Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry

23 Conclusion: Summary of What Clinicians Need to KnowPHILIPPE HUGUELET AND HAROLD G. KOENIGIn editing this book, our desire was to provide clinicianswith knowledge about religion and mentalhealth that would be useful in the treatment ofpatients with psychiatric disorders. In addition,we thought that clinicians would also find usefulinformation on more theoretical issues such ashistory, neurobiology, and theology as they relateto psychiatry.1. OVERVIEWA growing scientific literature based on religionand psychiatry has allowed rapid progressin the integration of religion into psychiatry.Despite this progress, the integration of relevantreligious issues into clinical practice will likelymeet resistance for many years to come. There issome question, however, about whether conceptssuch as well-being, meaning, or even recoverybelong exclusively to the domain of conventionalpsychiatry. (1) In their description of the complexinteractions between religion and psychiatry,Palouzian and Park (2) define a multilevelinterdisciplinary paradigm, which, as mentionedin the introduction, should accommodate manydimensions of psychology and psychiatry, butalso other domains like evolutionary biology,neurosciences, anthropology, philosophy, andother allied areas of science. A thorough discussionof these conceptual issues is far beyond thescope of the present book. However, this complexityand multidisciplinarity may be viewedas richness, which is reflected in the diversity ofperspectives presented in this book.Thus, we hope that, despite a certain levelof subjectivity, the diversity of approachesexpressed here has at least exposed readers tothe multidisciplinary nature of this interactionbetween religion and mental health care. Inthe case of the treatments described, we do notendorse all approaches presented here. However,clinicians should know that these approachesexist so that they can refer patients for the appropriatetreatment when necessary or be able toanswer patients when they ask for advice aboutparticipating in such treatments.Of course, because we are psychiatrists, wehave put more emphasis on psychiatric issues(rather that anthropological, theological, or historicalones). This book has been written primarilyfor psychiatrists who want to know moreabout religion and how to integrate it into clinicalpractice. Other mental health professionalswho interact with psychiatrists and treat thosewith mental illness, such as psychologists, counselors,sociologists, chaplains, or other membersof the clergy, may also benefit from this book.We hope that it has been written in a way thatwill be useful to professionals from a variety ofbackgrounds. The goal is to help build bridgesbetween all of that it will enhance the care ofpatients, who are unique in their humanness,suffering, and worldview.With this in mind, let’s recall and highlight themain points that readers should take away fromeach of the chapters in this book.2. HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONSThe first part of the book aims to provide knowledgeabout history, theology, and neurobiology.The chapter on historical considerationsexamines the relationships between insanityand religion, medicine and theology, treatment354