It is time to improve clinical approaches to faith in mental healthcare, particularly in psychotherapy. Understood as a psychological trait, faith has potentially great personal salience and introduces socially desirable biases into human reasoning. Therapies may have faith-informed components, either explicitly, or (as with some forms of mindfulness) implicitly, which may modify the patient’s faith as well as producing symptomatic change. In this narrative review, the ethics of faith’s inclusion in therapy is briefly appraised. The psychology of faith is discussed, and a model of the influence of the practitioner’s faith on therapeutic choice is presented. Finally, faith-informed approaches to practice, including their impact on therapeutic effectiveness, are considered and recommendations made for their optimal implementation. To read the full article, log in using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
The impact of religious/spiritual activities on clinical outcomes in patients with serious mental illnesses remains controversial, which was addressed in this international cross-sectional study. To read the full article, log in using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Feb 15, 2018): No Pagination Specified
It is known that religiosity is a positive correlate of well-being among adolescents and emerging adults. The current study extends this focus by assessing the roles of self-efficacy and perceived social support, which are presumed to explain the association of religiosity with psychological well-being (PWB). To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Mar 25, 2019). DOI:10.1037/rel0000260
The California Mental Health & Spirituality Initiative in 2009 developed and executed a survey-based campaign to document the spirituality-related needs, preferences, and experiences of individuals and families receiving public mental health services. Through secondary analysis of the data collected in this grassroots initiative, the purpose of this study was to describe the attitudes of individuals receiving mental health services in California regarding spirituality and to identify significant predictors of the degree of interest in integrating spirituality into mental health care. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice (Feb 25, 2019). DOI:10.1037/cns0000185
It is widely assumed that belief in God allows people to better cope with life’s stresses. This stress-buffering effect is not limited to religion; when faced with stress, nonreligious people cling on to other belief systems, notably belief in science. We report an experimental test of whether people are able to down-regulate an acute stress experience by reflecting on their beliefs. We used the Trier Social Stress Test to induce stress in religious and scientist participants from the United Kingdom by having them discuss arguments for and against the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (“Brexit”). To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (Dec 20, 2018). DOI:10.1037/tra0000426
Objective: Religious coping has been shown to relate to psychological adjustment in survivors of disasters months or even years afterward. However, because very few studies have assessed coping and well-being during the immediate crisis, little is known about the role of religiousness at this critical time.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
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Psychology of Religion and Spirituality8.1 (Feb 2016): 54-64.
Religiousness has frequently been found to be associated with higher reported mental health levels than those found in individuals lower in reported religiousness. These results have often been inferred by scholars to mean that secular groups have poorer levels of mental health despite the fact that secular populations have rarely been included in studies. In this study, an ideologically diverse sample of 4,667 respondents was included to determine the relationships among general dogmatism levels, existential dogmatism, religiousness, and 5 indicators of mental health. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Spirituality in Clinical Practice3.1 (Mar 2016): 14-17.
A systematic bias leading to clinically and ethically problematic neglect of spirituality in the mental health professions is discussed. Relevant data suggesting the presence of this bias are reviewed and the form the bias often takes in practice is illustrated through a composite case example. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai