Spirituality for caregivers – Talk at psychiatric hospital in New Jersey

During my stay at New Jersey, I was asked to speak at a psychiatric hospital, Carrier Clinic, in Belle Mead to the caregivers on the topic of “Discover your inner power.” While I had spoken on this topic several times during this trip to the West, in this case, I customized the content according to the occasion, focusing on the theme of “Spirituality for Caregivers.”

The program was organized by Devakinandan Prabhu, the resourceful vice-Temple President of ISKCON, Central New Jersey, and Dr Puneet Kumar, a multi-faceted doctor who coordinates such events for the Global Foundation For Ethics And Spiritual Health. Those who attended included hospital senior managers and directors, nurses, psychotherapists, physiotherapists, addiction counselors, and other caregivers. The hospital President and CEO, Donald Parker, explained that the purpose of the talk was to help heal the healers.

I spoke on how spiritual knowledge and practices can empower us to change the three P’s that shape our response to situations:

· Perceive: How we perceive events,
· Process: How we process our emotions and
· Pursue: What we pursue in that situation and in life at large.

After the talk, some of the participants had a heart-to-heart discussion about their inspirations for caregiving and about how the talk helped them. Several of them appreciated the three P-paradigm as a way to choosing healthier responses amidst difficult situations.
While I have spoken frequently on how mental health is such a huge challenge, hearing about it firsthand from these on-field professionals deepened my conviction about the need to present bhakti wisdom in a way that it speaks to thoughtful, caring individuals engaged in causes that concern today’s world.

The talk audio and ppt are here: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2016/10/spirituality-for-caregivers/