Beck, Richard. Spiritual Pollution: The Dilemma Of Sociomoral Disgust And The Ethic Of Love. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 53-65.
Within the Judeo-Christian tradition, holiness and purity traditions explicitly and extensively employ contamination metaphors to understand both sin and salvation. Thus, certain sins, or populations engaging in sins, can be experienced via disgust psychology. The use of contamination metaphors within Christianity is problematic in that disgust and love are, it is argued, opposed psychological processes. Thus, the deployment of contamination metaphors within Christianity may, unintentionally, undermine the Christian ethic of love. However, the New Testament offers illustrative episodes where contamination metaphors were suspended to allow love the victory over disgust psychology. In the end, religious communities are asked to monitor contamination metaphors so they may intentionally manage the social and ethical implications of erecting sociomoral boundaries

Bell, Ronny A./ Suerken, Cynthia/ Quandt, Sara A./ Grzywacz, Joseph G./ Lang, Wei/ Arcury, Thomas A. Prayer for Health Among U.S. Adults: The 2002 National Health Interview Survey. Complementary Health Practice Review Oct 2005, 10(3), 175-188.
Data for the United States is limited on prayer for health, including associations with other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities. The 2002 National Health Interview Survey and Alternative Health Supplement data were examined for associations between prayer for health and demographic, health, and CAM use characteristics. Forty-five percent of adults reported some form of prayer for health. Use of prayer for health was associated with increasing age, ethnic minority status, lower socioeconomic status, southern/midwestern U.S. region, poorer health, and use of most forms of CAM. These data provide information about prayer for health in the United States. Further research could examine associations between prayer for health and health-related decisions, behaviors, and outcomes.

Belcher, Anne E. Should Oncology Nurses Provide Spiritual Care? ONS News 21(5), 9-10.

Benson, Herbert/ Dusek,  Jeffery A./ Sherwood, Jane B./ Lam, Peter/ Bethea, Charles F./ Carpenter, William/ Levitsky, Sidney/ Hill, Peter C./  Clem, Jr, Donald W./ Jain, Manoj K./ Drumel,  David/ Kopecky, Stephen L./ Mueller, Paul S./ Marek, Dean/ Rollins, Sue/ Hibberd, Patricia L. Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer. Am Heart J 2006, 151, 934-42.
Background Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials. Prior studies have not addressed whether prayer itself or knowledge/certainty that prayer is being provided may influence outcome. We evaluated whether (1) receiving intercessory prayer or (2) being certain of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with uncomplicated recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.
Methods Patients at 6 US hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 604 received intercessory prayer after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; 597 did not receive intercessory prayer also after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; and 601 received intercessory prayer after being informed they would receive prayer. Intercessory prayer was provided for 14 days, starting the night before CABG. The primary outcome was presence of any complication within 30 days of CABG. Secondary outcomes were any major event and mortality.
Results In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). Complications occurred in 59% (352/601) of patients certain of receiving intercessory prayer compared with the 52% (315/604) of those uncertain of receiving intercessory prayer (relative risk 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28). Major events and 30-day mortality were similar across the 3 groups.
Conclusions Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.

Bent-Goodley, Tricia B./ Fowler, Dawnovise N. Spiritual and Religious Abuse: Expanding What is Known About Domestic Violence. Affilia 2006, 21, 282.
Domestic violence reportedly affects more than 5 million Americans each year, more than 85% of whom are women. Many of these women turn to their faith-based communities for support and guidance, but little is known about how the church members they turn to perceive or understand domestic violence. This article reports the outcomes of three focus groups in three diverse communities of faith in the African American community that resulted in a better understanding of how church leaders and congregants view spirituality and religion and how they converge with domestic violence. Implications for research and practice are presented for domestic violence intervention.

Berman, David. Religion and Madness. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 359-370.
Abstract: The question I try to answer in this paper is: How should we distinguish mad from sane religious belief? After looking at the clear-cut but opposed answers of Freud and Jung, I then examine the modern psychiatric answer, particularly as presented in the DSM IV. After arguing that each of the three answers is unsatisfactory, I look at what I take to be the more promising
approach of Con Drury, Wittgenstein’s friend and biographer, in an essay called ‘‘Madness and Religion,’’ where, drawing on the religious histories of Joan of Arc, George Fox and Tolstoy and three of his own psychiatric patients, Drury suggests that there is no objective yet ethical way to make the distinction. This leads to my own answer, which is that the best we can do is to distinguish mad from neurotic religious belief; and hence that the safest position, although not the most comfortable, is the neurotic one.

Boehnlein, James K. Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatric Care: Looking Back, Looking Ahead. Transcultural Psychiatry Dec 2006, 43(4), 634–651.
Abstract Cultural psychiatry has been an important contributor to the enhanced dialogue between psychiatry and religion in the past couple of decades. During this time, religion and spirituality have become more prominent in mainstream psychiatry in a number of areas of study and clinical care, including refugee and immigrant health, trauma and loss, psychotherapy, collaboration with clergy, bioethics, and psychiatric research. In looking towards the future, there is a great deal of promise for future enhancement of the study of religion and spirituality in psychiatric education, research, and clinical care.

Bormann, Jill E./ Becker, Sheryl/ Gershwin, Madeline/ Kelly, Ann/ Pada, Laureen/ Smith, Tom L./ Gifford, Allen L. Relationship of Frequent Mantram Repetition to Emotional and Spiritual Well-Being in Healthcare Workers. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing Sept/Oct 2006, 37(5), 218-224.
Abstract
Background: Healthcare workers report high levels of stress in the workplace. To determine how to reduce stress, the authors examined the effectiveness of frequently repeating a mantram (a word with spiritual meaning) on emotional
and spiritual well-being.
Methods: A pretest–posttest design was used to measure stress, state/trait anxiety and anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being in a convenience sample (N = 42) of hospital workers completing a mantram intervention program.
Results: Significant improvements were found in stress (p < .001), trait-anxiety (p = .002), trait-anger (p = .02), quality of life (p = .001), and spiritual well-being (p = .003). When examining the effects of mantram practice, trait-anxiety and religious and spiritual well-being were significant (p < .05).
Conclusion: Improvements in emotional and spiritual well-being may be mediated by frequent mantram repetition.

Cadge, Wendy/ Catlin, Elizabeth A. Making Sense of Suffering and Death: How Health Care Providers’ Construct Meanings in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit*. Journal of Religion and Health Summer 2006, 45(2), 248-263.
Abstract: Biomedical technology has progressed at a pace that has created a new set of patient care dilemmas. Health care providers in intensive care units where life-sustaining therapies are both initiated and withdrawn encounter clinical scenarios that raise new existential, theological, and moral questions. We hypothesized that there might be broad patterns in how such staff understand these questions and make sense and meaning from their work. Such meaning making might be the key to working with the critically ill and dying while helping to create and sustain a meaningful context for personal living. This article presents themes evident in an in depth analysis of open-text responses to a spiritual and religious questionnaire survey completed by staff in one neonatal intensive care unit. The data reveal the central roles of perceived infant suffering and death in these providers’ work experience and details how they understand the ultimate
meaning of the suffering and death. We investigate patterns in how different providers articulate their individual attributes and motivations for working in intensive care. We found a surprising range of religious, spiritual, existential, and other meaning-making systems that underpin how staffs understand their work and how, certain of them, even define their purpose in life as caring for critically ill infants and their families.

