Origins of the SSP

For 15 years, I was the Director of Behavioral Sciences in a large teaching medical center.  There I dealt with many, many patients.  Most of my patients were struggling, many were depressed, and some eventually gave in to their illness.  As I walked onto the hospital floors, I witnessed every emotion laid out before me like scattered wind-blown leaves.  I witnessed hearts pleading for relief, minds searching to make some sense out of the chaos, and souls aching for justice in the face of the unfair intruder of illness.

However, that was not the case for all of the patients I visited. There were a select few who seemed to live on a completely different level.  They were not sad or horrified; they did not appear dispirited at the injustice of their illness; they did not seem scared. On the contrary, these folks appeared calm, strong, resilient, and vital. 

I wondered what made for this dramatic difference. I asked the doctors and nurses, the aides and the techs; indeed I asked anyone and everyone who worked with patients. I asked, “What causes this incredible difference between the patients who frown and lament, and the ones who smile (at least from within) and are at peace (and not a false peace of resignation or submission)?"  Their resounding answer was short and simple: “It’s their attitude.”

What is Attitude?

What is attitude, I asked myself; what makes for a “good” attitude about Illness?  I’ve read the research and witnessed the results that point to attitude (in its various manifestations) as a critical factor that leads to healing. But still… what is attitude?  What are the essential fundamentals of attitude?  If we could get a handle on the answer to this question, then we might be able to teach everyone with an illness how to develop this “good” attitude and thereby extend the positive effects this select few seem to possess. 

So I did what any good psychologically-minded Ph.D. would do: I launched a research study.  The results of this study are described in Chapter Two of the flagship book of the Spiritual Strengths Plan,  Discover Your Spiritual Strengths.  What I discovered in this study has changed my life and the lives of so many others.  I’ve converted what I have learned (what God showed to me) into what has become the Spiritual Strengths Spiritual Development and Healing Plan.

Yes, this plan is about attitude; it’s about developing attitudes of hope, trust, gratitude, faith, kindness to self, and many more.  The first step to taking full advantage of these new attitudes is letting go of any other attitudes that may be blocking your healing.

The Spiritual Strengths Profile grew out of this realization.

The results of your Spiritual Strengths Profile give you practical and personal information that forms the basis for your personal healing plan.

The Spiritual Strengths Profile combines the latest statistical and psychological technology with solid qualitative research, it then wraps all this into a personal  plan that stands on solid  principles embraced by all Christian denominations.

The Spiritual Strengths Profile also identifies your personal healing blocks or obstacles, negative forces that have been holding you back from receiving maximum healing benefit.

Once you take your own Spiritual Strengths Profile, you are then ready to begin your own personal Spiritual Strengths Healing Program.

Thousands of people have already taken the program and used it for healing everything from weight loss to MS, from depression to cancer, and from marriage counseling to diabetes.

When you read my book Discover Your Spiritual Strengths, you’ll learn all about that.  But for right now it’s time to take the Spiritual Strengths Profile and begin your healing journey.

Richard P. Johnson, PhD