Abstract
Efforts to honor and integrate patients’ and families’ spiritual beliefs and dispositions in biopsychosocial/spiritual care are well-worth the time, energy, and requisite resources that it takes to do so. In this account, the authors describe how targeted education and supervision with students and trainees can serve to promote preparatory knowledge, comfort, and skills toward including spiritual foci in their work. Purposeful assessments, care conversations, and interdisciplinary partnerships are described as advancing better clinical outcomes. Thoughtful strategizing around clinic- and hospital- operations and care structures are described as essential to better workflow and collegial collaborations. Careful attention to financial foci in care provision and team organization that support spiritual health are outlined as key to supporting cost-effectiveness. All of these things—taken together—are put forth as important to the inclusion of what is often and arguably one of the most neglected facets of patients’ and families’ experiences in care practices today.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abu-Raiya, H. (2017). A critique from within: Some important research issues that psychologists of religion and spirituality should further work on. Mental Health, Religion, & Culture, 20, 544–541. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2017.1377945
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. (2020). The program director's guide to the common program requirements (residency). Author.
Anandarajah, G., & Hight, E. (2001). Spirituality and medical practice: Using the HOPE questions as a practical tool for spiritual assessment. American Family Physician, 63, 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1443-8461(01)80044-7
Aten, J., & Schenck, J. (2007). Reflections on religion and health research: An interview with Dr. Harold G. Koenig. Journal of Religion and Health, 46, 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-006-9076-z
Balboni, M. J., Sullivan, A., Enzinger, A. C., Epstein-Peterson, Z. D., Tseng, Y. D., Mitchell, C., Niska, J., Zollfrank, A., VanderWeele, T. J., & Balboni, T. A. (2014). Nurse and physician barriers to spiritual care provision at the end of life. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 48, 400–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.09.020
Baldwin, J. (2018). Trauma-sensitive theology. Cascade Books.
Baxter, S., Johnson, M., Chambers, D., Sutton, A., Goyder, E., & Booth, A. (2018). The effects of integrated care: A systematic review of UK and international evidence. BMC Health Services Research, 18, 350–362. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3161-3
Bercier, B., Kramer, S., & Shariff, A. (2018). Belief in God: Why people believe, and why they don’t. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27, 263–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418754491
Berenson, D. (1990). A systemic view of spirituality. Journal of Strategic Systemic Therapy, 9, 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00715.x
Birnbaum, H., Kessler, R., Kelley, D., Ben-Hamadi, R., Joish, V., & Greenberg, P. (2009). Employer burden of mild, moderate, and severe major depressive disorder: Mental health services utilization and costs, and work performance. Depression & Anxiety, 27, 78–89. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20580
Block, D. (1984). The family therapist as health care consultant. Family Systems Medicine, 2, 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0091652
Cadge, W., Stroud, I., Palmer, P., Fitchett, G., Haythorn, T., & Clevenger, C. (2020). Training chaplains and spiritual caregivers: The emergence and growth of chaplaincy programs in theological education. Pastoral Psychology, 69, 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-020-00906-5
Carlson, T., Kirkpatrick, D., Hecker, L., & Killmer, M. (2002). Religion, spirituality, and marriage and family therapy: A study of family therapists’ beliefs about the appropriateness of addressing religious and spiritual issues in therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 30, 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/019261802753573867
Casarez, R. L. P., & Engebretson, J. C. (2012). Ethical issues of incorporating spiritual care into clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 2099–2107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04168.x
Chakraborty, R., El-Jawahri, A., Litzow, M., Syrjala, K., Parnes, A., & Hashmi, S. (2017). A systemic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions. Palliative & Supportive Care, 15, 609–622. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951516001061
Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education [COAMFTE]. (2017). Accreditation standards: Graduate & post-graduate marriage and family therapy training programs: Version 12.0. Author.
Crane, D., & Christenson, J. (2014). A summary report of cost-effectiveness: Recognizing the value of family therapy in health care. In J. Hodgson, A. Lamson, T. Mendenhall, & D. Crane (Eds.), Medical family therapy: Advanced applications (pp. 419–436). Springer.