Carmody, James/ Crawford, Sybil/ Churchill, Linda. A pilot study of mindfulness-based stress reduction for hot flashes. Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society 2006, 13(5), 760-769.
Abstract
Objective: A variety of results from both population and laboratory studies suggest that stress and hot flashes (HFs) are correlated and that HFs are more severe in women with lower coping abilities. The objective of this pilot study was to obtain information on the feasibility and effect of participation in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on HF severity and menopause-related quality of life.
Design: Fifteen women volunteers reporting a minimum of seven moderate to severe HFs per day at study intake attended the eight weekly MBSR classes at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Participants were assessed for menopause-related quality of life before beginning and at the conclusion of the MBSR program. Women also kept a daily log of their HFs through the course of the 7 weeks of the MBSR program and for 4 weeks after it.
Results: Women’s scores on quality-of-life measures increased significantly, and the median reported HF severity, calculated as the weekly average of a daily HF severity score, decreased 40% over the course of the 11 weeks of the assessment period. The women were individually interviewed at the completion of their participation, and the results of the interviews were consistent with the results from daily diaries.
Conclusions: These results provide preliminary positive evidence of the feasibility and efficacy of MBSR in supporting women who are experiencing severe HFs, and it warrants further investigation.

Chen, Yung Y./ Koenig, Harold G. Traumatic Stress and Religion: Is there a Relationship? A Review of Empirical Findings. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 371-381.
Abstract: Based on a history of close conceptual link, empirical studies are beginning to accumulate that investigate the relationship between trauma and religion. A review of empirical studies that examined the relationship between religion/spirituality and PTSD showed mixed findings (n = 11). Though the direction of association varied among studies, all but one study reported significant associations between the two. Factors that might have contributed to the mixed findings are discussed (e.g., measurements, research design). Overall, these results appear to be encouraging toward confirming the conceptual link between religion and trauma. Further research investigating the direction of causation and possible moderators of the association may contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between trauma and religion.

Clough, William R. To Be Loved And To Love. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 23-31.
Love is a powerful force in human life. It seems to be one thing, but takes on many forms. A major task in therapy is to tap into intrinsic motivations for healthy change; to help people to fall in love with what they can, at their best, become. The Christian Scriptures offer a definition of love that can encourage healthy growth without the narcissistic overtones of self-esteem, which psychology can fall into, or a mechanical set of doctrines into which Christianity can fall. In this article, the nature of love is considered from psychological and theological literature. The various nuances of love are explored in relationship to attachment theory, altruism, some therapeutic schools, and Biblical perspectives. Finally I John 4, as the prototypical theological discussion of love, is applied to the counseling and growth process.

Collett, Alice.  Buddhism And Gender Reframing and Refocusing the Debate. JFSR 2006, 22(2), 55–84.
Within the Buddhism and gender debate in Western scholarship, various approaches to the study of Buddhist literature—Orientalist, Protestant Buddhism, and a doctrinal approach—have led to a taxonomy of value being accorded various texts such that some are overvalued and others either wholly or largely ignored. The first women scholars of Buddhist studies in the West—Caroline
Rhys Davids, Mabel Bode, and I. B. Horner—labored under the Orientalist fallacy and thus set up some initial distortions in the survey of the textual record that have persisted. However, the work of these women also possesses many strengths and contemporary scholars would do well to follow their lead in continuing more detailed textual work in the field while also rescinding their
overemphasis on the Pali literature and bringing into the frame all relevant texts by, about, or concerning women from ancient Indian Buddhism.

Curlin, Farr A./ Sellergren, Sarah A./ Lantos, John D./ Chin, Marshall H.
Physicians’ Observations and Interpretations of the Influence of Religion and Spirituality on Health. Arch Intern Med. 2007, 167, 649-654.
Background: In spite of a substantial body of empirical data, professional disagreement persists regarding whether and how religion and spirituality (hereinafter “R/S” and treated as a single concept) influences health. This study examines the association between physicians’ religious characteristics and their observations and interpretations of the influence of R/S on health.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was mailed to a stratified, random sample of 2000 practicing US physicians from all specialties. Physicians were asked to estimate how often patients mention R/S issues, how much R/S influences health, and in what ways the influence is manifested.
Results: The response rate was 63%. Most physicians (56%) believed that R/S had much or very much influence on health, but few (6%) believed that R/S often
changed “hard” medical outcomes. Rather, most physicians believed that R/S (1) often helps patients to cope (76%), (2) gives patients a positive state of mind (75%), and (3) provides emotional and practical support via the religious community (55%). Compared with those with low religiosity, physicians with high religiosity are substantially more likely to (1) report that patients often mention R/S issues (36% vs 11%)(P<001); (2) believe that R/S strongly influences health (82% vs 16%) (P<.001); and (3) interpret the influence of R/S in positive rather
than negative ways.
Conclusion: Patients are likely to encounter quite different opinions about the relationship between their R/S and their health, depending on the religious characteristics of their physicians.

Curlin, Farr A./ Lawrence, Ryan E./ Chin, Marshall H./ John D. Lantos.
Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices. The New England Journal of Medicine 2007, 356(6), 593-600.
Abstract
Background
There is a heated debate about whether health professionals may refuse to provide treatments to which they object on moral grounds. It is important to understand how physicians think about their ethical rights and obligations when such conflicts emerge in clinical practice.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a stratified, random sample of 2000 practicing U.S. physicians from all specialties by mail. The primary criterion variables were physicians’ judgments about their ethical rights and obligations when patients request a legal medical procedure to which the physician objects for religious or moral reasons. These procedures included administering terminal sedation in dying patients, providing abortion for failed contraception, and prescribing birth control to adolescents without parental approval.
Results
A total of 1144 of 1820 physicians (63%) responded to our survey. On the basis of our results, we estimate that most physicians believe that it is ethically permissible for doctors to explain their moral objections to patients (63%). Most also believe that physicians are obligated to present all options (86%) and to refer the patient to another clinician who does not object to the requested procedure (71%). Physicians who were male, those who were religious, and those who had personal objections to morally controversial clinical practices were less likely to report that doctors must disclose information about or refer patients for medical procedures to which the physician objected on moral grounds (multivariate odds ratios, 0.3 to 0.5).
Conclusions
Many physicians do not consider themselves obligated to disclose information
about or refer patients for legal but morally controversial medical procedures. Patients who want information about and access to such procedures may need to inquire proactively to determine whether their physicians would accommodate such requests.

