Psychological healing and faith in the doctrine of Karma1

The doctrine of Karma enjoys wide acceptance by all cross-sections of the Hindu population. The doctrine is frequently invoked while seeking explanations for various life crises. This study is an effort to delineate its role in the healing process. A narrative study was conducted on middle-to-late age women who had undergone major life crises. Their narratives threw light on how these women used this doctrine to make sense of their suffering and readapt to the changed reality. The belief in the doctrine facilitated acceptance of and emergence from their tragic life events. It was concluded that more systematic work is required to understand the mental representation of the doctrine and its various tenets, which affect the healing process.