Teaching yourself to do a periodic spiritual and psychological inventory of what’s going on with you, in your life, will help gain a greater perspective on how to deal with the challenge’s in life and how to celebrate life’s joys. The aspects of spiritual wellness outlined in the following inventory include, life’s purpose, connections or relationships, forgiveness, love, practice and being present.

1. RUNNING HEAD: SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 1
Spiritual and Psychological Inventory
Tina Samaniego
Nutritional Counseling
HW420
Kaplan University

2. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 2
Life can be stressful, and joyful, and difficult, and exciting, and negative, depending on
how you choose to make it. There are spiritual and psychological factors which may impact
one’s overall wellness. Teaching yourself to do a periodic spiritual and psychological inventory
of what’s going on with you, in your life, will help gain a greater perspective on how to deal with
the challenge’s in life and how to celebrate life’s joys. The aspects of spiritual wellness outlined
in the following inventory include, life’s purpose, connections or relationships, forgiveness, love,
practice and being present.
What is your current meaningful purpose in life?
The Mandala of Wellness Paradigm includes spiritual well-being, emotional well-being,
mental well-being and physical well-being (Seaward, 2013). Many of us understand well-being
in the physical and mental states, however spiritual well-being may need to be further explored.
We typically don’t wake up each day and ask ourselves, “What is my purpose in life today”?
However, beginning your morning thinking about what you can do in your day to work toward
your purpose will give you a sense of fulfillment and achievement.
If you were to make a list of all the things you own which money can and cannot buy, which list
would be greater and why?
Our life consists of a journey outside and inside our self. Our experiences are felt both
internally in our soul and externally with our bodies. When we are scared or feel alone, rather
than turning to our inward self to heal, we may have a tendency to seek comfort from material
things which only provide temporary pleasure. When we feel loved and secure, there is a greater
likelihood of basking in the blissful feeling within our self. Accepting and giving love when we
have fears or are happy will evolve the growth process of our soul and will teach us that the
material wants aren’t nearly as important.

3. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 3
Do you have a sense of belonging, please explain?
Taking an in-depth look into our relationships and how well we are able to connect with
others doesn’t just include one-to-one relationships. How we bond with our community, the
environment, the universe, and to ourselves make up our sense of belonging (Ingersoll, 1996).
As we all seek to be loved and feel wanted, we should keep in mind that others feel the same.
When we are able to be at peace with ourselves and feel our sense of connection with the
universe or a higher power, we are able to enrich our spiritual well-being.
How often do you practice soul searching to identify how you relate to yourself and how you
relate to others?
We have relationships with both ourselves, with others, and with everything in the
universe. Nurturing relationships beginning with our own relationship with self helps us reach
complete well-being. It’s important to make time to reflect on how we treat ourselves and how
we treat others to enrich this pillar of spirituality (Seaward, 2013).
How do you set healthy boundaries in your life?
Technology has added a multitude amount of distractions to our lives which can interfere
with the time we spend on ourselves and with our relationships with others. Cell phone use has
become a running joke about how we’re not able to unplug and simply enjoy life. We often see
others in public places staring and swiping their cell phones rather than interacting with others.
Seward (2013) explains the importance of unplugging from technology and participating in
outdoor activities as a practice in self-renewal.
How do you describe the power of your human spirit?
Believing in the power of your human spirit can help push you to greater human potential
(Seaward, 2013). When we feel courageous, we’re able to tread in new waters. When we have

4. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 4
faith, we believe that good things can happen. When we’re persistent, we are able to achieve our
goals. These powers come from within and offer some definition to what our makes up our
human spirit.
When circumstances in life become difficult, are you able to use forgiveness as one of the
muscles of your soul (Seaward, 2013)?
There are positive and negative forms of anger. The positive type is can be used to
motivate you to do something you had been putting off or can be used to give you direction with
a decision you’ve needed to complete. Holding onto anger does not serve any positive purpose
in our lives, in turn it actually harms our own well-being. Allowing your heart to be
compassionate to yourself with capacity to forgive others allows us to move past the situation
(Seaward, 2013).
Are you able to love yourself as you desire to love others?
Love is such a broad term for the actual emotion. When we think about love it’s usually
in how we love others, or tangible things. Love can be the most wonderful feeling in the world,
and then it can also be one of the most painful. We search for love and we long for love, but
spend less time on love for ourselves. In order to transform our emotions, we must be able to
“cultivate positive emotions such as love and compassion” (Walsh, 1999).
How do you define success?
Optimistic people persevere through adversity to succeed in their endeavors, whereas
pessimists easily give up (Seligman, 2006). In Seaward (2013), Chopra’s Laws of Success
include The Law of Giving, The Law of Karma and Law of Life Purpose which are some of the
guidelines of how to live with the spirit of life. There seems to be a great emphasis on winning
in life, however it means a great deal more than just the material things you able to achieve.

5. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 5
What practice or practices do you participate in which cultivates your spiritual and psychological
development?
Meditation and yoga are two practices which allow for cultivating mindfulness.
Mindfulness is one way to treat psychological issues and forge mind, body and spiritual
wellness. Meditation and yoga are two commonly thought practices that can help promote
spiritual and psychological development. These practices work to heal all of the aspects of the
mind, body and soul connection.
Interview
I interviewed a mid-thirty year old male who has been diagnosed with depression and
who frequently displays anger management issues. I chose this interviewee because I feel that as
a mental health psychologist, he would benefit greatly from participating in this interview. My
goal is that he will either begin or enhance his spiritual and psychological development.
1. What is your current meaningful purpose in life? That’s an interesting question. I’m not
sure. What do you mean? At work or in my personal life? (I replied “as a whole”). I guess my
purpose in life is to be a good person and do good things for others (Johnson, 2015).
2. If you were to make a list of all the things you own which money can and cannot buy, which
list would be greater and why? I don’t feel I have much of either. Well, I just bought a house
and have a newer car. I don’t have a partner or many friends. I’m not good at relationships and I
don’t know why. I think at this point in my life, it’s sad to say, I have more things money can
buy. The reason is probably because I spend the greatest deal of my time at work so I can afford
these things rather than putting effort into myself and personal life (Johnson, 2015).
3. Do you have a sense of belonging, please explain? No, not really. I had a very difficult
childhood. I was in foster care from the time I was seven and then one of my biological Aunt’s

6. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 6
adopted me when I was 13. I left the dysfunction of this family when I was a young adult and it
took me quite a few years to find a positive direction for my life. I believe this has a great deal
to do with why I don’t have a partner and why I don’t have many friends. Although I think I am
a good friend and try to keep friends, they always seem to fall apart at some point (Johnson,
2015).
4. How often do you practice soul searching to identify how you relate to yourself and how you
relate to others? I know what my issues are so I don’t dwell on them. I get it, I can be a jerk and
I’m negative and is why people tend to stay away from me. I don’t think soul searching is going
to fix this behavior, it’s just who I am (Johnson, 2015).
5. How do you set healthy boundaries in your life? I think that depends on the circumstance. I
can say that I do and I can say that I don’t. When I like someone I don’t seem to set boundaries.
When I am by myself, I have no problem with boundaries (Johnson, 2015).
6. How do you describe the power of your human spirit? Dark and disturbed. Although I do
feel I am a good person who has a lot of good to give others (Johnson, 2015).
7. When circumstances in life become difficult, are you able to use forgiveness as one of the
muscles of your soul (Seaward, 2013)? Not immediately. I tend to just forget and move on. I
don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on things I need to forgive (Johnson, 2015).
8. Are you able to love yourself as you desire to love others? Yes and no. I really want to be in
a committed relationship and the biggest part of me doesn’t understand why I’m not. I think I
would be a good partner. I also have a lot of negative thoughts about myself because I’m not
able to cultivate relationships (Johnson, 2015).

7. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 7
9. How do you define success? From where I came from, I am successful. Most of my family
live on welfare and some are in jail. I am the only one of my siblings that broke that cycle. I
went to college and have a good job (Johnson, 2015).
10. What practice or practices do you participate in which cultivates your spiritual and
psychological development? I currently don’t do any, but I know yoga will help me lose weight
which will help me get a partner (Johnson, 2015).
Summary
I believe my spiritual and psychological inventory questions would benefit those who are
looking to enrich their development. After the interview I did with M. Johnson, I realized my
questions were not geared toward someone who hasn’t explored spirituality. With my
interviewee, I would need to add subsequent questions after their initial answer to steer them in
intended direction of the question. For example, when I asked how often he practices soul
searching to identify how he relates to himself and others, he took that as an opportunity to talk
about how he negatively perceived himself. I would then need to ask if he thought that doing
soul searching on himself and spending more time on himself would benefit his relationships
with others. The initial spiritual and psychological inventory is a good tool to gauge the
interviewee, but it also indicates that subsequent questions and discussions would be needed in
order to get an accurate spectrum of their spiritual and psychological self.

8. SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INVENTORY 8
References:
Ingersoll, E. (1996). Spiritual Wellness Test. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from
http://www.elliottingersoll.com/Spiritual_Wellness_Test.html
Johnson, M. (2015, December 13). [Personal interview].
Seaward, B. (2013). The Call to spirit. Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for
Personal Health. 2nd Ed. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning LLC.
Seligman, M. (2006). Success at Work. In Learned optimism: How to Change Your Mind and
Your Life. New York: Vintage Books.
Walsh, R. (1999). Essential spirituality: The 7 central practices to awaken heart and mind. New
York: J. Wiley.