Preparing for Healing: A Pilot Study of Peace be Still As a Psycho-Spiritual Pre-Therapeutic Intervention

Abstract

Background and Purpose:
Individuals often enter therapy or coaching while carrying unresolved grief, burnout, identity disruption, and emotional disconnection—yet lack the internal access or language to fully engage in the process. Within social work practice, there is an implicit expectation that individuals are ready to “do the work” of healing, even when foundational self-awareness and emotional access have not yet been established.

Peace Be Still (PBS) was developed in response to this gap. PBS is a psycho-spiritual, relational intervention designed to create space for individuals to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and access their emotional world and sense of identity without pressure for immediate change. Rather than positioning intervention as the starting point, PBS centers self-awareness, voice, and internal connection as essential foundations for meaningful engagement in therapy or coaching.

This pilot study explores: (1) how participants experience shifts in emotional awareness, identity clarity, and reflective capacity after engaging in PBS containers, and (2) how participation influences perceived readiness for deeper therapeutic or coaching work.

Methods:
This qualitative pilot study utilizes an exploratory design to examine PBS “healing containers” delivered in small group and individual formats (N ≈ 12–20). Participants include adults navigating grief, burnout, identity transition, and emotional disconnection.

Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews, facilitator observations, and participant reflections captured through guided exercises such as storytelling, music, and open dialogue. Data are analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with attention to how participants describe changes in emotional awareness, identity articulation, and engagement with their internal experiences.

Results:
Preliminary findings suggest that participants experience increased emotional awareness, including an enhanced ability to identify and sit with internal experiences; greater clarity regarding identity and personal voice; and an increased capacity for reflection without immediate avoidance of difficult emotions.

Participants described PBS as a space that fostered internal safety, allowing them to slow down, reconnect, and engage with previously disconnected aspects of self. Many reported entering subsequent therapeutic or coaching environments with a stronger sense of presence, articulation, and readiness to engage more deeply in the healing process.

Conclusions and Implications:
This study introduces a practice-informed model that positions self-awareness and identity reconnection as foundational to effective therapeutic engagement. Findings suggest that psycho-spiritual, reflective spaces can serve as a critical bridge between disconnection and readiness, particularly for individuals navigating layered grief, burnout, and identity-based stressors.

Implications for social work research include expanding conceptualizations of readiness for intervention and integrating approaches that center voice, lived experience, and relational presence. This work contributes to ongoing efforts to support individuals in accessing and engaging in healing in ways that are sustainable, authentic, and aligned with their lived realities.