Curlin, Farr A. Spirituality and Lifestyle: What Clinicians Need to Know. Southern Medical Journal Oct 2006, 99(10), 1170-1171.

Daaleman, Timothy P. Special Communication - Religion, Spirituality, and the Practice of Medicine. J Am Board Fam Pract 2004, 17, 370–6.
Physicians are confronted with new information from the popular media, peer-reviewed journals, and their patients regarding the association of religious and spiritual factors with health outcomes. Although religion and spirituality have become more visible within health care, there are considerable ethical issues raised when physicians incorporate these dimensions into their care. Spiritualities are responsive to patient needs by offering beliefs, stories, and practices that facilitate the creation of a personally meaningful world, a constructed “reality” in the face of illness, disability, or death. It is largely through narrative that physicians incorporate into the health care encounter the spiritualities that are central to their patients’ lived experience of illness and health.

de Wit, Harriet. Towards a science of spiritual experience. Psychopharmacology 2006, 187, 267.

Dorn, John matt. Intercessory prayer. Am Heart J 2006, 152, e25.

Ernst, Edzard. Letters to the Editor- Spiritual Healing: More Than Meets the Eye. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Nov 2006, 32(5), 393- 395.

Ellis, Philip L. Behavioral Health Must Recognize the Importance of Religion. Behavioral Health Management Mar/Apr 2005, 8-9.

Evans, C. Stephen. Is There A Basis For Loving All People? Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 78-90.
Many ethical systems hold that there are obligations to love and value all human beings. This essay assumes the existence of such universal obligations, and argues that a divine command meta-ethical theory provides a better account of these obligations than secular meta-ethical theories, such as the evolutionary biology and contractual meta-ethical accounts that are favored by many psychologists. God’s command to humans to love their neighbors as themselves not only explains the existence of such obligations, but also gives a plausible account of the psychological motivation for acting in accord with such a duty.

Graetz Simmonds, Janette. The Oceanic Feeling And A Sea Change - Historical Challenges to Reductionist Attitudes to Religion and Spirit From Within Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Psychology 2006, 23(1), 128–142.
Three waves of challenges may be perceived from within psychoanalysis to its
reductionist attitude to religion and spirit. These historical challenges from within psychoanalysis are an important context for reading the many papers now being published on spirituality and psychotherapy, and increasingly, spirituality and psychoanalysis. The 1st wave began with some of Freud’s contemporaries, among them his friend, the psychoanalyst and pastor Oscar Pfister; the Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland, and the poet T. S. Eliot. Challenges continued after Freud’s death: In Britain from psychoanalysts such as Rickman and Guntrip, and in America initially by the European immigrants, Erikson and Fromm. British independent psychoanalysts initiated what may be considered to be the 3rd wave, whose momentum is now swelling to a sea change.

Griffiths, R.R./ Richards, W.A./ McCann, U./ Jesse, R. Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology 2006, 187, 268–283.
Abstract
Rationale Although psilocybin has been used for centuries for religious purposes, little is known scientifically about its acute and persisting effects. Objectives This double-blind study evaluated the acute and longer-term psychological effects of a high dose of psilocybin relative to a comparison compound administered under comfortable, supportive conditions.
Materials and methods The participants were hallucinogennaïve adults reporting regular participation in religious or spiritual activities. Two or three sessions were conducted at 2-month intervals. Thirty volunteers received orally administered psilocybin (30 mg/70 kg) and methylphenidate hydrochloride (40 mg/70 kg) in counterbalanced order. To obscure the study design, six additional volunteers received methylphenidate in the first two sessions and unblended psilocybin in a third session. The 8-h sessions were conducted individually. Volunteers were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inward. Study monitors rated volunteers’ behavior during sessions. Volunteers completed questionnaires assessing drug effects and mystical experience immediately after and 2 months after sessions. Community observers rated changes in the volunteer’s attitudes and behavior.
Results Psilocybin produced a range of acute perceptual changes, subjective experiences, and labile moods including anxiety. Psilocybin also increased measures of mystical experience. At 2 months, the volunteers rated the psilocybin experience as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance and attributed to the experience sustained positive changes in attitudes and behavior consistent with changes rated by community observers.
Conclusions When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences. The ability to occasion such experiences prospectively will allow rigorous scientific investigations of their causes and consequences.

Hermann, Carla P. The Degree to Which Spiritual Needs of Patients Near the End of Life Are Met. Oncology Nursing Forum 2007,34(1), 70 –78.
Purpose/Objectives: To determine to what degree the spiritual needs
of patients near the end of life are met.
Design: Descriptive.
Setting: One inpatient and five outpatient hospices.
Sample: 62 female and 38 male hospice patients with a mean age of
67 years; 74% were dying from cancer.
Methods: Each subject completed the Spiritual Needs Inventory and
rated life satisfaction via the Cantril ladder.
Main Research Variables: Spiritual needs and life satisfaction.
Findings: Women, patients residing in a nursing home or an inpatient
hospice unit, and patients with lower levels of education reported a higher number of unmet spiritual needs. Needs that could be met independently by patients and were not related to functional status were met at a higher rate than those that were dependent on others and on functional status.
Conclusions: Spiritual activities are important to patients who are near the end of life, but these patients may have a variety of unmet spiritual needs that depend on many factors, including the care setting.
Implications for Nursing: Nurses must recognize the importance of spirituality to patients near the end of life. Assessment for specific spiritual needs can lead to the development of interventions to meet those needs. Meeting patients’ spiritual needs can enhance their quality of life.

Hodge, David R. Spiritually Modified Cognitive Therapy: A Review of the Literature. Social Work Apr 2006, 51(2), 157-166.
A paucity of research exists on the effectiveness of spiritual interventions, despite their wide use by practitioners and the acknowledged importance of evidence-based practice. To assist practitioners in their selection of spiritual interventions, the author reviewed research on the effectiveness of spiritually modified cognitive therapy. The results indicate that this approach has been used in diverse settings with a variety of faith groups to address a wide array of problems. Only in the area of depression, however, does spiritually modified cognitive therapy generally meet the American Psychiatric Association's criteria as a well-established empirically validated treatment. Implications of the findings for social work practice are discussed.

Hodge, David R. Spiritual Lifemaps: A Client-Centered Pictorial Instrument for Spiritual Assessment, Planning, and Intervention. Social Work Jan 2005, 50(1), 77-87.
Although some consumers desire to integrate spirituality into the clinical dialogue, few resources have appeared in the literature to help practitioners operationalize spiritual strengths. This article introduces and orients practitioners to a new pictorial instrument—the spiritual lifemap—that can be used for spiritual assessment. The instrument facilitates a smooth transition from assessment to exploring and planning interventions. The author provides a case study and suggestions on how to use the instrument in clinical settings. A number of common spiritual interventions, drawn from a wide variety of theoretical approaches, are highlighted. The author discusses several applications and possible value conflicts that may arise when assessing spirituality.

