spirituality health and healing. definitions religion (from latin - religare) - re: back - ligare:...

SPIRITUALITYSPIRITUALITY

HEALTH AND HEALINGHEALTH AND HEALING

DEFINITIONSDEFINITIONS

Religion (from Latin - religare) - re: back

- ligare: bind together

- Expression of man’s belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as creator and governor

of the universe


Spirit (from Latin - spiritus)

- Breath or breath of life

- Life force or energy that links all living things and sustains the universe

- Qi China

- Prana India

- Ruach Hebrew

- Gana South America

- Atua New Zealand

- Num South Africa


Religion Organized system of beliefs, rituals, practices & symbols designed to:

a) Facilitate closeness to the sacred or transcendent

b) Foster an understanding of ones relationship to others in living together in a community

Koenig, Handbook of Religion and Health, 2001


Spirituality “Personal quest for understanding

answers to ultimate questions about life, meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent, which may (or may not) lead to or arise from the development of religious rituals and the formation of community.”


RELIGIONRELIGION SPIRITUALITYSPIRITUALITY

Community focused

Measurable, objective

Formal, organized

Behavior, outward

Authoritarian

Doctrine (good/evil)


Individualistic

Less measurable

Less formal, organized

Emotional, inward

Not authoritarian

Not doctrine oriented

involve a sense of meaning and

purpose in life, provide a source of

love and relatedness, and help keep

believers in relationship to the

unknown and unknowable.”

David Lukoff, PhD, Psychiatric Clinics of N.A. 1995

“Both religion and spirituality

THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHYTHE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY

“The metaphysic that recognizes a divine reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the psychology that finds in

the soul something similar to, or even identical with divine Reality; the ethic that

places man’s final end in the knowledge of the immanent and transcendent Ground of

being.”Aldous Huxley


Everyday world & personal consciousness are manifestations of underlying divine reality

Human beings can recognize the Divine Ground by direct intuition

Our hidden higher self, the spark of divinity – can be reached through love & compassion

Awakening, enlightenment, salvation, etc. is the purpose of human life

Ronald Miller, As Above So Below


Christianity: Kingdom of Heaven lies within

Hinduism: Atman (immanent, eternal self) is one with Brahman (universal ground of being)

Buddhism: “Look within, thou art Buddha”

Suffism: “He who knows himself knows his lord.”

HISTORICALHISTORICAL CONTEXTCONTEXT

“All of the world’s healing traditions are based on an understanding that modern

biomedicine has largely forgotten…we are spiritual beings, emanations of something beyond us, as well as bodies and minds. We are connected to one another, to the earth, and to that beyond in ways that are more powerful and deeper than any of us

may know.”


“Disease, they explain, represents an imbalance within ourselves and

between ourselves and the natural, social, and spiritual world. Our health and our healing depend not only on

careful diagnosis and expert intervention but on restoration of that

balance.”James Gordon, Manifesto for a New Medicine

“ “ The essence of Native American The essence of Native American medicine is awareness of the medicine is awareness of the

sacred connection with the Great sacred connection with the Great Spirit, with the natural world, and Spirit, with the natural world, and with one’s social, physical and with one’s social, physical and

spiritual community.”spiritual community.”Ken Cohen, Alt Therapies, 2003


“Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and shamanic traditions

all see the project of healing as intersecting with one’s spiritual and

religious identity.”

Linda Barnes, Pediatrics 2000;104(6)

“ “ We are not human beingsWe are not human beings

having a spiritual experience, having a spiritual experience,

we are spiritual beings we are spiritual beings

having a human experience.”having a human experience.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin


Middle Ages- Church issued all medical licenses

Nursing- Emerged from religious orders

Hospitals- Built & staffed by religious orders


Scientific Revolution - Separate universes

- Faith and religious worldviews separate from scientific medicine

- Care of the soul & spirit Church

- Physicians hesitant to discuss spiritual issues

HISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXT

HEALER

One that heals; especially a physician

A person who essays cures by spiritual, magical or other nonmedical means

American Heritage Dictionary

HISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXT

Healing (from Greek - heilen)

- To become whole, set right, restore

- Medical Dictionary: (healing)