Crane, D., Christenson, J. D., Dobbs, S. M., Schaalje, G. B., Moore, A. M., Pedal, F. F. C., Ballard, J., & Marshall, E. S. (2013). Costs of treating depression with individual versus family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39, 457–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2012.00326.x
Crane, D. R., & Payne, S. H. (2011). Individual and family therapy in managed care: Comparing the costs of treatment by the mental health professions. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37, 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00170.x
Crocker, G. (2015). On atheist spirituality. Journal of the Study of Spirituality, 5, 178–184. https://doi.org/10.1179/2044024315Z.00000000050A
Culliford, L. (2002). Spirituality and clinical care: Spiritual values and skills are increasingly recognised as necessary aspects of clinical care. British Medical Journal, 21, 1434–1435. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1434
Cunningham, C., Panda, M., Lambert, J., Daniel, G., & DeMars, K. (2017). Perceptions of chaplains’ value and impact within hospital care teams. Journal of Religion and Health, 56, 1231–1247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0418-9
Daaleman, T. P., & Frey, B. B. (2004). The spirituality index of well-being: A new instrument for health-related quality-of-life research. Annals of Family Medicine, 2, 499–503. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.89
Delbridge, E. (2013). Training in medical family therapy: Spirituality and the BPSS model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation; University of Nebraska. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3590974/
Dobkin de Rios, M. (2002). What we can learn from shamanic healing: Brief psychotherapy with Latino immigrant clients. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 1576–1578. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.92.10.1576
Doherty, W. J. (1995). The whys and levels of collaborative family healthcare. Family Systems Medicine, 13, 275–281. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0089174
Doherty, W. J. (2003). A wake up call: Comment on “Lived Religion and Family Therapy.” Family Process, 42, 181–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2003.00181.x
Doherty, W. J., & Baird, M. A. (1983). Family therapy and family medicine: Towards the primary care of families. Guilford Press.
Doherty, W., & Mendenhall, T. (2019). Medical family therapy. In B. Fiese (Ed.), APA handbook of contemporary family psychology (pp. 189–203). American Psychological Association.
Druss, B., & Walker, E. (2011). Mental disorders and medical co-mobidity. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dugan, B., Kyle, J., Kyle, C., Birnie, C., & Wahba, W. (2011). Integrating spirituality in patient care: Preparing students for the challenges ahead. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 3(4), 260–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2011.07.004
Dwiwardani, C., & Waters, A. (2015). Cultural humility in Christian clinical psychology programs. Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Newsletter, April Ed., https://www.apadivisions.org/division-36/publications/newsletters/religion/2015/04/cultural-humility
Ellison, L. L. (2006). The spiritual well-being scale. http://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=co_faculty
Elwood, R., & Alles, G. (2007). Encyclopedia of world religions (revised). DWJ Books.
Engel, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.847460
Engel, G. L. (1980). The clinical application of the biopsychosocial model. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 535–544.
Frame, M. (2000). The spiritual genogram in family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26(2), 211–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2000.tb00290.x
Franch, M. (2008). Spirituality, religion, and meaning. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196, 643–646. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e318181354f
Galek, K., Flannelly, K., Koenig, H., & Fogg, S. (2007). Referrals to chaplains: The role of religion and spirituality in healthcare settings. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 10, 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670600757064
Hamilton, S., Moore, A. M., Crane, D. R., & Payne, S. H. (2011). Psychotherapy dropouts: Differences by modality, license, and DSM-IV diagnosis. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37, 333–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2010.00204.x
Hart, J. (2008). Spirituality and health. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 14, 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1089/act.2008.14406
Hatch, R. L., Burg, M. A., Naberhaus, D. S., & Hellmich, L. K. (1998). The spiritual involvement and beliefs scale. Journal of Family Practice, 46, 476–486. https://doi.org/10.1037/t06493-000
Hefti, R. (2011). Integrating religion and spirituality into mental health care, psychiatry and psychotherapy. Religions, 2(4), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2040611
Hepworth, J., & Jackson, M. (1985). Health care for families, Models of collaboration between family therapists and family physicians. Family Relations, 34, 123–127. https://doi.org/10.2307/583765
Hodgson, J., Lamson, A., Mendenhall, T., & Crane, R. (Eds.). (2014a). Medical family therapy: Advanced applications. Springer.
Hodgson, J., Lamson, A., Mendenhall, T., & Tyndall, L. (2014b). Introduction to medical family therapy: Advanced applications. In J. Hodgson, A. Lamson, T. Mendenhall, & D. Crane (Eds.), Medical family therapy: Advanced applications (pp. 1–12). Springer.
Hodgson, J., Lamson, A., & Reese, L. (2007). The biopsychosocial-spiritual interview method. In D. Linville, D. Lusterman, & K. Hertlein (Eds.), Therapist’s notebook for family healthcare (pp. 3–12). Hayworth Press.