Hufton, Emily Parting gifts: the spiritual needs of children. Journal of Child Health Care 2006, 10(3) 240–250.
Abstract
This article discusses the spiritual lives of children who are facing severe illness or bereavement. Initially, it describes a children’s story which had some impact on the author’s spiritual views during childhood. The concept of children as spiritual beings is discussed and questions are raised as to why relatively little attention has been given to this as opposed to their religious affiliation. Asserting that children do have a spiritual dimension, the importance of addressing  children’s spirituality is considered. Discussion is given to ways of assessing and attending to children’s spirituality, illustrated with case studies. It is identified that for carers, a degree of self-awareness is crucial in order to develop an open and flexible working definition of what spirituality is and means.

Hyland, Michael E./ Geraghty, Adam W.A./ Joy, Oliver E.T./ Turner, Scott I.
Spirituality predicts outcome independently of expectancy following flower essence self-treatment. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2006, 60, 53– 58.
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether absorption and spirituality predict the placebo response independently of expectancy.
Method: This was an open study of self-treatment with self-selected Bach flower essences. Participants’ expectancy of the effect of flower essences, attitudes to complementary medicine, holistic health beliefs, absorption, and spirituality
were measured prior to treatment. One month after the start of treatment, participants responded to an e-mail enquiry about symptom change using a single seven-point change scale.
Results: One hundred sixteen participants (97 university undergraduates
and 19 staff) completed all assessments. Spirituality and absorption together predicted additional variance compared with a cluster of expectancy measures comprising expectancy, attitude to complementary medicine, and holistic beliefs (increment in R² =.042, P =.032), and spirituality alone (but not absorption alone) predicted more additional variance than did the expectancy cluster (increment in R² =.043, P =.014).
Conclusion: Our data are inconsistent with conventional explanations for the placebo effect. The mechanism underlying the placebo response is not fully understood.

Jones, Stanton L. Integration: Defending It, Describing It, Doing It. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(3), 252-259.
The extensive literature on the integration of psychology and Christian faith falls into three rough categories: defending integration, describing integration, and doing integration. This article series is a very welcome and capable rearticulation of core themes in the defense and description of the integrative task. After highlighting common themes in the series, I query two key areas where I wish the authors had developed their thinking more explicitly. First, the focus on an undefined “theism” as the religious core rather than Christianity is both puzzling and unsatisfying, as an abstraction like theism seems to have little substance to bring to bear on the integrative task. Second, the linkages in this series between theistic belief and consequences for psychological theory and practice were often implicit, and I argue that more substantive and explicit engagement with thick theological sources holds more promise to advance the integrative task. I close by applying the thrust of the series in rebuttal against contemporary voices of ambivalence about the integrative task.

Kagan, Leslee/ Dusek, Jeffery A. Editorial-Mind/body interventions for hot flashes. Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society 2006, 13(5), 727-729.

King, Dana E. Spirituality, Health, and Medical Care of Adults. Southern Medical Journal Oct 2006, 99(10), 1166-1167.

Koenig, Harold G./ Cohen, Harvey Jay. Spirituality Across the Lifespan.
Southern Medical Journal Oct 2006, 99(10), 1157-1158.

Koss-Chioino, Joan D./ Hefner, Philip. Spiritual Transformation and Healing, Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press 2006.

Koss-Chioino, Joan D.  Spiritual Transformation, Relation and Radical Empathy: Core Components of the Ritual Healing Process. Transcultural Psychiatry Dec 2006, 43(4), 652–670.
Abstract Based on studies of spirit healing, this article proposes a model of the process of ritual healing that is focused on the core components of spiritual transformation, relatedness and empathy. It describes the central role of spiritual transformation in healers from which emerges their capacity for relation and empathy. Many spirit healers, following a spiritual transformation, begin to exercise ‘radical empathy,’ in which individual differences between healer and sufferer are melded into one field of feeling and experience. The model is compared and contrasted with aspects of healing processes in some psychotherapeutic and analytic therapies. These comparisons are offered in the light of the growing interest in incorporating spirituality into psychological and medical treatments. A concluding section briefly explores some implications of aspects of the model of healing process that support the claim that it is widely applicable and identifies foundational components.

Krucoff, Mitchell W./ Crater, Suzanne W./ Lee, Kerry L. From efficacy to safety concerns: A STEP forward or a step back for clinical research and intercessory prayer?: The Study of Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP). American Heart Journal 2006, 151(4), 762-764.

Links, Matthew. Analogies between reading of medical and religious texts. BMJ 18 Nov 2006, 333, 1068-1070.

Maddi, Salvatore R./ Brow, Marnie/ Khoshaba, Deborah M./ Mark Vaitkus,
Relationship of Hardiness and Religiousness to Depression and Anger. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 2006, 58(3), 148–161.
Both hardiness and religiousness share spirituality, in the sense of searching for meaning in one’s life, and have been shown to have a buffering effect on stresses that maintains and enhances performance, morale, and health. This study investigates how hardiness and religiousness compare in their relationship to depression, anger, and the coping and social support mechanisms whereby they may have these relationships. Participants were military and governmental
personnel who completed accepted measures of hardiness, religiousness, and other variables on a volunteer basis. Correlational and multiple regression analyses showed that, by comparison with religiousness, hardiness has the larger and more comprehensive negative relationship with depression and anger, and positive relationship with coping and social support. The conceptual and empirical implications of these findings are discussed.

Maloney, Michelle. Polishing the Mirror: Mental Health from a Bahá’í Perspective. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 405-418.
Abstract: While various authors have explored multiple religious theories of mental health in an eort to become more responsive to clients’ needs, there is a dearth of information on the Bahá’í conception of this important subject despite the faith’s growth across the world. This article will present a Bahá’í  perspective on mental health by examining the faith’s basic tenets and teachings, its anities and dissimilarities with various traditional psychotherapeutic theories, its views on psychological functioning, and its sources of healing. Common therapeutic issues of Bahá’ís will also be explored to aid counselors in conceptualizing and treating these clients.

Masters, Kevin S. Research on the Healing Power of Distant Intercessory Prayer: Disconnect Between Science and Faith. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2005, 33(4), 268-277.
Interest in non-medical treatments for illness has grown exponentially in recent years as evidenced by the expansion of health psychology and establishment of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. One particular area of research that has generated attention and even enthusiasm from the media and Christian groups alike is distant intercessory prayer (IP) for healing. Several double blind, randomized, controlled studies have examined
whether a statistically significant effect can be found when prayed for groups are compared with controls. The central premise of this article is these studies lack any theological or rational theoretical foundation and consequently produce non-interpretable findings. It is further argued that the experimental methods of science are based on important assumptions that render them ill-equipped to study divine intervention. As a result IP studies are seen as a distraction from more appropriate work that should be done in the areas of religion and health.

