Disease and aging are natural parts of life. We can’t keep our patients free from illness or forever young. But we can help them respond to challenging life events with grace. When Ram Dass, PhD, experienced a life-changing stroke, he focused on the grace his experience brought him. He found kindness from strangers, and used […]
Do Patients Want to Talk about Spirituality?
It’s an important question to ask yourself: do my patients want to talk about their spiritual concerns? A recent study may help shed light on the topic. Farr Curlin, MD and his team at the University of Chicago analyzed data from 3,141 hospitalized patients looking to answer these questions. Patients who had a spiritual conversation […]
Can Spirituality and Medication Work Together?
I never would have imagined that medication and spirituality had anything in common. But a study out of Rush University Medical Center led by chaplain and assistant professor Patricia Murphy, PhD brings new findings that suggest spirituality can act synergistically with medication to produce better patient outcomes. For instance, spirituality may be a key factor […]
An Infant’s Eyes – More from Rachel Remen, MD
We got so many comments on Rachel’s story about how a newborn deeply affected a physician that we wanted to share it again with you. It’s a powerful reminder to keep your eyes open – you might be surprised by what you see. Take a look and let us know what you think. How has […]
Releasing Negativity – Why It’s Essential for Healing
We know that grief can affect our emotional health – but did you know that it may also have profound physical effects? A recent study led by Murray Mittleman, MD, at the Harvard School of Public Health found that the risk of heart attack may increase dramatically after the loss of a loved one. The […]
Does Spirituality Belong in Therapy?
Some therapists are hesitant to include spirituality in their practice. But if it can calm worries and lower stress, wouldn’t we want to integrate it into practice? Psychologist David Rosmarin, PhD headed up a research team at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital to study how spirituality and belief impact worry and doubt. They conducted two studies I […]
Does God Affect Our Brain?
Have you ever seen colors spelled out using the wrong color font? It’s called the Stroop task and it might look like this: Red Blue Green Yellow. Instead of reading the word, you have to determine the color of the word. Researchers from the University of Toronto, led by psychologist Michael Inzlicht, PhD, examined subjects’ […]
No Expertise Required – A Spiritual Practice for the Practitioner
When we think of spirituality, scriptures, ceremonies, and specific religious practices often come quickly to mind. But even beyond these rich traditions, spirituality can run deep to engage the entire mind, body, and spirit of each individual person. Spirituality dictates that we look for and honor the essential humanity in each individual. As practitioners, many […]
Aspects of Spirituality May Help to Heal Chronic Illness
We know that spirituality can help us feel connected with ourselves, others, and even a higher power, but what are the specific aspects that are associated with improved healing? Researchers from the University of Missouri recruited men and women suffering from chronic health conditions to find out. Participants suffered from a range of conditions including […]
Spirituality and Self-Control
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy way to have more self-control? Imagine how different our daily lives would be if we could tolerate more discomfort, increase our patience, delay gratification, and refrain from impulsive responses. All of these qualities were found to increase after subjects were primed with a spiritually oriented task […]