Hodgson, J., Mendenhall, T., & Lamson, A. (2013). Patient and provider relationships: Consent, confidentiality, and medical errors in integrated primary care settings. Families, Systems, & Health, 31, 28–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031771
Holyoak, D., & Hertlein, K. (2019). The self of the Mormon sex therapist: Strategies for sex therapists-in-training. American Journal of Family Therapy, 46, 258–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2018.1506270
Hook, J., Davis, D., Owen, J., Worthington, E., & Utsey, S. (2013). Cultural humility: Measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 3, 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032595
Hunt, L. (2019). Beyond cultural competence: Applying humility to clinical Settings. In J. Oberlander, M. Buchbinder, L. Churchill, S. Estroff, N. King, B. Saunders, R. Strauss, & R. Walker (Eds.), The social medicine reader (3rd ed., Vol. II, pp. 127–131). Duke University Press.
Keith, K. (2019). Ethnocentrism: Seeing the world from where we stand. In K. Keith (Ed.), Cross-cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 23–38). Wiley.
Kissil, K., Carneiro, R., & Aponte, H. (2017). Beyond duality: The relationship between the personal and the professional selves of the therapist in the Person of the Therapist Training. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 29, 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/08975353.2018.1416244
Koenig, H. (2008). Religion and mental health: What should psychiatrists do? Psychiatric Bulletin, 32, 201–203. https://doi.org/10.1192/pb.bp.108.019430
Koenig, H. (2015). Religion, spirituality, and health: A review and update. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, 29, 19–26.
Koenig, H. (2020). Maintaining health and well-being by putting faith into action during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Religion and Health, 59, 2205–2214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01035-2
Koenig, H., Idler, E., Kasl, S., Hays, J., George, L., Musick, M., Larson, D., Collins, T., & Benson, H. (1999). Religion, spirituality, and medicine: A rebuttal to skeptics. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 29, 123–131. https://doi.org/10.2190/C2FB-95VW-FKYD-C8RV
Koenig, H., Wang, Z., Zaben, F., & Adi, A. (2015). Belief into Action Scale: A comprehensive and sensitive measure of religious involvement. Religions, 6(3), 1006–1016. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6031006
Kruger, T. (2010). Keys to resilient practice in contemporary chaplaincy. Doctoral Dissertation, Lancaster Theological Seminary. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Kumas-Tan, Z., Beagan, B., Loppie, C., MacLeod, A., & Frank, B. (2007). Measures of cultural competence: Examining hidden assumptions. Academic Medicine, 82(6), 548–557. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3180555a2d
Lamson, A., Pratt, K., Hodgson, J., & Koehler, A. (2014). MedFT supervision in context. In J. Hodgson, A. Lamson, T. Mendenhall, & D. Crane (Eds.), Medical family therapy: Advanced applications (pp. 125–145). Springer.
Larson, D., Koenig, H., Kaplan, B., Greenberg, R., Logue, E., & Tyroler, H. (1989). The impact of religion on men’s blood pressure. Journal of Religion and Health, 28, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986065.pdf
Larson, D., Larson, S., & Koenig, H. (2005). Mortality and religion/spirituality: A brief review of the research. In J. Levin & H. Koenig (Eds.), Faith, medicine, and science: A festschrift in honor of Dr. David B. Larson (pp. 191–214). Routledge.
Law, D. D., & Crane, D. R. (2000). The influence of marital and family therapy on health care utilization in a health maintenance organization. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2000.tb00298.x
Law, D. D., Crane, D. R., & Berge, J. (2003). The influence of marital and family therapy on high utilizers of health care. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29, 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606,2000.tb00298.x
Liberman, T., Kozikowski, A., Carney, M., Kline, M., Axelrud, A., Ofer, A., Rossetti, M., & Pekmezaris, R. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and interactions with chaplains and nursing staff outcomes: A survey study. Journal of Religion and Health, 59, 2308–2322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01037-0
Lores, T., Goess, C., Mikocka-Walus, A., Collins, K., Burke, A., Chur-Hansen, A., Delfabbro, P., & Andrews, J. (2021). Integrated psychological care reduces health care costs at a hospital-based inflammatory bowel disease service. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 19, 96–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2020.01.030
Marterella, M., & Brock, L. (2008). Religion and spirituality as a resource in marital and family therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 19, 330–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/08975350802475072
Matthews, W. (2012). Word religions (7th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Mawson, T. (2005). Belief in God: An introduction to the philosophy of religion. Oxford University Press.
