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On Thursday, February 13, Pamela King visited the BYU Hinckley Center to share her research on the positive effect religion has on mental health and human flourishing. Her lecture, “Becoming Whole Through Spiritual Health" marked the 21st Annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture. Over 200 guests braved a winter storm to hear the lecture in person, including several descendants of Marjorie Hinckley.
Watch highlights from the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Annual Dinner and Lecture including remarks from Sister Hinckley’s granddaughter Lizzie Hinckley Davis.
“Often in the U.S. when we talk about well-being or flourishing or thriving, it’s about becoming your best self, developing in your strengths. But we’re also tied to this moral mandate of becoming more Christ-like. I think that part of BYU’s mission is to become distinct persons because of our beliefs,” says King.
From Pasadena, California, King is director of the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of applied developmental science at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her research focuses on the relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being. Additionally, she is host of the With & For podcast where she and guests discuss the importance of living a whole life.
BYU psychology professor and longtime friend Sam Hardy introduced King at the lecture saying, “For two decades, she's basically been a pioneer in the field, building the field of adolescent religious and spiritual development. She's published some of the earliest and most highly cited books and chapters on the subject and articles in top-notch journals, and I would think of her as pretty much the leader in the world as far as spirituality research.”
King positioned her remarks in the context of crises we are currently seeing — fires near her neighborhood and mental health struggles occurring nationwide. Technology is often deemed the culprit of the fight with mental health and we see a lot of loneliness and a lack of connection. Alongside those very real problems, King adds that our nation is also suffering a spiritual health crisis.
Speaking of religion today, King says that “At this point, so many people in the U.S. are not necessarily rooted in a faith tradition or religious tradition and really struggle around areas of meaning, and purpose, and a sense of ultimate belonging.”
King shares how many young people are growing up without the resources of spirituality that many enjoy here at BYU. “My hope is to highlight the psychological resources that are available to us in healthy forms of spirituality,” she says.
Thriving and becoming whole are two ways King described the effects of healthy spirituality. She believes we become ourselves as we grow toward God and take his characteristics upon ourselves and that becoming ourselves makes it easier to create healthy relationships and to build community.
“I want to wish you well in your own individual and collective shared journeys of thriving and hope that as you go out you will see new opportunities and ways that you can become more whole and become more you and find joy in that and contribute to the greater collective,” says King.
Kennedy Humphrey, a psychology student, was fascinated by the idea of thriving instead of only surviving. She loved how King related her remarks to the scriptures and was reminded about our higher purpose that is more than what our current day-to-day lives are.
“And then also how important thriving is not just for yourself but for the community around you and how thriving can help other people thrive, which just improves the community as a whole,” Humphrey says.
Watch Pamela King's lecture "Becoming Whole Through Spiritual Health."
Discover more about programs supported by the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Chair in Social Work and the Social Sciences.