Matheis, Elizabeth N./ Tulsky, David S./ Matheis, Robert J. The Relation Between Spirituality and Quality of Life Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury. Rehabilitation Psychology 2006, 51(3), 265–271.
Objective: To determine how spiritual-based coping relates to quality of life in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design, Setting, & Participants: A telephone interview of 75 participants, primarily Caucasian single men aged 19 to 71 (enrolled in the Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury Model System).
Measures: Ellison’s Spiritual Well-Being Scale, Duke Health Profile, Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique, Diener’s Satisfaction With Life Survey.
Results: Virtually all participants (98.7%) reported using some form of spiritual-based coping. Quality of life was highest among participants who use existential spiritual as opposed to religious spiritual coping. In particular, existential spirituality shared 27% variance with overall perceived life quality.
Conclusions: Spiritual-based coping might be encouraged as a possible strategy to improve life quality. Clinicians should be cognizant of ongoing spiritual practices among persons with SCI.

McNelly, Donna V. Spiritual Mirroring: a Concept and an Experience. Creative Nursing 2005, 1, 11 – 15.

Meador, Keith G. Spirituality and Care at the End of Life. Southern Medical Journal Oct 2006, 99(10), 1184-1185.

Mofidi, Mahyar/ DeVellis, Robert F./ Blazer, Dan G./ DeVellis, Brenda M./ Panter, A. T./ Jordan, Joanne M. Spirituality and Depressive Symptoms in a Racially Diverse US Sample of Community-Dwelling Adults. J Nerv Ment Dis 2006, 194, 975–977.
Abstract: The role of spirituality in depression is understudied. We examined the relationship between one dimension of spirituality, spiritual experiences, and depressive symptoms, and evaluated whether differences in gender, race, age, and stress moderated the relationship. The study was conducted with a community-based sample of 630 racially diverse middle-aged and older adults. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate a model linking spiritual experiences to depressive symptoms while controlling for demographic and health variables. Spiritual experiences were operationalized using six items of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale. Sample items included, “I feel God’s presence,” and, “I feel comfort in my religion or spirituality.” The model achieved satisfactory goodness of fit. Spiritual experiences were significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms, and age as well as stress moderated the association, but not gender and race. Spirituality appears to be a psychosocial resource against depressive symptoms, although the results must be confirmed in longitudinal investigations.

Moreira-Almeidaa, Alexander/ Koeniga, Harold G. Retaining the meaning of the words religiousness and spirituality: A commentary on the WHOQOL SRPB group’s ‘‘A cross-cultural study of spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs as components of quality of life’’ (62: 6, 2005, 1486–1497). Social Science & Medicine 2006, 63, 843–845.
Abstract
Recent years have seen increasing recognition paid to the relation of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) to health care and research. This has led to the development of more inclusive and trans-culturally validated measurements of R/S. This paper comments on the WHOQOL SRPB Group’s ‘‘A cross-cultural study of spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs as components of quality of life’’ (62: 6, 2005, 1486–1497), a recently published paper in Social Science & Medicine, and illustrates a possible problem in the measurement of R/S, especially as related to the study of mental health outcomes. Some scales have included questions about psychological well-being, satisfaction, connectedness with others, hopefulness, meaning and purpose in life, or altruistic values as part of their measure of R/S. These questions are really tapping indicators of mental health, and should not be included in the definition of R/S itself. Otherwise, tautology is the result, and it should not be surprising that such measures of R/S (defined by questions tapping mental health) are related to mental health outcomes.

Mystakidou, Kyriaki/ Tsilika, Eleni/ Parpa, Efi/ Smyrnioti, Marilena/ Vlahos, Lambros. Assessing Spirituality and Religiousness in Advanced Cancer Patients. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine 2007, 23, 457 – 463.
The aim of this study was to translate the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale into the Greek language and validate its psychometric properties in a sample of advanced cancer patients treated in a palliative care unit. The scale was translated into Greek with the “forward-backward” procedure. It was administered twice, with a 3-day interval, to 82 patients with advanced cancer. Patients completed the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale and the Greek Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The scale had an overall Cronbach ά of 0.89. Overall test-retest reliability was satisfactory at P < .0005. Satisfactory construct validity was supported between the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale subscales and Hospital Anxiety and Depression subscales. Interscale and interitem correlations were found satisfactory at P < .0005. These results support
that the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale is an instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties and is a valid research tool for spirituality in advanced
cancer patients.

Nash, Jo. Mutant Spiritualities in a Secular Age: The Fasting Body and the Hunger for Pure Immanence. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 310-327.
Abstract: This article will explore the ‘return of the repressed’ of secular materialism, in the form of ‘mutant spiritualities’, with a particular focus on the significance of the fasting body, once an accepted product of ascetic spiritual practice, and now cultivated by those seeking a range of experiences; including the anorexic, the model or celebrity trading in beauty and elegance, and those in search of a new age spiritual enlightenment. I argue that further exploration of the range of contexts in which the fasting body is cultivated reveal that what is desired is a lost experience of the body as an expanded field of energetic confluences, an assemblage of aects in the manner of Deleuze and Guattari’s ‘body without organs’. Such an experience of the body is termed as expanded, light and even ecstatic by those following fasting regimes, in that it overcomes the experience of the body as ‘heavy’, burdensome or limiting. The word ecstasy derives from the Greek ‘ekstasis’, meaning to stand outside oneself. Through a textual analysis of web content of cyber communities dedicated to these food practices, I suggest that fasting expresses a hunger for ‘self transcendence’ as pure immanence, that is both subversive of secular materialism and limited by narcissistic pathology.

Nelson, James M./ Slife, Brent D. Philosophical Issues In Psychology And Religion: An Introduction. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(3), 191-192.

Nelson, James M. Missed Opportunities In Dialogue Between Psychology And Religion. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(3), 205-216.
In the Middle Ages, studies of the natural world, human behavior and theology were part of an interwoven body of knowledge. However, in modern times an increasing divide has separated science and religion. A careful review suggests that currents and accidents in intellectual and social history have served to unnecessarily foreclose lines of thought that might lead to rapprochement of religion with science, including psychology. Developments in Western views of epistemology and the philosophy of science have been a major factor in this estrangement. In the early modern period, flexible views of science (e.g. Bacon) were replaced by doctrinaire formulations emphasizing quantitative methodologies. Especially important was the development of positivism, which opened the door to a reductionistic naturalism that intended not only to reduce dialogue with religion but also to replace it with science. Within sychology, Freud and other early psychologists were eager to establish psychology as a “real” science and enthusiastically embraced the positivist perspective and rejected possible alternatives. Although this positivist approach is philosophically untenable, it continues to dominate psychology and obstruct dialogue between science and religion as well as progress in psychology as a whole. A return to a broader and more modest conception of science is warranted.

