Practice Wisdom, 2019

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The aim of this research is to show how spirituality is not only necessary in the treatment of all disorders, but also unavoidable. The need to consider, understand and treat human beings as a complex and very sensitive body, mind, and soul entity, that is directly and tightly linked to- and affected by its environment, nature and the entire cosmos is screamingly obvious. To have it any other way would not only be totally irresponsible, but laughable. Therapies that do not treat the soul, but only the body, are doomed to fail or, at the very least, to not entirely succeed and face the risk to have to be repeated, at a later stage, when trust and confidence have been shaken. Each trauma, disorder, uneasiness, issue and doubt call for spirituality to either enter a person’s life, or become deeper and stronger in the case it was already present, for the whole journey cannot be separated from its parts, which encompasses happy moments and difficult trials that lead a person to ask her/himself the right questions to find life’s meaning, and thrive, evolve, expand, grow and contribute to the elevation of the collective mind. It cannot be any other way, for otherwise, suffering would just happen for no reason at all, without the benefits of learning from it and gaining wisdom to do things differently. Nature does not like waste and prefers transformation, which leads to the evidence that something “bad” must have a good side to it, if only knowledge. The definition of Spirituality that has been considered for this research is the following: “The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than oneself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature. Spirituality is the quest itself that can be defined generally as an individual's search for ultimate or sacred meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality is a personal and very idiosyncratic journey that has little to do with organised religion or public rituals.”

2014

In the 30-plus years since Alasdair MacIntyre first published After Virtue the reach of the book has been rather extraordinary, especially given its demanding analysis and its distinctly gloomy prognosis. Clearly our chaotic, fragmented culture still has a deep if inarticulate desire for Aristotle's eudaemonia, for a basic understanding of and increased capacity for human flourishing. These ideas have a particular relevance for health care, partly because health, unlike many other good things, is a vital element of everyone's concept of a 'flourishing life'. And partly because of the alarming realisation that the NHS is losing its moral framework and drowning in an ill-amalgamated stew of incoherent and irreconcilable ethical fragments. This makes questions of what good health care might be, and how it might be delivered, important in themselves as well as offering a framework to look at how MacIntyre's 'virtue ethics' might be applied in practice. Peter Toon does not argue here that flourishing requires a pain-and stress-free continuum from cradle to grave, an infinite extension of life and the abolition of inconvenience and effort. Rather he is suggesting that a 'flourishing practice' will deliver, to both doctors and patients, the enhanced capacity to perceive resilient and meaningful patterns in our lives, to develop virtues and to have a good death. (Here he does not take up in detail what might constitute a 'good' death; but I think he has set up terms with which to begin that discussion and I hope he, or someone else, will take it up soon.) He focuses on which specific virtues (courage, compassion, justice, honesty, humility), both structural and personal, might best enable a medical professional, and particularly a GP, to develop these ends for her or himself, for colleagues and for patients. One of the things he sees as necessary is a stronger sense of collaboration and cooperation between doctors and their patients. So it is to his credit that as I read the book I found myself asking not 'Do I have a good doctor?' (I do) but rather, 'Am I a virtuous patient?' Do I come to encounters with my own medical practice with appropriate expectations, with proper hope, gratitude, humility, courage, willingness? What ought I to be bringing? How might I develop my capacity to be a part of this team? These are questions I have never really asked myself before. I realise I have come to the activity of being 'treated' with a rather uneasy amalgam of self-pity and entitlement, given a slightly smug gloss by some infantile moralistic desire to be seen as someone who 'does not make a fuss'. As much as the doctor, I too need to learn to 'favour treatments that promote autonomy not as a right to be protected but as a capacity to be enhanced' and to contribute to 'our mutual and flourishing growth'. This feels demanding but meaningful. Many years ago, Peter Toon was my, and my family's, GP. Through what turned out to be a very difficult decade for us all in many ways-with several medical difficulties-I know now we were consistently offered care that encouraged our flourishing. That is not why I am writing this foreword; that comes out of a subsequent history of other shared concerns and out of my desire to recommend this wise and helpful account. I mention it only because it gives an authenticity to my strong sense that Peter Toon 'speaks with authority and not as the scribes'. I of course am a professional scribe, so do not take my word for it. Read this book.

