A Look into Spiritual Pain Management, a Narrative Medicine Paper Presentation
Ssanyu Birigwa, MS Candidate in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University
Katelyn Connor, MS Candidate in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University
Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine program is an innovative institution where the relationship between storytelling and health become embedded in caring practices. However, the narrative of spirituality has been intellectually neglected throughout Narrative Medicine classes and research. Personal spirituality shows itself to be a fluid, diverse, and extremely powerful medium of personal healing and coping. This paper explores spiritual pain management and the concepts of self-healing in Christian, African traditions as well as through Reiki Healing, meditation, and mindfulness practices. Throughout the semester within the confines of an Independent Study, the co-authors will explore through close-reading various forms of literature, interviews, and autoethnography in order to note the significance of spirituality in the clinical setting, focusing in on end of life care, death, and grief. Through this paper, the authors hope to identify and develop key tools of pain management through spirituality, traditions, and Narrative Medicine innovation in order to bring to light the powerful effect spirituality has on personal health. In each class in the Narrative Medicine Masters’ Program, students are warned that personal writing and self exploration is “therapeutic, but not therapy.” We believe that there is a greater responsibility of both students and instructors to not only address each other’s needs intellectually, but also spirituality. This study will provide innovative methods of practice in spiritual pain management, and begin a larger conversation about spirituality and healthcare.
Katelyn Connor, MS Candidate in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University
Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine program is an innovative institution where the relationship between storytelling and health become embedded in caring practices. However, the narrative of spirituality has been intellectually neglected throughout Narrative Medicine classes and research. Personal spirituality shows itself to be a fluid, diverse, and extremely powerful medium of personal healing and coping. This paper explores spiritual pain management and the concepts of self-healing in Christian, African traditions as well as through Reiki Healing, meditation, and mindfulness practices. Throughout the semester within the confines of an Independent Study, the co-authors will explore through close-reading various forms of literature, interviews, and autoethnography in order to note the significance of spirituality in the clinical setting, focusing in on end of life care, death, and grief. Through this paper, the authors hope to identify and develop key tools of pain management through spirituality, traditions, and Narrative Medicine innovation in order to bring to light the powerful effect spirituality has on personal health. In each class in the Narrative Medicine Masters’ Program, students are warned that personal writing and self exploration is “therapeutic, but not therapy.” We believe that there is a greater responsibility of both students and instructors to not only address each other’s needs intellectually, but also spirituality. This study will provide innovative methods of practice in spiritual pain management, and begin a larger conversation about spirituality and healthcare.
