Spirituality and Psychiatry
SIG
The Special Interest Group
was founded in 1999 to provide a forum for psychiatrists to
explore the influence of the major religions, which shape the
cultural values and aspirations of psychiatrist and patient alike.
The spiritual aspirations of persons not identifying with any one
particular faith are held to be of no less importance, as well as
the viewpoint of those who hold that spirituality is independent of
religion. The meetings are designed to enable colleagues to
investigate and share without fear of censure the relevance of
spirituality to clinical practice. The Special Interest Group aims
to contribute a framework of ideas of general interest to the
College, stimulating discussion and promoting an integrative
approach to mental health care. For patients, there is the need to
help the service user feel supported in being able to bring
spiritual concerns to the fore.
Over recent years, there have been
a number of calls for an approach encompassing mind, body and
spirit. The College was urged to do so by its patron, HRH the
Prince of Wales in 1991. Professor Andrew Sims raised the issue
again in 1993 in his Presidential Valedictory Lecture, as did
Professor John Cox, the incumbent president of the College, at the
Annual College meeting of that same year. In 1997, the Archbishop
of Canterbury addressed the Joint Conference of the College and the
Association of European Psychiatrists. There was widespread
interest in a groundbreaking series of Religion and Psychiatry
Conferences held at the Institute of Psychiatry and many other
regional initiatives have followed. A landmark survey in 1998 by
the Mental Health Foundation revealed that over fifty per cent of
service users hold religious or spiritual beliefs, which they see
as important in helping them cope with mental illness, and
highlighted the need expressed by many patients for encouragement
in discussing such concerns with their psychiatrists.
Spirituality can be as broad as
'the essentially human, personal and interpersonal dimension, which
integrates and transcends the cultural, religious, psychological,
social and emotional aspects of the person' or more specifically
'concerned with soul or spirit (the term 'spiritual' is now
included in DSM IV under the heading of 'other conditions that may
be a focus of clinical attention'). The Special Interest Group has
a correspondingly varied and wide-ranging agenda, including
consideration of protective factors that spiritually sustain the
patient in crisis and otherwise contribute to mental health.
Spiritual values have a
universality which brings together all involved in mental health
care. The Special Interest Group supports the exploration of such
fundamental questions as the purpose and meaning of life, which are
so important for mental health, as well as the problem of good and
evil and a wide range of specific experiences invested with
spiritual meaning including birth, death and near-death, mystical
and trance states and varieties of religious experience. Both
pathological and normal human experiences are considered in order
to understand better the overlap and difference between the
two.
The membership of the group now stands at 2200. One-day
meetings include:
'What do we mean by spirituality and its relation to
psychiatry?' (January 2000)
'Fear and Faith - the quandary of the psyche under threat'. (April
2000)
'Avenues to peace of mind'. (October 2000)
'Forgiveness and reconciliation'. (January 2001)
'Engaging the spiritual mind'. (May 2001)
'The healing power of love'. (November 2001)
'Good and Evil - the challenge for Psychiatry'. (February
2002)
'Integrating Mind and Body: psycho-spiritual therapeutics'. (July
2002)
'Pathways to Peace - East meets West'. (November 2002)
'Invited or not, God is here: spiritual aspects of the therapeutic
encounter'. (January 2003)
'Minds within Minds: the case for Spirit Release Therapy'. (May
2003)
'Spiritual issues in child psychiatry'. (October 2003)
'Prayer in the service of mental health'. (January 2004)
‘A Fatal Wound? Who and what does suicide destroy’. (October
2004)
‘What inspires the psychiatrist? Personal; beliefs, attitudes and
values’. (January 2005)
'‘Special needs, special gifts - learning disability and
spirituality’. (October 2005)
‘Spirituality and religion in later Life’. (December 2005)
'Psychosis, psychedelics and the transpersonal Journey'. (March
2006)
'Sanity, Sex and the Sacred: exploring intersecting realms'.
(November 2006)
'Suffering - what is the point of it all?' (March 2007)
'Body and Spirit'. Joint meeting with the philosophy SIG. (May
2007)
'Spirituality and Psychopathology', held in association with the
Dutch Foundation for Psychiatry and Religion. (November 2007)
'Researching Spirituality: paradigms and empirical findings'.
(February 2008)
'Mindfulness, Meditation and Mental Health'. (November 2008)
'Consciousness and the Extended Mind'. (April 2009)
Open conferences have included ‘The
Place of Spirituality in Psychiatry’ held jointly with the Royal
Society of Medicine (2002), ‘Beyond Death – Does Consciousness
Survive?’ at Kings College Hospital, London (2004) and on May 9th
2005, jointly with the RSM, ‘Healing from Within and Beyond – the
Therapeutic Power of Altered States’.
At the College Annual Meeting in
Liverpool, June 2009, the SIG contributed a programme on 'Where
paths meet: psychiatrists in a multi-faith society'. Prof. Chris
Cook spoke on 'The faith of the psychiatrist' and Dr. Simon Dein
spoke on 'The faith of patients'. Drs. Sarah Eagger
and Paramabandhu Groves conducted a workshop (again
over-subscribed) on 'Keeping body and mind together -
meditation made simple'.
