Symposium VII
Religion and Faith in the Therapeutic Relationship
Saturday, May 14, 2016, 10:30 - 12:00
Chair: Samuel Pfeifer
1. Attention of Nurses for the Christian Faith of Patients within Mental Health Care
Annemiek Schep-Akkerman
Religion and spirituality are important for most people, particularly in times of disease and suffering. Emerging research highlights the importance of spiritual care in nursing, and suggest that there is scope for improving this dimension of care in order to improve the quality of life for many patients. Especially in mental health care, because there seems to be a relation between religion and psychopathology. However, there is little evidence about how nurses respond to the spiritual needs and needs in faith of their patients.
The aim in this project was to explore what kind of ‘attention’ nurses give to the Christian faith of patients within mental health care. Twenty Christian and twenty non-Christian nurses were asked to describe a case of ‘good care’ with respect to the Christian faith of a patient, out of their own experience. They described the cause of the attention, the actual provided attention, what this attention brought the patient and the nurse, and whether this care was discussed with other nurses.
Most often the reason for nurses to talk about the Christian faith of the patient was practical; like arrange transport to the church or ask a pastor for a visit, but it was also religious reflection because the patients asked for a talk, prayer or reading the Bible. The attention for their faith brought the patients positive feelings, and gave the nurse a better relation of trust with the patient, next to awareness of religiousness of patients. During the transfer of care, this kind of care was discussed with other nurses. There were some differences between Christian and non- Christian nurses.
Attention for faith of the mental health care patients is often because of a question of the patients at which the nurse responds, and less because of observations or questions of the nurse.
PowerPoint slides of the presentation (PDF)
2. Teaching‚ Spirituality and Existential Questions in Psychotherapy’ in Psychotherapeutic Training Pprograms - Experience of 10 Years of Teaching
Sebastian Murken
The author, psychotherapist and religious scholar, teaches the subject 'Spirituality and existential questions in psychotherapy' for about 10 years in training programs for becomming psychotherapists, both behavioral therapists and psychodynamic oriented psychotherapists. In the paper the content, method and experiences of these courses are reported and discussed.
PowerPoint slides of the presentation (PDF)
3. Religious Patients and Secular Therapists – an Ethical Challenge
Samuel Pfeifer
There is a substantial degree of anxiety regarding psychotherapy. Individual fears and subcultural reservations play a major role. In religious patients, the question of the acceptance of their values is essential. Research has shown that psychotherapy can never be completely unbiased. Although therapists try to have empathy with their clients, they will not be able to conceal their personal background of values completely. This creates a highly loaded network of countertransference and value considerations. Therapy thus becomes an art to develop a common ground of change and to evaluate in which way religious assumptions can serve as helpful or as dysfunctional factors which have to be modified. Clinical examples illustrate the ethical tensions and serve to develop basic guidelines in dealing with religious patients.
PowerPoint slides of the presentation (PDF)
4. Religious Beliefs and their Relevance for Adherence to Treatment in Mental Illness: A Review
Pawel Zagozdzon, Magdalena Wrotkowska
Approximately 50% of patients are not adherent to medical therapy. Religious and spiritual factors may play an important role in determining the compliance with treatment of mental illness. This paper reviews research on the relationship between religion, spirituality, and adherence to treatment, focusing on schizophrenia, depression, and substance abuse.
The aim of this review was to summarize, categorize, and estimate the role of religious beliefs to improve medication adherence in psychiatric conditions.
Randomized controlled trials and observational studies published till December 2015 were eligible if they described the effect of religious beliefs or spirituality on adherence with self-administered medications or other interventions in the treatment of psychiatric conditions.
Among eligible papers few studies reported the effect of religion on compliance in schizophrenia. Religious beliefs were associated with worse adherence in schizophrenia patients. Adherence was greater in more religious patients diagnosed with depression. Spiritual orientation was an important aspect of the recovery in the addiction treatment and improved the adherence to treatment.
While religious beliefs and spirituality can represent important source of hope and meaning, they are often entangled with the level of treatment adherence. Psychiatrists should be aware of patients’ religious and spiritual beliefs and seek to understand to what extent they can be helpful in improving the treatment compliance.