Royal College of Psychiatrists on Spirituality

Helpful publications that spell out some of the connections between spirituality and mental health include the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ online booklet.  This contains a definition of spirituality as involving experiences of:

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• a deep-seated sense of meaning and purpose in life

• a sense of belonging

• a sense of connection of ‘the deeply personal with the universal’

• acceptance, integration and a sense of wholeness

 

It (re)minds us that people with mental health problems have asked for:

• meaningful activity

• to feel safe and secure

• to be treated with dignity and respect

• to feel that they belong, are valued and trusted

• time to express feelings to members of staff

• the chance to make sense of their life, including illness and loss

• permission / support to develop their relationship with God or the Absolute

 

And that through having spirituality in their lives, service users have gained:

• better self control, self esteem and confidence

• faster and easier recovery (often through healthy grieving of losses and through recognising their strengths)

• better relationships – with self, with others and with God / creation / nature

• a new sense of meaning, hope and peace of mind. This has allowed them to accept and live with their continuing problems

 

The full booklet can be downloaded from:

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/treatments/spirituality.aspx

 

Exploring spirituality with people who use mental health services

As individual practitioners we support a wide variety of different views on spirituality. This is reflected in the manner in which we as mental health professionals acknowledge (or ignore) this aspect in our patients’ narratives.

This module will help you to develop your awareness of patients’ spiritual health needs. We aim to provide an outline of the current thinking and literature on this topic and motivate you to incorporate this aspect of care into your practice.

 

Online CPD Module from the Royal College of Psychiatrists - free to guests, but you must register first.

http://www.psychiatrycpd.co.uk/learningmodules/exploringspiritualitywithpe.aspx

 

 

Recovery and Staying Well

Link to recovery / staying well pointers that we can all benefit from, can be found on Kent and Medway Trust website:

http://www.kmpt.nhs.uk/Recovery-self-help.htm

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