Religious and Spiritual Beliefs of Physicians

The aim of this study is to describe religious and spiritual beliefs of physicians and examine their influence on the decision to pursue medicine and daily medical practice. An anonymous survey was e-mailed to physicians at a large, multidisciplinary tertiary referral center with satellite clinics. Data were collected from January 2014 through February 2014. There were 2097 respondents (69.1 % men), and number of practicing years ranged from ≤1 to ≥30. Primary care physicians or medical specialists represented 74.1 %, 23.6 % were in surgical specialties, and 2.3 % were psychiatrists. The majority of physicians believe in God (65.2 %), and 51.2 % reported themselves as religious, 24.8 % spiritual, 12.4 % agnostic, and 11.6 % atheist. This self-designation was largely independent of specialty except for psychiatrists, who were more likely report agnosticism (P = 0.003). In total, 29.0 % reported that religious or spiritual beliefs influenced their decision to become a physician. Frequent prayer was reported by 44.7 % of physicians, but only 20.7 % reported having prayed with patients. Most physicians consider themselves religious or spiritual, but the rates of agnosticism and atheism are higher than the general population. Psychiatrists are the least religious group. Despite the influence of religion on physicians’ lives and medical practice, the majority have not incorporated prayer into patient encounters.     

Generation to Generation: Passing on Religious and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices

Many families face difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships. Past research has identified that religious and/or spiritual beliefs and practices can enhance family well-being. Research has also shown that religious and/or beliefs and practices can shape the aging process. Yet there exists little information on the methods through which religious and/or spiritual beliefs are passed on to future generations. This study utilized Eriksonian conceptual ideas, and grounded theory methods to conduct interviews with 13 older adults on the process through which religious and/or spiritual beliefs are passed on to children and grandchildren. Ideas are discussed for practitioners based on study findings.     

How Christian Spiritual and Religious Beliefs Help and Hinder Counselors' Empathy Toward Clients

The critical incident technique was used to examine how counselors' religion and spirituality help and hinder counselor empathy toward clients. Twelve counselors holding Christian beliefs identified 242 helping and 25 hindering incidents that formed 14 helping and 3 hindering categories. Categories reflected counselors relying on a natural connection to their spirituality, drawing from empathic roots in their religion or spiritual experience, and using commonalities shared with clients as a means of empathizing. Implications for research, counselor education, and counseling practice are discussed.     

The Impact of a Breast Cancer Diagnosis on Religious/Spiritual Beliefs and Practices in the UK

The use of religious/spiritual resources may increase when dealing with the stress of a cancer diagnosis. However, there has been very little research conducted into changes in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices as a result of a cancer diagnosis outside the USA. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a breast cancer diagnosis on patients’ religious/spiritual beliefs and practices in the UK where religious practice is different. The study used two methods. One compared the religious/spiritual beliefs and practices of 202 patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer with those of a control group of healthy women (n = 110). The other examined patients’ perceived change in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices at the time of surgery with those in the year prior to surgery. The aspects of religiousness/spirituality assessed were: levels of religiosity/spirituality, strength of faith, belief in God as well as private and public practices. Patient’s perceived their belief in God, strength of faith and private religious/spiritual practices to have significantly increased shortly after surgery compared with the year prior to surgery. However, there were no significant differences in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices between patients and healthy participants. Change scores demonstrated both a reduction and an increase in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices. Although belief in God, strength of faith and private religious/spiritual practices were perceived by patients to be significantly higher after their cancer diagnosis, no significant differences in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices were found between the cancer group at the time of surgery and the control group. Different methodologies appear to produce different results and may explain contradictions in past US studies. Limitations of this study are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.     

The Acquisition and Function of Religious Beliefs: A Review and Synthesis of Proximate and Ultimate Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Two main scientific approaches have renewed in the last decade the scientific study of religion: the cognitive and the adaptationist. The former is focused on proximate causes, the latter is looking for ultimate causes of religious beliefs and behaviours. Both approaches are useful and promising. However, in both cases, various important aspects and contexts associated with the origin, acquisition, and transmission of religious beliefs have been neglected. The present paper offers an approach that conjoins both models after reviewing several critical issues, to highlight a distinction between cognitive conditions and structures, on one side; and developments or applications, on the other. As a result greater attention needs to be paid to religious functions and their cultural framework to better understand religion and to explain some current processes, like massive secularization in several areas.     

Religious and Spiritual Beliefs: An Avenue to Explore End‐of‐Life Issues

This literature review highlights the relationship between spirituality and/or religion and how people respond in the face of impending death. Attitudes toward physician‐assisted suicide and hospice are explored. The author also offers recommendations to counselors for addressing religious and spiritual concerns.     

Assessment of Religious Beliefs Form

Religion may be a source of spiritual strength or a source of conflict and guilt. This article outlines the importance of assessing the religious beliefs of clients for treatment purposes and provides a format for the counselor to utilize. Because counselors may be unaware of their clients' individual perspectives, it is important to evaluate a clients' belief system from a holistic perspective during the intake process.     

Elements of Healthy Religious Beliefs

Rather than characterizing religious beliefs in general as healthy or unhealthy, this article suggests criteria by which one might differentiate between healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs.     

The Recovery of Religious and Spiritual Significance in American Psychiatry

This paper reviews a body of data that identifies underlying influences that have contributed to an evolving change in American Psychiatry toward a more positive and receptive stance toward religion and spirituality over the past three decades. This development, surprising in light of the remedicalization of psychiatry and its predominantly neuro-biological orientation, is attributed to five foundational ideas that have helped to leverage this change. These are significance of culture, creative power of ritual, psychic function of belief, neuro-biology of spirituality, and relevance of recovery narratives. The impact of these factors for psychiatric assessment and treatment is described, as well as the contribution of the Oskar Pfister legacy and award to the ongoing dialogue between religion and psychiatry. Adapted from the American Psychiatric Association's 2011 Oskar Pfister Lecture in Religion and Psychiatry.     