McCullough, M., & Larson, D. (1999). Religion and depression: A review of literature. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 2, 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.2.2.126
McDaniel, S. H., & Campbell, T. L. (1986). Physicians and family therapists: The risks of collaboration. Family Systems Medicine, 4, 4–8. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0090176
McDaniel, S. H., Doherty, W. J., & Hepworth, J. (Eds.). (2014). Medical family therapy and integrated care. American Psychological Association.
McDaniel, S. H., Hepworth, J., & Doherty, W. J. (Eds.). (1992). Medical family therapy: A biopsychosocial approach to families with health problems. Basic Books.
Mendenhall, T. (2006). Trauma-response teams: Inherent challenges and practical strategies in interdisciplinary fieldwork. Families, Systems & Health, 24, 357–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/1091-7527.24.3.357
Mendenhall, T., & Alshareef, A. (2021). Engaging families in health care: Everybody wins. Minnesota Physician, 35, 1–2.
Mendenhall, T., Lamson, A., Hodgson, J., & Baird, M. (2018). Clinical methods in medical family therapy. Springer.
Mendenhall, T., Lamson, A., Hodgson, J., Tyndall, L., & Zubatsky, M. (in-press). Ethics in medical family therapy. In K. Brown (Ed.), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) ethics textbook. AAMFT.
Mercier, B., Kramer, S., & Shariff, A. (2018). Belief in God: Why people believe, and why they don’t. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27, 263–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418754491
Miller, B., Mendenhall, T., & Malik, A. (2009). Integrated primary care: An inclusive three-world view through process metrics and empirical discrimination. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 16, 21–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9137-4
Miller, M., Korinek, A., & Ivey, D. (2004). Spirituality in MFT training: Development of the Spiritual Issues in Supervision Scale. Contemporary Family Therapy, 26, 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:COFT.0000016913.62876.86
Miller, D., Ngunjiri, F., & LoRussa, J. (2017). Human resources perceptions of corporate chaplains: Enhancing positive organizational culture. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 14(3), 196–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/14766086.2016.1260044
Minnesota Historical Society. (2021). Hmoob Hauv Minnesota. https://www.mnhs.org/hmong
Moore, A. M., Hamilton, S., Crane, D. R., & Fawcett, D. (2011). The influence of professional license type on the outcome of family therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 39, 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2010.530186
Moreira-Almeida, A., Koenig, H., & Lucchetti, G. (2014). Clinical implications of spirituality to mental health: Review of evidence and practical guidelines. Revista Brasileira De Psiquiatria, 36, 176–182. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2013-1255
Muse, A., Lamson, A., Didericksen, K., & Hodgson, J. (2017). A systematic review of evaluation research in integrated behavioral health care: Operational and financial characteristics. Families, Systems, & Health, 35, 136–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh00002
Oman, D. (2013). Defining religion and spirituality. In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (2nd ed., pp. 23–47). Guilford Press.
Patel, V., Belkin, G., Chockalingam, A., Cooper, J., Saxena, S., & Unutzer, J. (2013). Grand challenges: Integrating mental health services into priority health care platforms. Plos Medicine, 10, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001448
Peek, C. J. (2008). Planning care in the clinical, operational, and financial worlds. In R. Kessler & D. Stafford (Eds.), Collaborative medicine case studies (pp. 25–38). Springer.
Pesut, B., Fowler, M., Taylor, E., Reimer-Kirkham, S., & Sawatzky, R. (2008). Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17, 2803–2810. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02344.x
Pew Research Center. (2017). More Americans now say they’re spiritual but not religious. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/ft_17-09-05_spiritualnotreligious_310px/
Piscitello, G., & Martin, S. (2020). Spirituality, religion, and medical education for internal medicine residents. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 37, 272–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909119872752
Puchalski, C. M. (2014). The FICA spiritual history tool #274. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 17, 105–106. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2013.9458
Racher, F., & Annis, R. (2007). Respecting culture and honoring diversity in community practice. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 21(4), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.1891/088971807782427985
Rajaee, G., & Patel, M. (2021). Awareness and preferences for health care chaplaincy services among US adults. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 34, 368–374. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2021.02.200396
Rolland, J. S. (1984). Toward a psychosocial typology of chronic and life-threatening illness. Family Systems Medicine, 2, 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0091663
Saguil, A., & Phelps, K. (2012). The spiritual assessment. American Family Physician, 86, 546–550.
Schnell, T., & Keenan, W. (2013). The construction of Atheist spirituality: A survey-based study. In H. Westerink (Ed.), Constructs of meaning and religious transformation: Current issues in the psychology of religion (pp. 101–118). Vienna University Press.
