science

Spiritual self-schema therapy

Spiritual self-schema therapy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Spiritual self-schema therapy rather than just read about it. In short: Spiritual self-schema therapy, sometimes referred to as 3-S Therapy, is a type of therapy for addicted individuals who have contracted or are at risk for contracting HIV. 3-S Therapy was developed at Yale University School of Medicine by S. Kelly Avants, Ph.D., and Arthur Margolin, Ph.D.

Key takeaways

Spiritual self-schema therapy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Spiritual self-schema therapy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spiritual self-schema therapy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Spiritual self-schema therapy, sometimes referred to as 3-S Therapy, is a type of therapy for addicted individuals who have contracted or are at risk for contracting HIV. 3-S Therapy was developed at Yale University School of Medicine by S. Kelly Avants, Ph.D., and Arthur Margolin, Ph.D. The therapy aims to reduce illicit drug use as well as drug- and sex-related risk behaviors. In general, it aims to promote living a spiritual life aiding in their recovery. Spiritual self-schema therapy has a non-theistic foundation based on Buddhist practices, which are very similar to contemporary cognitive-behavioral techniques, and incorporates the client's spiritual beliefs, which do not need to be specifically or conventionally religious. 3-S therapy does not "convert" clients to Buddhism or any other spiritual or religious belief system, but always works within the client's pre-existing set of beliefs.

Self-schema The term self-schema describes a mental process to aim in understanding and organizing incoming information (stimuli). An example would include looking in your rearview mirror while driving and seeing flashing lights - typically an individual has an automatic response and prepares to pull over without having to think. This illustrates a well-organized schema on "flashing lights". The connection between self-schema and spiritual self-schema therapy is shown in the automatic beliefs about oneself. An individual doesn't have to stop and think "Who am I? How would somebody like that respond to this situation?" If an individual is shy and believes they are ugly, they may see somebody looking in their direction and assume the person is staring at how ugly they are, when in reality they could be finding the person quite attractive or even not looking at them at all.

3-S at Yale Yale School of Medicine has started a program called 3-S Therapy, which stands for Spiritual Self-Schema. Self-schemas can be helpful, but they can also be problematic. Stereotypes are an example. Additionally, people who believe that they are "bad, worthless, or unlovable" do significant amounts of mental damage to themselves. Yale School of Medicine's 3-S program promotes spirituality as a strong resource for coping with life's troubles. The goal of its program is to create a path to enhance one's spiritual nature.

HIV There is a growing trend in attempting to integrate spiritual and religious beliefs into HIV prevention and addiction treatment. Spiritual self-schema therapy is one such attempt. Spiritual self-schema therapy enables a cognitive shift from the habitual "addict" self-schema to the "spiritual" self-schema. This new schema carries various harm reduction beliefs and behaviors. This switch has been illustrated, according to a study conducted by Margolin, et al., to provide "greater decreases in impulsivity and intoxicant use" as well as an increase in "spiritual practices and motivation for abstinence, HIV prevention and medication adherence."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spiritual self-schema therapy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spiritual self-schema therapy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Spiritual self-schema therapy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Spiritual self-schema therapy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Spiritual self-schema therapy

In research: Spiritual self-schema therapy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Spiritual self-schema therapy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Spiritual self-schema therapy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Applied psychology, Counseling, Prevention of HIV/AIDS, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spiritual self-schema therapy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Spiritual self-schema therapy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spiritual self-schema therapy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Spiritual self-schema therapy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spiritual self-schema therapy in simple terms?

Why does Spiritual self-schema therapy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Spiritual self-schema therapy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Spiritual self-schema therapy.