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The agentive aspects of communicative religious experiences remain somewhat neglected in the social sciences literature. There is a need for phenomenological descriptions of these experiences and the ways in which they differ from culturally defined psychopathological states. In this semi-structured interview study, eight congregants attending an evangelical church in London were asked to describe their experiences of God communicating with them. Communications from God were related to current events rather than to the prediction of future events. These communications were received as thoughts and do not generally reveal metaphysical insights, but rather they relate to the mundane world. They provided direction, consolation and empowerment in the lives of those receiving them. Individuals recounted that on occasion God sometimes speaks audibly, or accompanied by supernatural phenomena, but in the vast majority of cases, the way God speaks is through thoughts or impressions. In all instances, agency is maintained, individuals can choose to obey the thoughts/voices or not. The findings are discussed in relation to externalisation of agency and the phenomenon of thought insertion in schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three principles correctional counseling (3PCC) posits that people in prison have inner mental health they have obscured to varying degrees with their own thinking. 3PCC further posits that people in prison can rekindle and sustain this inner health via understanding how three psychospiritual principles-Universal Mind, consciousness, and thought-coalesce to form people's psychological experience. We review the three principles and explain how exposure to these principles can lead to improved mental health and improved behavior. Then, we describe 3PCC and distinguish it from prevailing correctional counseling methods. Finally, we present a preliminary study that examines the efficacy of 3PCC for improving the mental health and behavior of people in an English prison. Our findings show that participants exposed to 3PCC showed a significant improvement in mental well-being and purpose in life, significant reductions in anxiety and anger, and improved behavior in the prison community.