A process of cure; Restoration of integrity to injured tissue

Dorland’s Medical Dictionary


Spiritual Belief in the U.S. Today

- 96% believe in God

- 90% say they pray

- 90% believe in heaven

- 79% believe in miracles

Koenig, Handbook of Religion and Health


Spiritual Belief in the U.S. Today

- 82% in the healing power of prayer

- 73% that prayer can heal others

- 64% that doctors should pray with

their patients if they are asked

- 48% want doctors to pray with them


HMO Executives & Spirituality- 94% spiritual & religious practices

can help medical treatment- 74% spirituality can positively impact

cost containment- 83% relaxation & meditation training

part of medical school studies

Yankelovich Partners Inc., for John Templeton Foundation, 1997

SPIRITUALITY SPIRITUALITY HEALTH & HEALINGHEALTH & HEALING

Religion & Health

Spiritual Healing

Spiritual Assessment

Healing Health Care

Research

Practice

RELIGION & HEALTHRELIGION & HEALTH

Measures - Religious belief- Organizational religiosity - Subjective religiosity- Religious commitment- Religious coping / maturity- Religious history

Koenig, Handbook of Religion and Health


People who are more “religious” Have less heart disease Lower blood pressure Better immune system function Fewer negative health behaviors Better psychological health, and… They Live longer


Dartmouth Medical School- 232 heart-surgery patients

- Asked if they received comfort and strength from religious faith

- Patients who did were more than 3 times more likely to survive

Oxman, Psychosomatic Medicine, 1995


Northwestern Univ. Medical School- 30 elderly women recovering from

surgery for broken hips

- Those with strong religious beliefs walked farther and were less depressed

Pressman, Am. J. Psychiatry, 1990


Attendance & Longevity- Random sample of 21,204 adults - Followed from 1987-1995

- Nonattenders 75.3 years- Once a week 81.9 years- > Once a week 82.9 years

Robert Hummer, Demography 1999;36(2):273-84


Mechanisms - Background factors- Childhood training- Psychosocial influences (PNI)- Lifestyle choices- Health care behaviors- Interactions

(non-supernatural)

SPIRITUALITYSPIRITUALITYHEALTH & HEALINGHEALTH & HEALING

Religion & Health

Spiritual Healing

SPIRITUAL HEALINGSPIRITUAL HEALING

“Systematic, purposeful intervention by one or more persons aiming to help another living being (person, animal,

plant, or other living system) by means of focused attention, hand contact or

passes to improve health.”

Daniel Benor, Spiritual Healing, Vol. 1, 2001

PSYCHIC PHENOMENAPSYCHIC PHENOMENA (psi)(psi)

Telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition

- Perceiving objects or events beyond ordinary senses (esp)

Psychokinesis / Telekinesis

- Mentally affecting matter (animate or inanimate) at a distance

Other – NDE, OBE, reincarnation, etc.

“mind-matter interaction”


Therapeutic Touch

Qigong

Reiki

Prayer


THE POWER OF PRAYERTHE POWER OF PRAYER


393 patients in coronary care unit

Intercessory prayer vs. control group

3-7 people praying for each patient

Daily intercessory prayer

Followed for 10 months

Random assignment / double-blindByrd, Southern Medical Journal, 1988


5x less likely to need antibiotics

3x less pulmonary edema

Fewer diuretics

Less CHF, pneumonia, cardiac arrest

No mechanical ventilation

Byrd, Southern Medical Journal, 1988


Replications

- Coronary Care Patients

- AIDS

- Alcohol abuse treatment

- Harvard Medical School


Prayer

Therapeutic Touch

Qigong

Reiki

Non-human systems


Humans

Animals

Plants

Bacteria

Yeast

Cells in laboratory

Enzymes

DNA

191 controlled studies of healing

Benor, Spiritual Healing

124 show significant results


PlantsPlants- Barley seeds damaged by watering Barley seeds damaged by watering

with one percent saline solutionwith one percent saline solution- Healers hold saline solution before Healers hold saline solution before

applying to experimental groupapplying to experimental group- Experimental group darker greenExperimental group darker green- Three trials p < .05Three trials p < .05



