Rita Watson: Exploring the links between spiritual and mental health
Published on 13 January 2014
e marriage between medicine and spirituality is centuries old. Prayer and healing were entwined in the Temple of Asclepius, built in the fourth century for those seeking to improve their health and well-being. While new studies are being conducted today to assess brain-wave activity and prayer, Dr. Patricia Ryan Recupero, president and chief executive of ButlerHospital, said it simply, “Spirituality is an important aspect of patient care.”
Just sitting in the chapel at ButlerHospital in Providence, once senses the healing power. When light shines through the golden stained-glass window, it is almost transformative.
While today the marriage of spirituality and medicine encompasses a wide variety of nontraditional healing approaches, Recupero explained what medicine and spirituality mean for patients.
Recupero, a lawyer and professor of psychiatry at BrownUniversity’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine, said, “Recognizing that our patients have multiple aspects to their lives beyond their illness is an important part of providing patient-centered care. The spiritual aspect of a person’s life is one of those important aspects.
“Patients may be very spiritually connected in their daily lives or they may be alienated, but still spiritually yearning. Or, they may not believe in the spiritual aspect of life. For the caregiver, connecting with what is important to the patient is paramount,” she said.
Aware of the sometimes-dubious history between mental illness and spirituality, Recupero pointed out, “In psychiatry, we have had a checkered history with spirituality growing out of concerns about some of the delusions or hallucinations our patients may suffer; many of these experiences are theologically oriented.
“However, beginning with substance-abuse treatment, where spirituality was recognized as relevant and important, spirituality is now one of the most valued interventions among the patients and the staff.”
Recupero has long worked with patients who were dually diagnosed, that is, those with addictions as well as mental illness. In 2009, the AmericanAcademy of Psychiatry and the Law, after electing her as its president, noted that, as head of Butler, she pursued a patients’ rights case before the Rhode Island Supreme Court. This case resulted “in a decision that protects juveniles from arbitrary psychiatric hospitalization.”
In her respect for patient rights, she is an advocate for patient needs. In terms of medicine and spirituality, she said: “Our spirituality groups are very important to the patients and, while not curative, are certainly relevant to their recovery. We define spirituality broadly so as to be non-denominational. We offer this to groups; it is not required. Nonetheless, when the chaplain is on vacation, the patients often notice the void.”
How does Recupero see spirituality and its role in her work at Butler?
“I see myself as in an ongoing process of spiritual development. I believe that each of us who perceive a spiritual dimension to our lives must continually work to nurture ourselves along the path of spiritual growth.
“For me as a Roman Catholic, the Jesuit tradition has been an important component. Father William Barry, S.J., has published on friendship with God and that has been a path that resonates with me. Being able to try to see God in all things and all people is a process growing out of that tradition.”
She added, “For many of our patients here at Butler, the world has been slow to validate their worth; for some, self-validation has not blossomed. I try to see that worth in each of them and to convey to the world the human value in all the people whom I get to work with.”
With its ongoing commitment to medicine and spirituality education, Butler will be hosting the 19th Annual Irving M. Rosen, M.D., Memorial Program on Spirituality and Health on March 31. The focus is self-compassion.
This annual professional lecture is named for the late Dr. Irving M. Rosen, founder and chief of the religion and psychiatry program at Butler and a professor of psychiatry at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine. This year’s presenter is Dr. Christopher K. Germer, a clinical instructor in psychology at HarvardMedicalSchool.
The lecture is open to the public. For information, contact Michael Beirne at (401) 455-6265.
Rita Watson, who has a master of public health degree, is a columnist for the Thriveand All About You sections of The Journal. She is the author of “A Serenity Journal:Fifty-Two Weeks of Prayer and Gratitude.”