About us

• Provide a safe place within which College members can discuss spirituality, broadly conceived, in relation to their professional practice and vocation. This has happened mainly through its day conferences but also (in the past) a newsletter and publications archive 
• Positively influence the wider College in all its affairs, notably policy, publications, curriculum and the annual essay prize
• Engage in debate on spirituality in relation to psychiatry nationally and internationally
• Liaise with and influence national and international bodies with common concerns

Please note that publications by the SPSIG represent the views of individual members or its Executive and do not represent College policy unless specified.

The committee has a busy agenda and meets four times a year, its members are 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 2009–2013
• Dr Paramabandhu Groves 2013–2017
• Dr Alison Gray 2017–2021
• Professor Chris Cook 2021-2024
• Dr Lucy Grimwade 2024-2028

The maximum term for elected officers (chair and financial officer) 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.

This picture of some members of the Committee, taken at a recent conference.

Next SPSIG meetings

Details of SPSIG meetings and events are listed on our Events page.

Booking is by the main College Events page.

The Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SPSIG) 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: £300.

Frequency: Annually.

Eligibility: All Members and Affiliates of the College and all psychiatry trainees and medical students.

Regulations

1. Entries will be evaluated according to the following criteria. Submissions that focus particularly on one area should nevertheless have at least some merit under all headings.

• 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

2. Entries should be no longer than 5,000 words and should be submitted electronically where possible, ideally in Word (double spaced).

3. Shortlisting 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.

4. The winning entry/entries, and all authors of shortlisted submissions, will be notified by 31 March the following year. Shortlisted papers will be eligible for publication on the Spirituality Special Interest Group website.

Submissions

Closing date: 31 December each year.

All submissions should be emailed to sigs@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Past winners

• 2023: Dr Jennifer Dunn - Your Cult or Mine

The Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SPSIG) are delighted to announce a new poster prize in memory of Professor Andrew Sims, founding member of the SPSIG, who passed away in 2022.

The prize has been established to harness and promote interest in spirituality and psychiatry and will be linked to the annual SPSIG conference. Posters that are accepted will be displayed at the conference and judged by our panel and prize winner announced at the end of the day. All submissions will be reviewed ahead of the conference and successful authors will then be invited to have their poster displayed at the conference. Poster presenters will need to register for the event. 

Prize: £200, generously funded by Professor Sims' family. 

Frequency: Annually (for five years, 2025 - 2030).

Eligibility: Trainees in psychiatry - at any stage of training prior to obtaining their first consultant post.

Submissions: 

• The deadline for poster abstract submissions is 3pm on 31 January 2025. 
• All submissions should be submitted here. Posters that are selected by the judging panel will need to be brought to the conference for the entries to be judged and the prize awarded on the day. 

For more information and guidance on submissions, please visit the conference page.

Membership of the SPSIG is open only to Members and Associates of the College.

To join, please log in to your membership profile or email the College.