彝族撒尼人的宗教信仰--以《普兹楠兹--彝族祭祀词》为中心

彝族先民在生存斗争中构筑了人神共处的信仰世界 ,其宗教信仰反映了理想和现实之间的矛盾。本文考察了《普兹楠兹》反映的云南撒尼支系彝人的原始信仰 ,分析了其宗教祭祀活动的特征 ,讨论了古代撒尼人对神灵依赖与超脱的矛盾情结。     

Religious Perfectionism Versus Spiritual Growth

This article explores the fundamentalist Christian focus on perfectionism and its possible contribution to an increase in dysfunctional individuals, family systems, and societies. Several Bible verses are analyzed, and the results of their misinterpretation discussed. The need for a program of spiritual growth, as expressed by Alcoholics Anonymous, as opposed to a program of spiritual perfection is proposed.     

Religious Beliefs,Religious Contexts,and Perceived Interactions with Ex-Offenders

Religious institutions can provide a means of support and resources for many people, particularly, individuals who have criminal histories, specifically parolees, sex offenders, and insanity acquittees. When these individuals are released into the community, they often face difficulties in acquiring shelter, work, and social support. Out of their own volition or as a result of faith-based prison programs, they might turn to religious institutions for help reintegrating into the community. However, whether congregation members are more or less accepting of these individuals is unaddressed in the current literature. Two studies assess the relationship between religious beliefs, religious contexts, legal attitudes, and perceived social interactions with parolees, sex offenders, and insanity acquittees. Results suggest that religious beliefs, legal attitudes, and religious contexts play an important role in individuals’ perceived interactions with these individuals. Religious contexts, specifically, might facilitate more positive social interactions with parolees. Implications are discussed.     

Therapist Spiritual and Religious Values in Psychotherapy

In training and in supervision, counselors learn to be cognizant of personal values (e.g., spirituality, religiosity), yet they are enjoined to except them from practice. This article examines the nature of therapist spiritual and religious values and the impact of these values on the practice of psychotherapy. A goal of effective treatment should be the integration of therapist spiritual and religious values with therapist epistemic values in order to accommodate the spiritual and religious needs of both client and counselor. Counselor spiritual and religious values can contribute to therapy, even when the therapist is engaged in a dialectic involving personal and epistemic values.     

The Role of Religious Beliefs in Coping With Chronic Illness

The authors examined the ways in which 40 women with chronic illnesses (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or a combination of these disorders) used religious beliefs as a means of coping with their illnesses, The participants, all between the ages of 28 and 79 years, were interviewed about the role religious beliefs played in their experiences and the ways in which they made meaning in their lives or coped with their illnesses. The majority of the women reported that religious beliefs were important in living with a chronic illness. In addition, more women who were identified as coping well with their illness reported strong religious beliefs, whereas the majority of women identified as poor copers reported that religion was unimportant or that they had no religious beliefs.     

Spiritual Beliefs and Barriers Among Managed Care Practitioners

Purpose: Ninety percent of American adults believe in God and 82% pray weekly. A majority wants their physicians to address spirituality during their health care visit. However, clinicians incorporate spiritual discussion in less than 20% of visits. Our objectives were to measure clinician beliefs and identify perceived barriers to integrating spirituality into patient care in a statewide, primary care, managed care group. Methods: Practitioners completed a 30-item survey including demographics and religious involvement (DUREL), spirituality in patient care (SPC), and barriers (BAR). We analyzed data using frequencies, means, standard deviations, and ANOVA. Findings: Clinicians had a range of religious denominations (67% Christian, 14% Jewish, 11% Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, 8% agnostic), were 57% female and 24% had training in spirituality. Sixty-six percent reported experiencing the divine. Ninety-five percent felt that a patients spiritual outlook was important to handling health difficulties and 68% percent agreed that addressing spirituality was part of the physicians role. Ninety-five percent of our managed care group noted 8lack of time as an important barrier, lack of training was indicated by 69%, and 21% cited fear of response from administration. Conclusions: Managed care practitioners in a time constrained setting were spiritual themselves and believed this to be important to patients. Respondents indicated barriers of time and training to implementing these beliefs. Comparing responses from our group to those in other published surveys on clinician spirituality, we find similar concerns. Clinician education may overcome these barriers and improve ability to more fully meet their patients expressed needs regarding spirituality and beliefs.*This material has previously been presented as an abstract at the Culture and End of Life Conference, Association of Medical Colleges Spirituality, Kansas City, MO, September 12–14, 2002.Project supported by the Foundation for Spirituality in Medicine, Baltimore, MD     

Religious and Spiritual Practices Among Patients with Cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency with which cancer patients engage in religious and spiritual practices, the methods used, the reasons for such a search, and the levels of depression and hopelessness in patients who seek spiritual assistance. One hundred and ten radiation oncology patients, who gave voluntary informed consent were included in this study. Questionnaires about religious and spiritual practices were administered, along with the Beck Depression and Beck Hopelessness scales. Twenty percent of the patients preferred spiritual practices. Female gender, lower education levels, and higher depression and hopelessness scores were associated with this preference. The frequency of depression was 18.2%, and the frequency of hopelessness was 20.9%. A significant number of cancer patients engaged in religious and spiritual practices. We recommend that practitioners offer their patients brief but sufficient information about religious and spiritual support and determine their patients’ depression and hopelessness levels.