Integrate the contributions of science and spirituality as healing agents in your practice

Historically, healthcare workers have distanced themselves from spiritual matters; however, with outcome studies in recent decades demonstrating significant relationships between spirituality and healing, an increased interest in faith, spirituality, and mindfulness has emerged for health services. In fact, with the advent of holistic medicine, spirituality has become a cornerstone in healthcare, as research demonstrates that both spirituality and religion enhance well-being. Advances in neuroscience and quantum mechanics further encourage clinicians to recognize a complementary rather than contradictory relationship between science and religion. Additionally, many clients define themselves spiritually, and their spiritual beliefs affect both physical and emotional health. As a result, today’s healthcare professionals are charged by their discipline to support the spiritual needs of clients. But, how is this to occur? What is spirituality—and how should a healthcare professional guide this dimension in the healing process? How do you understand your professional role to meet your client’s spiritual needs?

Dr. Chirban has conducted interdisciplinary research in medicine, psychology, and religion for over 30 years. He will present evidence-based research, in conjunction with insights from the major spiritual traditions and Great World Religions, to provide a foundation that guides professionals to support and effectively respond to the spiritual needs of their clients. Dr. Chirban will share how recent research concerning the relationship between faith and health may be helpful for treatment of your client. He will also present case studies and group exercises to illustrate the importance of accessing the True Self to promote healing, discover meaning, and find fulfillment. Attendees will gain knowledge in understanding the power of faith, meditation, and mindfulness in the healing process and practical insight that may be directly applied in clinical practice. 

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• Define spirituality in terms of the healing process, identify outcome research, and explain the rationale for religion and spirituality in healthcare
• Compare three spiritual traditions and their diverse notions of spirituality, life, and health
• Integrate spiritual well-being through the Critical Connections of the True Self to strengthen authenticity in the healing process
• Evaluate methods for spiritual assessments by relating your role in client care, methods for communicating, and drawing upon client’s spiritual capacity in healing
• Identify tools for self-awareness to clinically assess spirituality and religion, and to manage transference and counter-transference
• Recognize how your stance in religion and science affects your delivery of services, and acquire personal authenticity and balance of your truth within your profession
• Incorporate faith, meditation, and mindfulness in your clinical work

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Licensed Professional Counselors
• Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners
• Case Managers
• Nurses
• Criminal Justice Personnel
• Pastoral Counselors and Clergy
• Physicians

COURSE CONTENT

Part one: what is spirituality & religion?

Spirituality and Professional Care

• Defining spirituality in terms of the healing process
• Significance of faith, meditation, and mindfulness in the treatment process
• Evidence-based research concerning spirituality and health
• Integrating spirituality in client care
• Benefits of addressing spiritual issues for well-being

Impact of Spirituality IN TREATMENT  

• How the clients’ belief system impacts their health
• Assimilating spiritually based approaches in treatment
  • prayer
  • yoga
  • meditation
  • mindfulness
• Appreciating the contributions of spiritual traditions
  • Hinduism
  • Daoism
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity
  • Other Faith Traditions

• Preserving integrity of religious traditions in the healing process
• Integrating client spirituality in healthcare

Spiritual Growth:  Accessing the True Self

• Finding your True Self
• Owning your story
• Connecting to your True Self
• Discovering your truth
• Making Critical Connections

Part two: How can i help my client draw upon RESOURCES from spirituality & religion?

 Spiritual Development: ASSESSing Religiosity

• Taking a religious history
• Applying models for understanding spirituality and religion
• Providing clinical applications by assessing faith, religion, and spirituality
  • Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development
  • The Interactive-Relational Approach for Interviewing
  • Additional Holistic Models
• Supporting different religious systems

Spiritual Discernment and Differential Diagnosis

• Identifying your stance in religion and science
• Recognizing sickness and sin: Understanding holistic healing
• Attuning to authentic spirituality vs. psychopathology
• Managing transference and counter-transference
• Negotiating scientific insights in view of spiritual traditions

The Professional’s Spirituality and Its Impact on Healing

• Taking your spiritual inventory
• Drawing upon existential concerns, personal meaning, and spirituality for those delivering client services

• Understanding your spiritual path in your healing role
• Acquiring personal authenticity
• Balancing your spiritual truth with a professional paradigm

CASE STUDIES AND GROUP EXERCISES  (Please designate this as its own area within the course content outline)

• Attuning to the contribution of Great Religious and Spiritual Traditions
• Accessing the True Self
• Mapping coordinates of Critical Connections
• Assessing your spiritual and religious history
• Identifying your stance in religion and science
• Engaging experiences of faith, meditation, and mindfulness
• Considering the role of Dr. Chirban’s work with major leaders of our time, including
  • B. F. Skinner
  • Lucille Ball
  • Tom Hanks
  • Maya Angelou