Olson, Michael M./ Sandor, M. Kay/ Sierpina, Victor S./ Vanderpool, Harold Y./ Dayao, Patricia. Mind, Body, and Spirit: Family Physicians’ Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding the Integration of Patient Spirituality into Medical Care. Journal of Religion and Health Summer 2006, 45(2), 234-247.
Abstract: This study used a qualitative approach to explore family physicians’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding the integration of patient spirituality into clinical care. Participants included family medicine residents completing training in the Southwest USA. The qualitative approach drew upon phenomenology and elements of grounded-theory. In-depth interviews were conducted with each participant. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded using grounded-theory techniques. Four main themes regarding physicians’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices were apparent from the analyses; (1) nature of spiritual assessment in practice, (2) experience connecting spirituality and medicine, (3) personal barriers to clinical practice, and (4) reflected strengths of an integrated approach. There was an almost unanimous conviction among respondents that openness to discussing spirituality contributes to better health and physician–patient
relationships and addressing spiritual issues requires sensitivity, patience, tolerance for ambiguity, dealing with time constraints, and sensitivity to ones ‘‘own spiritual place.’’ The residents’ voices in this study reflect an awareness of religious diversity, a sensitivity to the degree to which their beliefs dier from those of their patients, and a deep respect for the individual beliefs of their patients. Implications for practice and education are discussed.

Olthuis, James H. With-ing: A Psychotherapy Of Love. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 66-77.
In this article the author sets out, in the first place, to sketch in the fundamentals of an anthropological model centered in God’s creative and redeeming love. Secondly, the article seeks to develop a relational model of the psychotherapeutic process that flows out of and is congenial with this emphasis on love of God, neighbor, and self. The author suggests that the fundamental biblical affirmation of God's loving presence with creation—life-giving, forgiving, suffering with, and renewing—evokes and supports a "relational" model of psychotherapy as fundamentally a relational process of "with-ing."

Otake, Keiko/ Shimai, Satoshi/ Tanaka-Matsumi, Junko/ Otsui, Kanako/ Frederickson, Barbara L. Happy People Become Happier Through Kindness: A Counting Kindnesses Intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies 2006, 7, 361–375.
Abstract. We examined the relationship between the character strength of kindness and subjective happiness (Study 1), and the effects of a counting kindnesses intervention on subjective happiness (Study 2). In Study 1, participants were 175 Japanese undergraduate students and in Study 2, participants were 119 Japanese women (71 in the intervention group and 48 in the control group). Results showed that: (a) Happy people scored higher on their motivation to perform, and their recognition and enactment of kind behaviors. (b) Happy people have more happy memories in daily life in terms of both quantity and quality. (c) Subjective happiness was increased simply by counting one’s own acts of kindness for one week. (d) Happy people became more kind and grateful through the counting kindnesses intervention. Discussion centers on the importance of kindness in producing subjective happiness.

Pearce, Michelle J./ Singer, Jerome L./ Prigerson, Holly G. Religious Coping among Caregivers of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients Main Effects and Psychosocial Mediators. Journal of Health Psychology 2006, 11(5), 743–759.
Abstract
This study investigated the association between religious coping, mental health and the caring experience, as well as potential explanatory mechanisms, among 162 informal caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients. Regression analyses indicated that, controlling for socio-demographic variables, more use of positive religious coping strategies was associated with more burden, yet, also more satisfaction. In contrast, more use of negative religious coping strategies was related to more burden, poorer quality of life and less satisfaction, and correlated with an increased likelihood of Major Depressive Disorder and anxiety disorders. In a number of models, negative religious coping was related to outcomes  through its relationship with social support, optimism and self-efficacy.
Implications for research and healthcare are discussed.

Persuad, Raj. Re: Caregivers and Existential and Spiritual Distress. To the Editor. Journal of Pain Symptom Management 2006, 32(6) 516-517.

Pesut, Barbara. Fundamental or Foundational Obligation? Problematizing the Ethical Call to Spiritual Care in Nursing. Advances in Nursing Science 2006, 29(2), 125–133.
Spiritual nursing care is increasingly being cited in the nursing literature as a fundamental ethical obligation. This obligation is based upon the argument that nurses provide holistic care, spirituality is a universal dimension of the person, and so nurses should care for the spiritual dimension. However, the literature on the spiritual dimension in nursing illustrates widely differing foundational assumptions about this important aspect of care. The philosophic categories of humanism, theism, and monism can be used to illustrate the different  understandings of the spiritual dimension, and the implications of these understandings for the competence of the nurse and the nature of the nurse-patient interaction in the context of spiritual care.

Petry, Judith J./ Finkel, Robert. Spirituality and Choice of Health Care Practitioner. The Journal Of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2004, 10(6), 939–945.
Abstract
Background: Patients who include a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioner in their health care represent a small percentage of the population identified as CAM users. Their choice may be motivated by intangible personality or worldview characteristics.
Objective: A prospective study was designed to determine if a patient’s choice of conventional or alternative health care practitioner was related to total score on an instrument for scaling psychospiritual characteristics.
Design: A sequential convenience sample of patients attending five different health care practices in New England.
Setting: A family practitioner (FP) who uses CAM. (1) A FP clearly not identified with CAM. (3) A chiropractor. (4) A naturopath, and (5) A homeopath.
Outcome measures: Total scores on the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS), plus item scores of five separate questions and two factors.
Results: With 210 respondents, SIBS scores in Practice 2 were significantly lower than in practice 1 (p _ 0.004), 3 (p _ 0.001), 4 (p _ 0.018), and 5 (p _ 0.02). This pattern remained over the five question scores and two factors.
Conclusion: Patients who chose a physician associated with CAM, or an alternative practitioner (chiropractor, naturopath, or homeopath) for their direct health care scored higher on a psychospiritual testing instrument (SIBS) than those who chose a conventional physician.

Polak, Emily L./ McCullough, Michael E. Is Gratitude An Alternative To Materialism? Journal of Happiness Studies 2006, 7, 343–360.
Abstract. Materialistic strivings have been implicated as a cause of unhappiness. Gratitude, on the other hand – both in its manifestations as a chronic affective trait and as a more temporary emotional experience – may be a cause of happiness. In the present paper we review the empirical research on the relationships among materialism, gratitude, and well-being. We present
new correlational data on the gratitude–materialism relationship and propose that gratitude may have the potential to reduce materialistic strivings and consequently diminish the negative effects of materialistic strivings on psychological well-being. We conclude with some recommendations for future research on the relationships among gratitude, materialism, and well-being.

