Symposia
Symposia I - IV take place Friday, June 5, 2026, 14:30 – 16:00
Symposia V - IX take place Saturday, June 6, 2026, 10:30 – 12:00
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Symposium I – Spirituality in Nursing
Chairs: Tove Giske & Elisabeth Haldemann
| Caterina Mosetter |
Spirituality in long-term nursing |
| Ute Latuski | Nursing in the interprofessional spiritual care team |
| Ülle Ernits | Heart, Brain and Spirit in Nursing: Spiritual and religion-related activities, such as those reflected in nurses’ responses (1999-2021) |
| Mpho Ratshikana | I don’t need a nurse, I need a prayer: Health professionals’ view on spiritual care provision for patients with cancer at tertiary institutions in South Africa |
Symposium II – Spirituality in Pain Medicine
Chair: Kristin Kieselbach
| Claudia Bozzaro | The existential dimension of chronic pain |
| Thomas Wabel | Chronic pain from the perspective of Christian theology |
| Kristin Kieselbach | The integration of spiritual interventions into interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy |
Symposium III – Chaplaincy in Mental Health Care – Research Directions
Chair: Arjan Braam
| A.B.M. Hallo - van Bekkum | Consensus on key elements of existential group chaplaincy contributing to meaning in life for people with severe mental illness |
| Marlous L.D. de Vries | Dialogical questions of life as a way to address and talk about existential meaning in life among young adults during recovery in long-term intensive mental health care institutions |
| Julia van Egmond | The practice of meaning-centered care in psychiatry: a scoping review |
| Sylvie de Kubber | Arts-based-participatory research in chaplaincy: Swarming in psychiatry as a ritual, embodied, inclusive practice |
Symposium IV (German) – Spiritualität von Mitarbeitenden im Gesundheitswesen: Erfahrungen, Herausforderungen und Wege zur Unterstützung
Chairs: Eckhard Frick & Dorothee Bürgi
| Theresa Meyer-Natus | Interventionsstudie zur Einführung einer Schweigeminute nach dem Tod von Patient:innen auf Intensivstationen |
| Franziskus Knoll | Qualitative Studie zur Schaffung einer spiritualitätssensiblen Atmosphäre in palliativen Einrichtungen |
| Jenny Kubitza | Rapid Review zu Spiritualität und Bewältigungsstrategien bei schwerwiegenden beruflichen Ereignissen |
| Arndt Büssing | Staunendes Innhalten in Ehrfurcht und Dankbarkeit als Ressource und als Methode. |
Symposium V – Experience of Nature and wondering Awe
Awe, Gratitude, and the Experience of Nature as Encounter with the Sacred
Chair: Arndt Büssing
| Arndt Büssing | Awe and gratitude in nature experiences: Links to psychological well-being |
| Evangelos C. Fradelos | Validation of the Awe/Gratitude Scale and the Experience of Nature Scale in Greece |
| Sebastian Skalski-Bednarz | Attachment to nature is associated with increases in existential life scheme over six months |
| Janusz Surzykiewicz | Lower aggression co-occurs with gratitude and awe: The mediating role of forgiveness dispositions and compassion |
Symposium VI – Brain, Neuroscience and Spirituality
Chairs: Niels Hvidt & Uffe Schjødt
| Uffe Schjødt | Overview of the neuroscience of religion, pointing to current and future challenges |
| Haverkamp | The convergent neuroscience of Christian prayer and attachment relationships in the context of mental health - a systematic review |
| Joni Haikonen | NeuroSpiritual Pathways: Exploring and Examining the Impact of Embodied Spiritual Care on Brain Function at the End-of-Life |
Symposium VII – Psychosocial and Spiritual Aspects in Cardiovascular Health
Chair: René Hefti
| Mary Principe | Positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health |
| Olga Riklikiene | Spiritual needs, prayer and cardiac function in healthy young women – the interconnection of spirituality with physiology |
| Daniel Krüerke | Slow speech guided breathing, an ancient Indian technique, synchronizes heart period, respiration and systolic blood pressure |
| René Hefti | The impact of religiosity and social support on the outcome of acute cardiac events and heart surgery |
Symposium VIII (German) – Risiken und Nebenwirkungen spiritueller Heilmethoden
Chairs: Jenny Kubitza und Franziskus Knoll
| Michael Utsch | Claims and risks of holistic methods in psychotherapy and counseling |
| Bianca Liebrandt | Toxic spirituality in new age communities - the suffering of relatives |
| Liane Hofmann | Spiritual crises – empirical evidence and therapeutic approachs |
| Eckhard Frick | Spiritual Bypassing |