The Executive has submitted
detailed proposals to the College for the revised curriculum for
Basic Specialist Training and the MRCPsych examinations and
requirements for CCST competencies.
The Special Interest Group supports
an important educational initiative launched by the Janki
Foundation on ‘Values in Healthcare’. Full details can be found in
Newsletter No. 15. and enquiries for ordering the pack can be made
to values@jankifoundation.org or The Janki Foundation for Global
Health Care, Values in Healthcare, 449/451 High Road, London NW10
2JJ, UK. tel: 0208 459 1400 / 9090
Publications
The Spirituality and Psychiatry
Special Interest Group is pleased to report the book launch,
at the 2009 College Annual Meeting, of Spirituality and Psychiatry by RCPsych
Publications (eds. C.C.H Cook, A. Powell and A.
Sims).
The Spirituality and Psychiatry
Special Interest Group has also contributed to the Help is at
Hand College publications with Spirituality and Mental Health, available from
the College as a leaflet or PDF download.
Spirituality and Psychiatry
Prize
The Spirituality and
Psychiatry Special Interest Group has established a prize to be
awarded to the best entry, or shared between joint best entries,
for submissions comprising an original study, research report,
review, or essay, on spirituality and psychiatry by a single
author. The prize has been established to harness and promote
interest in spirituality and psychiatry, and to motivate
psychiatrists to build up evidence in this area as it relates to
patients and practice.
Prize: £250
Frequency:
Annually
Eligible: All
Members and Affiliates of the College and all medical students
Regulations:
I. Entries will be evaluated according
to the following criteria:
- The extent to which the essay furthers an understanding of
spirituality in relation to psychiatry
- Awareness of the literature on spirituality and psychiatry
- Relevance to psychiatric practice and patient care
- Originality
- Critical reflective quality
Submissions that focus particularly
on one area should nevertheless have at least some merit under all
headings.
II. Entries will be no longer than 5000
words and should be submitted electronically where possible, in
Word (double spaced).
III. Short listing will be the
responsibility of the Executive Committee or a panel appointed by
them from within the Executive, which will include a senior
academic. The Executive Committee reserves the right not to award
the prize in any given year if the quality or relevance of the
entries is deemed not to be of sufficient merit.
IV. The
winning entry/entries, and all authors of shortlisted submissions,
will be notified by 31 March. Shortlisted papers will be eligible
for publication on the Spirituality Special Interest Group
website.
Closing date: 31
December each year
Submissions to: Honorary
Secretary of the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group
c/o Sue Duncan 0207 235 2351 Ext 130
Email: sduncan@rcpsych.ac.uk
About the Executive
The committee has a busy
agenda and meets up to six times a year, its
members drawn from a wide range of spiritual and religious
affiliations. Chairs to date: founding chair Dr. Andrew Powell
1999 - 2003, Professor Andrew Sims 2003 - 2005, Dr. Sarah Eagger
2005 - 2009, Professor Chris Cook 2009 - .
The maximum term for elected
officers (chair, secretary and treasurer) is 4 years. All other
appointments to the committee are non-tenured and by invitation,
and the Executive welcomes expressions of interest from members who
would wish to play an active role in the planning and running
of the special interest group.
| Member |
Year of joining |
Position |
|
Prof. Christopher Cook
|
2009
(E)
|
Chair
|
|
Dr Simon Dein
|
2007
(C)
|
Honorary Secretary
|
|
Dr Geetha Suryanarayan
|
2009
(E)
|
Financial Officer
|
|
Dr Imran Ali
|
2004
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Anjum Bashir
|
2008
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Nicola Crowley
|
2001
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Sarah Eagger
|
2005
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Peter Fenwick
|
1999
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Christopher Findlay
|
2005
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Paramabandhu Groves
|
2008
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Jameel Hussain
|
2008
(C)
|
Psychiatric Training Representative
|
|
Dr Andrew Powell
|
1999
(EX)
|
Editor
|
|
Dr Oyepeju Raji
|
2001
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Dr Timothy Read
|
2005
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
|
Prof. Andrew Sims
|
2005
(C)
|
Committee Member
|
Forthcoming Events
Also see College Events section
The next one-day SIG
programme, on Spirituality and Religion -
Friends or Foes? will be held on November 20th 2009 at the
Society of Chemical Industry, at No.15, Belgrave Square SW1X
8PS.
The full programme can be
found in Newsletter No. 27. Registration forms have
been circulated with the July issue of 'News and Notes' for
SIG members, who can also register by contacting Sue Duncan direct
at the College.
Newsletters
How to Join
Membership of Special Interest
Groups is open to all Members of or Associates of the College.
Non-college membership and guest attendance is by invitation
only.
To join, please complete our online
application form or email the College Membership
office.