Spirituality and the threat to therapeutic boundaries in psychiatric practice

Poole, Rob; Higgo, Robert

doi:10.1080/13674671003746845

Cited by 24 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It was countered that religion is already addressed in psychiatry in so far as social factors are taken into account: the problem is not asking about issues of meaning to a patient; rather, it is that empathy and understanding are core competencies within psychiatry and that matters on which clinicians may have opposing personal views must be put aside. 24,41 Concern has been expressed that the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists could impose its views, influencing policy and resulting in violation of professional boundaries and intolerance of the views of non-believers. 24 Wagenfeld-Heintz interviewed 30 psychiatrists and psychologists in Michigan, USA, all of whom defined themselves as believers in the Judeo-Christian tradition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24,41 Concern has been expressed that the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists could impose its views, influencing policy and resulting in violation of professional boundaries and intolerance of the views of non-believers. 24 Wagenfeld-Heintz interviewed 30 psychiatrists and psychologists in Michigan, USA, all of whom defined themselves as believers in the Judeo-Christian tradition. 18 Although, the majority of participants saw religion and spirituality as complementary to their clinical approach, they felt there are boundaries to the extent of this in practice, with constraints by formal regulation and by personal perception of professional boundaries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To illustrate the experience of potential conflict, an enquiry about the specific time of experienced conflict was included, following research conflict paradigms. 3,13,16,18,[21][22][23][24][25][26] Participants' opinions on whether and how the issue should be addressed in education and training were sought. Participants were given the opportunity to express any thoughts they considered important on the topic.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spirituality and the mental health professions

2012

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Aims and methodReligion and spirituality are very important personal aspects of many people's lives. Little work has looked at the beliefs of mental health professionals and how they reconcile or benefit from the potential differences of religious faith and evidence-based mental health practice. This study used semi-structured interviews to qualitatively explore how professionals from different occupations and faiths conceptualise the relationship between their beliefs and their work.ResultsThe commonly cited ‘conflict’ of science and religion was noted, as was the personal support that faith provides for many people. Participants felt their beliefs made them better at their job, not only by reconciling differences from the two paradigms but also by allowing them to recognise compatible attributes of seeking meaning to subjective experience; this had positively influenced their choice of career in mental health. A desire for ongoing opportunity to express and discuss this interface was strongly expressed, but with concern about how this would occur and be perceived.Clinical implicationsThere is a lack of qualitative research on the religious beliefs of mental health staff. In the UK generally, the role of faith in public life is a strongly debated topic in the context of an increasingly secular and yet multicultural and multi-faith society. Our data suggest that professionals' beliefs positively influence their choice of career in mental health and make them feel better equipped to undertake their roles and provide good-quality patient care. There is an expressed need for further opportunities for staff to discuss their beliefs – or lack thereof – and to consider the individual impact of beliefs on their professional life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spirituality and the mental health professions

2012

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“…Spirituality is then seen as an invalid way of knowing that cannot be evidenced, unlike science, as demonstrated in the following excerpt from Poole and Higgo (2011) 'Faith is part of religion because, of necessity, the existence of the supernatural and the transcendent is not supported by evidence that is convincing to the uncommitted. Indeed, for the most part, religious ideas lack prima facie plausibility to the non-believer.…”

Section: The Framing Of Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spirituality is often framed or defined as 'fuzzy ' (la Cour & Hvidt, 2010), 'nebulous' (Hodge & Derezotes, 2008), 'subjective' (Ellingson, 2001) 'individual experience' (Ellingson, 2001), 'mystery' (Tacey, 2000) or based in 'Faith' (Poole and Higgo, 2011).…”

Section: The Framing Of Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding the debate

Carrington

2014

Qualitative Research Journal

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ResearchOnline@JCUExpanding the debate: A comparative exploration of physical and spiritual ways of knowing, methods and measures. AbstractThe current exploration and inclusion of spirituality across disciplines has, up to this point, focused largely on defining spirituality and creating practice and assessment tools. Little has been done in building the foundational structures at the level of paradigm, theory, methods, measures and research methodology. This paper presents a section of findings resulting from a comprehensive qualitative research program using the process of meta-triangulation, which explored spiritual perspectives from paradigm to practice. The results of this research begin to address gaps at these levels through the articulation of spiritual ways of knowing and the methods and measures that stem from them. Once articulated, it was possible to explore the parallels and differences between spiritual and physical ways of knowing, their methods and measures. It is acknowledged that such research may be resisted by some factions as they attempt to maintain positions of power and privilege. Thus, this article presents the research within this contested and turbulent landscape.

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A “complex” subject matter asks for a clear lead

Verhagen

2013

World Psychiatry

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Spirituality and the threat to therapeutic boundaries in psychiatric practice

Cited by 24 publications

References 16 publications

Spirituality and the mental health professions

Spirituality and the mental health professions

Expanding the debate

A “complex” subject matter asks for a clear lead

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