Red Blood CellsRed Blood Cells- Swell and rupture when placed in a Swell and rupture when placed in a

hypotonic solution hypotonic solution - Hemoglobin spills out and can be Hemoglobin spills out and can be

measured in fluid around the cellmeasured in fluid around the cell- Healer imagines cells are resistant Healer imagines cells are resistant - Able to reduce swelling & ruptureAble to reduce swelling & rupture


MIND-MATTER INTERACTIONMIND-MATTER INTERACTION

Electrodermal activity - Sender and distant receiver

- Random arousal and calm periods

- No-mental influence control period

- 10-20 one-minute periods of randomly alternating influence and control


Electrodermal activity - 19 different studies / 5 researchers

- 400 individual sessions

- 53% success

- “Normalized” effects size = 0.25

- For aspirin & heart disease = 0.03Dean Radin, The Conscious Universe, 1997

(odds – 1.4 million to 1)


Random number generator - Electronic “coin flipper”

- Records random “flips”

- Participant are asked to mentally influence the output so that in a sequence of predefined length there will be more “heads” or “tails”


Random number generator - >1200 studies, >100 investigators

- Odds against chance > 4,000 to 1

- Opposite-sex pairs 2x as effective

- Bonded couple – 4x as effective

- No decline with distance

Dean Radin, The Conscious Universe, 1997


Thousands of double-blind, well-

controlled studies conducted by

respected researchers in eminent

institutions over many years have

clearly demonstrated the existence

of “psychic” phenomena.

MIRACLESMIRACLES

“Miracles do not happen in

contradiction to Nature, but only

in contradiction to that which is

known to us in Nature.”

St. Augustine

SPIRITUALITY SPIRITUALITY HEALTH & HEALINGHEALTH & HEALING

Religion & Health

Spiritual Healing

Spiritual Assessment

SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENTSPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT

WHY ?WHY ?

- Religion-motivated neglectReligion-motivated neglect

- Patient demandPatient demand

- PsychoneuroimmunologyPsychoneuroimmunology

- Anxiety and hopeAnxiety and hope

-- Coping with stress of illness Coping with stress of illness

SPIRITUALITYSPIRITUALITY

“ “That which allows a person to experience That which allows a person to experience

transcendent meaning in life. This is often transcendent meaning in life. This is often

expressed as a relationship with God, but it expressed as a relationship with God, but it

can also be about nature, art, music, family can also be about nature, art, music, family

or community—whatever beliefs and values or community—whatever beliefs and values

give a person a sense of meaning and give a person a sense of meaning and

purpose in life.”purpose in life.”

Christina Puchalski, M.D. Journal of Palliative Medicine 2000;(3):129-37


“ “Spiritual history is a beliefs or values Spiritual history is a beliefs or values

history that explicitly opens the door to history that explicitly opens the door to

a conversation about the role of a conversation about the role of

spirituality and religion in the person’s spirituality and religion in the person’s

life..”life..”

Christina Puchalski, M.D. Journal of Palliative Medicine 2000;(3):129-37

SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT

Different from Psychosocial How are you coping? What are the

stresses? Are you scared of dying? How is your family coping?

Despair? Meaning and purpose? Belief in

a God or afterlife?


FF

II

CC

AA

Christina Puchalski, M.D., George Washington University, School of Medicine

Faith

Importance

Community

Application


FaithFaith

What is your faith or belief?

Do you consider yourself spiritual or

religious?

What things give meaning to your

life?


Importance

Is it important in your life?

Have your beliefs influenced your

behavior during this illness?

What role do your beliefs play in

regaining your health?


Community Are you part of a spiritual or religious

community?

Is this of support for you and how?

Is there a person or group of people that you really love or who are

really important to you?


Application

How would you like me, your

healthcare provider, to address

these issues in your

healthcare?


Consider spirituality as a potentially

important component of every patient’s

well-being. Address spirituality as an ongoing

issue. Respect every patients spiritual beliefs;

don’t impose your beliefs on others.


Make referrals to chaplains, spiritual

directors or community resources as

appropriate

Your own spiritual beliefs will help you

personally and will make the provider-

patient encounter more humanistic

spirituality health and healing. definitions religion (from latin - religare) - re: back - ligare:...

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handbook of religion

divine ground

religion spiritualitycommunity

breath of life

transcendent ground

life force

spiritual world

world of things