Addressing the Sacred in Mental Health Setting
Nancy Kehoe Ph.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology, Part time, Harvard Medical School
This workshop is based on 34 years of experience in leading groups focused on religious issues/spiritual beliefs in three psychiatric day treatment programs and on inpatient units for six years at day treatment programs in Cambridge, MA affiliated with one of the Harvard teaching hospitals. From the beginning the groups were open to all the patients in the program and thus were interdenominational.
Historically if a person with a serious mental illness talked about religion he/she was deemed delusional, hyper-religious, or using religion in denial of their illness. The exploration of a person’s beliefs was either omitted from treatment or pathologized. A group that invites participants to consider how their religious beliefs are sources of comfort or conflict for them is a way of treating the whole person, not just their symptoms.
The definition of the sacred is that which is connected to God (the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration. In the face of suffering, whether that is physical or mental, individuals search for meaning, for hope, for community and that is what religious traditions or spiritual paths have offered them. By omitting conversations that focus on a person’s beliefs in the context of their mental illness, we are depriving them of an opportunity for this exploration. The exploration leads to valuable information either in relation to what sustains a person or areas of conflict because an affiliation with a religious tradition or spiritual path has not always been positive for an individual.
The interdenominational nature of the group has created a rich educational experience for the participants. The workshop will discuss the importance of addressing particular religious traditions, but presented in a way that is attentive to (academic) medical environments that are sensitive to and sometimes hostile toward religious issues. The workshop will provide strategies on how to navigate the concerns of different stake holders including particular religious traditions and medical institutions committee to a secular perspective.
Though the workshop will describe groups in a mental health setting, the model is applicable to other medical settings. This will be a skills development workshop and three models of how to make room for the sacred will be presented; a discussion group, a mindfulness meditation group, and spiritual/religious services at times of religious significance.
While the primary audience is clinicians who work in psychiatric day treatment programs, on inpatient units, or in psychiatric residential programs, administrators, medical personnel who work on units for chronic pain, cancer centers, or palliative care could also benefit.
Administrators may use the idea of the the separation of church and state as an objection for having such groups within settings that are funded by federal or state monies. This is a misunderstanding of the separation of church and state which means that no particular religious beliefs should be imposed. It does not mean that the exploration of what a person believes cannot be discussed within a health context. Because of the long-standing omission of this topic in mental health treatment, and until more recently in medical settings, understanding how to create groups within various milieus can make a valuable contribution to the care of the whole person.
The presentation will focus on three different ways of making room for the sacred in day treatment work and discuss how these groups have affected the culture of the day treatment program.
The workshop will consist of three parts:
Part I:
• A brief introduction which will include the definition of religion/spirituality and the benefits of having these groups
• Research findings
• Presentation of each of the three groups with a short history of their development and guidelines for conducting a group
a) The discussion group
b) Mindfulness Meditation group
c) Services
Part II: An experience of each of the three groups with participants from the audience as members of each group.
Part III: Reflections and questions from the participants
The first group, a discussion group, has evolved over the years and the various titles of the group illustrate this. The title of the group is important and participants will explore the naming of a group. “Religious Issues,” “Spiritual Beliefs and Values,” and “Hope and Inspiration” have been used, each capturing a slightly different emphasis in the group and each being shaped by the members of the group. Some of the learnings from the 34 years will be discussed and some of the pitfalls to avoid.
The second group, the Mindfulness Meditation group, arose from a desire within the community for a more learning based approach to ways of monitoring, and minimizing some of the symptoms associated with mental illness, anxiety, panic attacks, auditory hallucinations. Mindfulness exercises with be offered with some rationale for the choices. The workshop will also address how particular religious traditions incorporate mindfulness.
Both the discussion group and the mindfulness meditation group illustrate ways that contemporary scientific discoveries about the brain and its plasticity, its ability to learn, have benefited those in the group. When we see a person as more than their illness and foster behaviors and reflection that enable them to see themselves as more than their illness everyone is enriched.
Rituals within religious traditions enable their members to come together as a community and share their story. At the time of Hanukkah, Christmas we have a service that celebrates the power of light and hope. At Passover and Easter, we have offered a service that takes the story of the Exodus of the Jews form Egypt and the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. At the heart of these narratives is the journey from oppression/ death/ suffering to new life, the journey in which we are all engaged. Seeing oneself as a part of a larger whole is healing.
