A Qualitative Study on the in-depth Experiences of Spiritual Well-being and its Role on Psychological Well-being among Novice Clergy and Senior Priests in Myanmar

The study explored the in-depth experiences of spiritual well-being and its role on psychological well-being among clergy. In particular, the study looked into the lived-experiences of spiritual well-being through the quality of relationship one has within each component of spiritual well-being and its role on psychological well-being among novice clergy and senior priests because novice clergy and senior priests are the most important stages in priestly life. There is a big difference between these two groups in terms of number of years in priestly life, year of ordination, age and occupation. In order to achieve breadth and depth in the understanding of this phenomenon, the researcher adopted a qualitative approach to examine the in-depth experiences of spiritual well-being and its role on psychological well-being among clergy. Twenty clergy (10 novice clergy and 10 senior priests), who expressed their willingness to participate, were selected for in-depth interviews. The findings specifically showed that the experience of spiritual well-being within the personal components benefits personal growth, environmental control, self-acceptance, purpose in life and emotional stability among the novice clergy. The experience of spiritual well-being in environmental component, on the other hand, benefits peace of mind, self-acceptance and others-acceptance, increased ability of problem solving skills, increased happiness and a better physical health among senior priests.