Spirituality as a Coping Resource

Qualitative findings from face-to-face interviews of a subset of participants in a large quantitative study are used to explore the perspectives of 10 professional Black women (PBW) regarding their definitions of spirituality and their experiences using this resource to cope with work-related stress. Findings include that many PBW do not differentiate between spirituality and religion and that they utilize spirituality-particularly prayer, meditation, and inspirational readings-to gain personal strength, inner peace, and guidance and to reflect on and reappraise stressful situations in the workplace. Further, many PBW view spirituality as a problem-focused, rather than an emotion-focused, coping strategy. Implications for social work practice and future research are offered.