Quillin, John M./ McClish, Donna K./ Jones, Resa M./ Burruss, Karen/ Bodurtha, Joann N. Spiritual Coping, Family History, and Perceived Risk for Breast Cancer—Can We Make Sense of it? Journal of Genetic Counseling Dec 2006, 15(6), 449-460.
Differences in spiritual beliefs and practices could influence perceptions of the role of genetic risk factors on personal cancer risk. We explored spiritual coping and breast cancer risk perceptions among women with and without a reported family history of breast cancer. Analyses were conducted on data from 899 women in primary care clinics who did not have breast cancer. Structural equation modeling (SEM), linear, and logistic modeling tested an interaction of family history of breast cancer on the relationship between spiritual coping and risk perceptions. Overall analyses demonstrated an inverse relationship between spiritual coping and breast cancer risk perceptions and a modifying effect of family history. More frequent spiritual coping was associated with lower risk perceptions for women with positive family histories, but not for those with negative family histories. Results support further research in this area that could influence communication of risk information to cancer genetic counseling
patients.

Reber, Jeffrey S. Secular Psychology: What’s The Problem? Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(3), 193-204.

Reyes-Ortiz, Carlos A. Spirituality, Disability and Chronic Illness. Southern Medical Journal Oct 2006, 99(10), 1172-1173.

Ruetenik, Tadd. Fruits of Health; Roots of Despair: William James, Medical Materialism and the Evaluation of Religious Experience. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 382-395.
Abstract: In The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James introduces the term ‘‘medical materialism’’ to describe the fallacious attempt by some scientists to argue against the value of spiritual ideas. Two literary case studies will be considered for purposes of better understanding James’ idea. What’s more, it will be shown that, in addition to James’ three criteria for the appropriate evaluation of religious experience, there is another factor not made explicit, namely that of hopefulness. This factor serves to distinguish ordinary from pathological morbidmindedness, the latter of which has no religious significance.

Sawatzky, Rick/ Pesut, Barbara. Attributes of Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice. Journal Of Holistic Nursing Mar 2005, 23(1), 19-33.
Nurses are increasingly being called on to engage in spiritual care with their patients. A diverse body of theoretical and empirical literature addresses spirituality as it relates to nursing practice, yet there is little consensus about what spiritual nursing care entails. The purpose of this article is to conceptualize spiritual care in relation to nursing practice. A brief historical review indicates that our current understandings of spiritual nursing care have been shaped by three eras characterized by particular approaches: the religious approach, the scientific approach, and the existential approach. We draw elements from each of these approaches to propose attributes of spiritual care in the context of nursing practice. We propose that spiritual nursing care is an intuitive, interpersonal, altruistic, and integrative expression that is contingent on the nurse’s awareness of the transcendent dimension of life but that reflects the patient’s reality.

Schwartz, Barry/ Sharpe, Kenneth E. Practical Wisdom: Aristotle Meets Positive Psychology. Journal of Happiness Studies 2006, 7, 377–395.  
Abstract. The strengths and virtues identified by positive psychology are treated as logically independent, and it is recommended that people identify their ‘‘signature’’ strengths and cultivate them, because more of a strength is better [Peterson and Seligman: 2004, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (Oxford University Press, New York); Seligman:
2002, Authentic Happiness (Free Press, New York)]. The present paper contrasts that view with the Aristotelian view that virtues are interdependent, that happiness (eudaimonia) requires all the virtues, and that more of a virtue is not always better than less. We argue that practical wisdom is the master virtue essential to solving problems of specificity, relevance, and conflict that inevitably
arise whenever character strengths must be translated into action in concrete situations. We also argue that practical wisdom is becoming increasingly difficult to nurture and display in modern society, so that attention must be paid to reshaping social institutions to encourage the use of practical wisdom rather than inhibiting it.

Shaw, Jon A.  A Pathway to Spirituality. Psychiatry Winter 2005, 68(4), 350-362.
The phenomenology of mystical experiences has been described throughout all the ages and in all religions. All mystical traditions identify some sense of union with the absolute as the ultimate spiritual goal. I assume that the pathway to both theistic and secular spirituality and our readiness to seek a solution in a psychological merger with something beyond the self evolves out of our human experience. Spirituality is one of man’s strategies for dealing with the limitations of the life cycle, separation and loss, biological fragility, transience, and non–existence. Spirituality may serve as the affective component to a belief system or myth that is not rooted in scientific evidence but is lived as if it is true. Spirituality may take many forms, but I will suggest that in some instances it may serve as a reparative process in which one creates in the external world, through symbolic form, a nuance or facet of an internalized mental representation which has become lost or is no longer available to the self; or it may represent the continuity of the self-representation after death through a self–object merger. Lastly I will illustrate from the writings of two of our greatest poets, Dante Alighieri and William Wordsworth, how their poetry became interwoven with a profound spirituality. In Dante we will see the elaboration of a religious spirituality, while in the writings of Wordsworth a secular spirituality emerges interwoven with nature and belatedly his identification with “tragic man” as his mythos.

Shors, Patsy. Intercessory Prayer As Complimentary Medicine. The Iowa Nurse Reporter Mar 2006, 29-30.

Sinclair, Shane/ Pereira, Jose/ Raffin, Shelley. A Thematic Review of the Spirituality Literature within Palliative Care. Journal of Palliative Medicine 2006, 9(2), 464-479.
Abstract
Research related to spirituality and health has developed from relative obscurity to a thriving field of study over the last 20 years both within palliative care and within health care in general. This paper provides a descriptive review of the literature related to spirituality and health, with a special focus on spirituality within palliative and end-of-life care. CINAHL and MEDLINE were searched under the keywords “spirituality” and “palliative.” The review revealed five overarching themes in the general spirituality and health literature: (1) conceptual difficulties related to the term spirituality and proposed solutions; (2) the relationship between spirituality and religion; (3) the effects of spirituality on health; (4) the subjects enrolled in spirituality-related research; and (5) the provision of spiritual care. While the spirituality literature within palliative care shared these overarching characteristics of the broader spirituality and health literature, six specific thematic areas transpired: (1) general discussions of spirituality in palliative care; (2) the spiritual needs of palliative care patients; (3) the nature of hope in palliative care; (4) tools and therapies related to spirituality; (5) effects of religion in palliative care; and (6) spirituality and palliative care professionals. The literature as it relates to these themes is summarized in this review. Spirituality is emerging largely as a concept void of religion, an instrument to be utilized in improving or maintaining health and quality of life, and focused predominantly on the “self” largely in the form of the patient. While representing an important beginning, the authors suggest that a more integral approach needs to be developed that elicits the experiential nature of spirituality that is shared by patients, family members, and health care professionals alike.

Slife, Brent D./ Whoolery, Matthew. Are Psychology’s Main Methods Biased Against The Worldview Of Many Religious People? Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(3), 217-231.
This article examines some of the more problematic aspects of recent efforts to integrate psychology and religion. Specifically, many religious people—psychology's main consumer and client—make different assumptions than many psychologists about human nature and the world. This article attempts to explicate many of these conflicting assumptions, particularly as they affect psychological methods. Therapeutic and experimental methods are frequently viewed as theologically, if not philosophically, neutral to the subject matter they are investigating. This article aims to dispel this common myth. To discover or highlight these "hidden" assumptions of traditional methods, they are first contrasted to the assumptions of interpretive practices. However, interpretive practices are themselves often viewed as theologically neutral. Consequently, psychological methods are also compared to a theistic mode of inquiry that assumes that an active God is necessary to proper investigation.