There is increasing recognition of the importance of identifying and perhaps incorporating into psychological services the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices (SRBP) of patients. Research suggests that psychologists are reluctant to address the SRBP of their patients, because they are unsure how to do so without contravention of ethical standards. Moreover, numerous approaches have been published and promoted, and psychologists may feel overwhelmed by the profusion of advice. We organize the suggested approaches into four categories and place them on a continuum, and we discuss the ethical concerns related to each. At one end is spiritually avoidant care, which entails the attempt to avoid conversations with patients about their SRBP. Given the importance of these issues to psychological health and to understanding the patient, this approach is untenable. At the other end of the continuum, spiritually directive psychotherapy is characterized by an explicit attempt to maintain or change the SRBP of patients. Spiritually integrated psychotherapy entails utilizing SRBP to ameliorate patients' emotional distress. We suggest that psychologists should at least engage in spiritually conscious care, which we characterize as the explicit assessment of the general importance of SRBP to the patient, its influence on the presenting problem, and the potential of SRBP as a resource to help recovery. Specific suggestions are presented for how spiritually conscious care might be implemented. Finally, the need for better training in both basic and specific competencies needed to address patients' SRBP is reviewed.

Throughout every human’s lifetime, there is one constant theme, one question that may trigger either fear or hope. Concern about what may be coming next or the hope that what is to come is better than what exists now will drive every individual to either abandon or pursue their dreams. This thesis will illustrate how the mind’s magnetism, the law of attraction, determines all situations that come into each life. These events match the frequencies emitted by the thoughts and feelings generated by each individual. Therefore, mastering your thoughts and feelings is imperative for a successful life. Brain reprogramming, releasing limiting beliefs, and maintaining positive thoughts will be examined as a means of overcoming negativity so every individual can live a purposeful and meaningful life.

Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2007

Title. From private to public: negotiating professional and personal identities in spiritual care Aim. This paper is an exploration of the challenge of negotiating the highly personalized concept of spirituality within the public sphere of professional-patient interactions. Background. Spirituality has become increasingly prominent within the nursing discourse, and providing spiritual care is often positioned as an ethical obligation of care. However, bringing such a personal concept into the public domain of care creates some unique tensions and ethical risks. Discussion. Nurses bring three potentially competing identities to spiritual care encounters with patients. Firstly, they are professionals with a public trust in health promotion and restoration, including those areas that intersect with spiritual health. Secondly, they are citizens of a liberal society where non-judgmental pluralism as it relates to spirituality is enshrined. Thirdly, they are individuals who hold particular beliefs and values about spirituality. Each of these identities may result in particular, and potentially conflicting, approaches to spiritual care. Ultimately, the identity which nurses choose to adopt is often determined by how they view themselves in the spiritual care encounter, either as experts with legitimate authority to intervene in the spiritual lives of patients or as people in a shared relational encounter. Each of these approaches carries ethical risks, although the nature of these risks is different. Conclusion. The identities which nurses bring to spiritual care encounters have far-reaching implications for patient experiences in those encounters. Nurses who position themselves as experts run the risk of objectifying the spiritual, being experienced as coercive and transcending nursings' competence. The work of Martin Buber is presented as a model that, while acknowledging competing identities, sets forth a vision of spirituality and spiritual care based upon relational reciprocity.

Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are rapidly emerging in health care settings for their role in reducing stress and improving physical and mental health. In such settings, the religious roots and affiliations of MBIs are downplayed, and the possibilities for developing spiritual, even mystical, states of consciousness are minimized. This article helps rebalance this trend by using the tools of medical humanities and narrative medicine to explore MBI as a bridge between medical and spiritual approaches to health related suffering. My narrative medicine method draws insights from the arts and humanities that are rarely used in standard clinical research but are increasingly common among medical humanities and narrative medicine scholars. The specific path I take will be to work through historical, linguistic, and philosophic dimensions of mindfulness and mysticism as relevant to illness, suffering, death, and dying. I close with two case examples in which mindfulness is used as an intentionally spiritual practice for health concerns.

The conference theme will focus broadly on Prayer and Meditation with the aim of gathering together senior and independent researchers, postgraduate students, and practitioners from across all academic disciplines. Whilst precedence is given to prayer and meditation, we wish also to encourage studies that focus upon the wide scope of practices and practical making use of such techniques. The conference will have an interdisciplinary character as is the tradition of Theological and Ethnological Academic Colloquia. Proposed sessions’ structure: We strongly encourage participants from various scientific disciplines to submit an abstract in the following sessions: - Prayer and meditation in religious systems - Prayer and meditation as a conversation with the Lord - Contemporary prayer and meditation - Prayer and meditation techniques - Prayer and meditation as a cross-religious system - Prayer and meditation in sacred scriptures - Prayer and meditation in psychology and psychotherapy - Prayer and meditation in art In addition, we invite suggestions and proposals for additional panel sessions, although please inform us swiftly of any intention, indicating with whom you would like to cooperate or convene such a panel.