Smithsonian. (2021). National Museum of the American Indian: One museum, two locations. https://americanindian.si.edu/
Snider, A., & McPhedran, S. (2014). Religiosity, spirituality, mental health, and mental health treatment outcomes in Australia: A systematic literature review. Mental Health, Religion, & Culture, 17, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2013.871240
Snipes, M. (2017). The many guises of ethnocentrism. In M. Snipes (Ed.), Ethnocentrism in its many guises (pp. 1–10). Southern Anthropological Society.
Stander, V., Piercy, F., Mackinnon, D., & Helmeke, K. (1994). Spirituality, religion and family therapy: Competing or complementary worlds? American Journal of Family Therapy, 22, 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926189408251295
Tata, B., Nuzum, D., Murphy, K., Karimi, L., & Cadge, W. (2021). Self-care by chaplains during COVID-19. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 75, 24–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1542305020988844
Tervalon, M., & Murray-Garcia, J. (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9(2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233
Testerman, J. (1997). Spirituality vs religion: Implications for healthcare. Institute for Christian Teaching.
Timmins, F., Caldeira, S., Murphy, M., Pujol, N., Sheaf, G., & Weathers, E. (2018). The role of the healthcare chaplain: A literature review. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 24, 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2017.1338048
Tyndall, L., Hodgson, J., Lamson, A., White, M., & Knight, S. (2014a). A review of medical family therapy: 30 years of history, growth, and research. In J. Hodgson, A. Lamson, T. Mendenhall, & D. Crane (Eds.), Medical family therapy: Advanced applications (pp. 13–32). Springer.
Tyndall, L., Hodgson, J., Lamson, A., White, M., & Knight, S. (2014b). Charting a course in competencies. In J. Hodgson, A. Lamson, T. Mendenhall, & D. Crane (Eds.), Medical family therapy: Advanced applications (pp. 33–53). Springer.
Underwood, L. G., & Teresi, J. A. (2002). The daily spiritual experience scale: Development, theoretical description, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health-related data. Annals of Family Medicine, 24, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_04
Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization. (2021). Hmong: Congress of world Hmong people. Author. https://unpo.org/members/7891
VandeCreek, L., & Burton, L. (2001). Professional chaplaincy: Its role and importance in healthcare. Journal of Pastoral Care, 55, 81–97.
VanderWeele, T. J. (2017). Religion and health: A synthesis. In M. J. Balboni & J. R. Peteet (Eds.), Spirituality and religion within the culture of medicine: From evidence to practice (pp. 357–401). Oxford University Press.
Vetere, A., & Sheehan, J. (2017). Supervision of family therapy and systemic practice. Springer.
Walsh, F. (Ed.). (1999). Spiritual resources in family therapy. Guilford Publications.
Walsh, F. (2010). Spiritual diversity: Multifaith perspectives in family therapy. Family Process, 49, 330–348. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01326.x
Wattis, J., Curran, S., & Rogers, M. (Eds.). (2017). Spiritually competent practice in health care. CRC Press.
Weaver, A., Flannelly, K., Flannelly, L., & Oppenheimer, J. (2003). Collaboration between clergy and mental health professionals: A review of professional health care journals from 1980 through 1999. Counseling and Values, 47, 162–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.2003.tb00263.x
Weaver, A., Koenig, H., & Larson, D. (2007). Marriage and family therapists and the clergy: A need for clinical collaboration, training, and research. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 23, 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1997.tb00228.x
Willerton, E., Dankoski, M. E., & Martir, J. F. S. (2008). Medical family therapy: A model for addressing mental health disparities among Latinos. Families, Systems, & Health, 26, 196–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/1091-7527.26.2.196
Williams, J. A., Meltzer, D., Arora, V., Chung, G., & Curlin, F. A. (2011). Attention to inpatients’ religious and spiritual concerns: Predictors and association with patient satisfaction. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26, 1265–1271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1781-y
Wilson, J., Hodgson, J., Jones, E., & Wilson, G. (2018). Medical family therapy in spiritual care. In T. Mendenhall, A. Lamson, J. Hodgson, & M. Baird (Eds.), Clinical methods in medical family therapy (pp. 463–496). Springer.
Wright, L. M., Watson, W. L., & Bell, J. M. (1996). Beliefs: The heart of healing in families and illness. Basic Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mendenhall, T.J., McIntosh, D. & Hottinger, D. Walking-the-Walk: Attending to the “Spiritual” in Medical Family Therapy’s Biopsychosocial/Spiritual Care. Contemp Fam Ther 44, 44–54 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-021-09619-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-021-09619-0