Smalligan, Roger D. Special Section: Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project A Case Discussion. The Southern Medical Association 2007, 120.

Smith-Stoner, Marilyn. Phowa-End-of-Life Ritual Prayers for Tibetan Buddhists. Journal Of Hospice And Palliative Nursing Nov/Dec 2006, 8(6), 357-363.
Hospice and palliative care standards guide nurses to develop individualized plans of care for every patient and family. A religious assessment and integration of rituals and activities related to death preparation are important parts of the hospice plan of care. This article describes a specific death preparation ritual, phowa, practiced by Vajrayana Buddhists. Knowledge of specific death preparation prayers and rituals provides the hospice clinical staff with additional insight to help Buddhists transcend the death experience and realize the ultimate goal of being reborn in a Pure Land, free from the cycle of death and rebirth. Professional standards and guidelines for spiritual and religious assessment requirements are presented.

Tjektveit, Alan C. Psychology Returns To Love … Of God And Neighbor-As-Self: Introduction To The Special Issue. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 3-7.
A variety of methods are being employed to develop psychologies of the love of God and neighbor-as-self: standard psychological methods and theories, combining those with theology to contextualize love, using religious experience and convictions to formulate research questions and hypotheses, drawing on Christian psychologies of love that date back to Augustine, critiquing the conceptual, ethical, and metaphysical assumptions of contemporary psychologies of love from philosophical and theological perspectives, and forms of methodological pluralism (e.g., those that embrace quantitative, qualitative, ethical, and theological methods, with the results of different methods alternately critiquing and contributing to one another). Psychologists and others can use this broad range of approaches to develop psychologies of various other  psychologically rich concepts central to religious traditions.

Tjeltveit, Alan C.  Psychology’s Love–Hate Relationship With Love: Critiques, Affirmations, and Christian Responses. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 8-22.
Christian psychologists’ contributions to understanding love of God and neighbor have fallen far short of their potential. A major reason, I argue, is psychologists’ love–hate relationship with love. Psychologists raise challenging questions about love (or some understandings of love), based on their (usually implicit) ethical intuitions (e.g., that telling battered women to love their abusers harms them). In addition, some understandings of love (e.g., pertaining to obligations, choices, and/or divine action) fit poorly with psychology’s natural scientific methods. On the other hand, psychologists conduct research relevant to love and most psychologists seem deeply committed to love. Psychologists thus both critique love (hate it) and affirm it. Multidisciplinary approaches for developing a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of love are discussed.

vanOyen Witvliet, Charlotte/ Ludwig, Thomas E./ Vander Laan, Kelly L. Granting Forgiveness or Harboring Grudges: Implications for Emotion, Physiology, and Health. Psychological Science Mar 2001, 12(2), 117-123.
Abstract
Interpersonal offenses frequently mar relationships. Theorists have argued that the responses victims adopt toward their offenders have ramifications not only for their cognition, but also for their emotion, physiology, and health. This study examined the immediate emotional and physiological effects that occurred when participants (35 females, 36 males) rehearsed hurtful memories and nursed grudges (i.e. were unforgiving) compared with when they cultivated empathic perspective taking and imagined granting forgiveness (i.e., were forgiving) toward real-life offenders. Unforgiving thoughts prompted more aversive emotion, and significantly higher corrugator (brow) electromyogram (EMG), skin conductance, heart rate, and blood pressure changes from baseline. The EMG, skin conductance, and heart rate effects persisted after imagery into the recovery periods. Forgiving thoughts prompted greater perceived control and comparatively lower physiological literature and suggest possible mechanisms through which chronic unforgiving responses may erode health whereas forgiving responses may enhance it.

White, Margaret/ Verhoef, Marja. Cancer as Part of the Journey: The Role of Spirituality in the Decision to Decline Conventional Prostate Cancer Treatment and to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Integrative Cancer Therapies 2006, 5(2), 117-122.
Background: The role of spirituality in patients’ use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches to cancer management has hardly been explored.
Objective: To explore the role of spirituality in cancer management by men
with prostate cancer who have declined conventional treatment and are using CAM.
Methods: This qualitative analysis is part of a longitudinal study to assess decision making by men with prostate cancer who decline conventional treatment and use CAM. In-depth interviews were conducted at study entry (n = 29). Themes were presented to participants in focus groups to further explore and validate the interview results. For a subset of participants (n = 10), spirituality emerged as an important theme; therefore, we conducted a secondary analysis of the interview data of these men to explore the role of spirituality in cancer management and decision making.
Results: Spirituality appeared to influence all aspects of the cancer experience. Most participants intensified their use of spiritual practice after a diagnosis of prostate cancer. These practices included spiritual ceremonies, indigenous healing, prayer, meditation, and use of spiritual imagery. Themes related to the role of spirituality in cancer management include beliefs about Western medicine, the role of spiritual beliefs in treatment decision making, the use of spiritual imagery and metaphor in healing, and the impact of cancer on spirituality. The discussion of these themes draws on quotes and case examples, illustrating how spirituality influenced study participants’ response to diagnosis, treatment decision making, and cancer care. Two case examples provide a more in-depth understanding of how some participants incorporated spiritual imagery and metaphor into treatment decision making and cancer care. Ways in which cancer influenced spirituality are also discussed. Having prostate cancer appeared to influence their spirituality by strengthening their links with a spiritual community, increasing feelings of gratitude toward life, and improving personal relationships.
Relevance: These findings indicate that spiritual beliefs and practices may play an important role in the formation of treatment choices for some patients. Health care providers need to be aware of and address patient concerns about how conventional treatment may conflict with their spiritual beliefs and practices. Further research and medical education is needed on spirituality and prostate cancer.

Whitehead, Dean. Commentary on McSherry W, Cash K & Ross L (2004) Meaning of spirituality: implications for nursing practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing 13, 934–941. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2006, 15, 117–118.

Worthington, Jr., Everett L./ Sharp, Constance B./ Lerner, Andrea J./ Sharp, Jeffrey R. Interpersonal Forgiveness As An Example Of Loving One’s Enenmies. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2006, 34(1), 32-42.
We suggest that altruistically-motivated forgiveness is an ideal we rarely achieve. In fact, we often think such forgiveness is impossible. Our contribution is to identify ways that God promotes forgiveness—specifically the ideal forgiveness that demonstrates altruistic love for our enemies. We see God at work in the human psychological processes of forgiving with altruistic motives. We thus address four questions: (1) How do motives shape forgiveness? (2) How do virtues shape forgiveness? (3) How are motives transformed? (4) How do Scripture and God contribute to transforming motivations from justice-oriented motives to forgiveness-oriented motives? Compared with previous writings on forgiveness, we focus more on how transformations of motives and emotions occur.

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