Spiritual directors colloquium with Fr MC Abraham

On : 2023-02-15

Spiritual directors of Karnataka Jesuit province gathered for a two-day colloquium at Prerana, Mount St Joseph on February 11-12. Acclaimed counselor and psychologist Fr M C Abraham CSC was the resource person. The broad topic of the colloquium was ‘psycho-spiritual accompaniment: integral development perspectives’.

Fr Abraham dealt with varied dimensions of the process of meaning making in the growth of a formee. He said that self-transformation is possible only through self-transcendence. In such an endeavour, it is important to take the formees along as we go ahead, he said.

Fr Abraham also dealt with different kinds of power, namely, legitimate, coercive, reward, exert and referent. “Different people have different kinds of power enshrined in them. However, it is only the higher levels of power that can transform us and those under us. In this process, it is important to dwell on the question as to whether our formees can have a role in co-visioning and co-missioning heir formation,” he added.

Fr Abraham further opined that when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we do not form anyone. Persons form themselves with our enabling accompaniment in the process of their becoming. He said that meaning making is an ongoing lifelong process. “There are no perceptions perse. It is perception plus interpretation. The interpretation is determined by perspective from which it is made. The depth, embrace and inclusion of perceptions and interpretations made are determined by the altitude from which perception and interpretation is made,” he opined.

Fr Abraham also dealt with the spiral of growth phenomenon given by psychologists Clare Graves and Don Beck. He said the development of consciousness as given by Graves and Beck represented by different colours can help us assess where we stand. “From colour beige to yellow and turquoise, we must strive towards the deepest reach and the widest embrace,” he said.

He further enumerated the methods of giving a healthy feedback, both at the individual level and in a group therapy.