Religion, Spirituality, and Physical Health

All major religious traditions have a long-standing interest in working to promote health and to cure physical, mental, or spiritual illnesses. More recently, psychology has also become a major provider of health care services, and psychologists have taken on healing roles previously reserved for doctors or religious professionals. This joint interest offers many possibilities for dialogue between psychology and religion about issues related to health and healing. In this chapter, we look primarily at issues related to physical health; in the next chapter, we will consider mental health.