Soulfulness Practices: Applying the SOUL-Centered Framework (Part 2)
A practice-focused webinar with Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D
Professor of Psychology and Psy.D. Program Research Coordinator, Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology
Originally broadcast on Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Watch the Recording | Download the Slides (.pdf)
Building upon the June 2019 webinar introducing soulfulness, this webinar focuses on the application of soulfulness to contemplative practice.
Informed by psychological, spiritual, and cultural aspects of soul, with intentional infusion of African diasporic and African American cultural qualities and sensibilities, soulfulness is an approach to contemplative practice that centers the experience of “soul”. Soulfulness refers to the quality of experiencing life in a deeply connected and connecting way, an enlivened inner attunement that illuminates authentic lived experience and radiates into outer expression. A more detailed description of the “SOUL”-Centered Practice (SCP) framework as a foundation to guide theory, research, and practice will be presented. The “SOUL” acronym refers to the key features of the framework: Soulfulness-Oriented, Unitive (emphasizing interconnectedness, relationality, and wholeness), and Liberatory (emphasizing freedom from oppressive dynamics internally, relationally, and societally). Its core principles, processes, modalities, and domains of practice will be described. A mindfulness-informed approach to meditation (“Stop, Drop, and Roll”) will be described that is grounded in the SCP framework. Other specific SOUL-centered contemplative practices will be demonstrated. Finally, consideration will be given to the complexities of culture in contemplative practice with particular attention to issues of cultural appropriation coloniality.
Goals of the webinar include:
- To present the core elements of the SOUL-Centered Practice (SCP) framework.
- To describe the three phases of the SOUL approach to meditation practice.
- To describe and demonstrate specific selected practices guided the SCP framework.
- To discuss the complexity of considering culture in contemplative practice including issues of cultural appropriation and coloniality.
This webinar builds upon the June ACMHE webinar, but attendance at that webinar is not a pre-requisite. If you missed “‘I Got Soul’: Soulfulness, Culture, and Contemplative Practice,” it’s easy to get caught up!
Resources from this webinar (Part 2):
Resources from Part 1 (June 2019):
- Watch the June webinar recording on YouTube
- Download the June webinar slides (.pdf)
- See Harrell, S. (2018). Soulfulness as an Orientation to Contemplative Practice: Culture, Liberation, and Mindful Awareness. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 5(1).
About the Presenter
Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. is a psychologist whose work focuses on individual, relational, and collective well-being in the context of culture and oppression. She has been a Professor at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology for 20 years where she primarily teaches and trains students in their clinical psychology doctoral program. Her current research involves the development of a resilience-oriented group intervention integrating contemplative, communal, and empowerment change processes. Her applied work includes workshops and consulting on culturally-attuned psychotherapeutic interventions, cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices, stress and resilience, dynamics of difference, intergroup relations, and cultural diversity in the training of mental health professionals. She introduced soulfulness in the Journal of Contemplative Inquiry in 2018. Her soulfulness approach to contemplative practice has been presented at several conferences including CMind’s in 2018. Dr. Harrell has numerous publications and professional presentations on topics including racism-related stress, intergroup relations, diversity principles for practice, therapeutic journaling, race and culture in clinical supervision, and conceptualizing the role of culture in well-being. She conducts meditation workshops and classes in the predominantly African American and culturally diverse communities of Los Angeles. She also has a small psychotherapy practice.