This workshop is based on 34 years of experience in leading groups focused on religious issues/spiritual beliefs in three psychiatric day treatment programs and on inpatient units for six years at day treatment programs in Cambridge, MA affiliated with one of the Harvard teaching hospitals. From the beginning the groups were open to all the patients in the program and thus were interdenominational.
Historically if a person with a serious mental illness talked about religion he/she was deemed delusional, hyper-religious, or using religion in denial of their illness. The exploration of a person’s beliefs was either omitted from treatment or pathologized. A group that invites participants to consider how their religious beliefs are sources of comfort or conflict for them is a way of treating the whole person, not just their symptoms.
The definition of the sacred is that which is connected to God (the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration. In the face of suffering, whether that is physical or mental, individuals search for meaning, for hope, for community and that is what religious traditions or spiritual paths have offered them. By omitting conversations that focus on a person’s beliefs in the context of their mental illness, we are depriving them of an opportunity for this exploration. The exploration leads to valuable information either in relation to what sustains a person or areas of conflict because an affiliation with a religious tradition or spiritual path has not always been positive for an individual.
The interdenominational nature of the group has created a rich educational experience for the participants. The workshop will discuss the importance of addressing particular religious traditions, but presented in a way that is attentive to (academic) medical environments that are sensitive to and sometimes hostile toward religious issues. The workshop will provide strategies on how to navigate the concerns of different stake holders including particular religious traditions and medical institutions committee to a secular perspective.
Though the workshop will describe groups in a mental health setting, the model is applicable to other medical settings. This will be a skills development workshop and three models of how to make room for the sacred will be presented; a discussion group, a mindfulness meditation group, and spiritual/religious services at times of religious significance.
While the primary audience is clinicians who work in psychiatric day treatment programs, on inpatient units, or in psychiatric residential programs, administrators, medical personnel who work on units for chronic pain, cancer centers, or palliative care could also benefit.
Administrators may use the idea of the the separation of church and state as an objection for having such groups within settings that are funded by federal or state monies. This is a misunderstanding of the separation of church and state which means that no particular religious beliefs should be imposed. It does not mean that the exploration of what a person believes cannot be discussed within a health context. Because of the long-standing omission of this topic in mental health treatment, and until more recently in medical settings, understanding how to create groups within various milieus can make a valuable contribution to the care of the whole person.
The presentation will focus on three different ways of making room for the sacred in day treatment work and discuss how these groups have affected the culture of the day treatment program.
The workshop will consist of three parts:
Part I:
• A brief introduction which will include the definition of religion/spirituality and the benefits of having these groups
• Research findings
• Presentation of each of the three groups with a short history of their development and guidelines for conducting a group
a) The discussion group
b) Mindfulness Meditation group
c) Services
Part II: An experience of each of the three groups with participants from the audience as members of each group.
Part III: Reflections and questions from the participants
The first group, a discussion group, has evolved over the years and the various titles of the group illustrate this. The title of the group is important and participants will explore the naming of a group. “Religious Issues,” “Spiritual Beliefs and Values,” and “Hope and Inspiration” have been used, each capturing a slightly different emphasis in the group and each being shaped by the members of the group. Some of the learnings from the 34 years will be discussed and some of the pitfalls to avoid.
The second group, the Mindfulness Meditation group, arose from a desire within the community for a more learning based approach to ways of monitoring, and minimizing some of the symptoms associated with mental illness, anxiety, panic attacks, auditory hallucinations. Mindfulness exercises with be offered with some rationale for the choices. The workshop will also address how particular religious traditions incorporate mindfulness.
Both the discussion group and the mindfulness meditation group illustrate ways that contemporary scientific discoveries about the brain and its plasticity, its ability to learn, have benefited those in the group. When we see a person as more than their illness and foster behaviors and reflection that enable them to see themselves as more than their illness everyone is enriched.
Rituals within religious traditions enable their members to come together as a community and share their story. At the time of Hanukkah, Christmas we have a service that celebrates the power of light and hope. At Passover and Easter, we have offered a service that takes the story of the Exodus of the Jews form Egypt and the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. At the heart of these narratives is the journey from oppression/ death/ suffering to new life, the journey in which we are all engaged. Seeing oneself as a part of a larger whole is healing.