Using Spiritual and Religious Interventions when treating trauma survivors as Spiritual Care Practitioners.

tid bit: Budhism is no longer a religion but a philosophy. I remember having this argument with a Budhist retired physician, before I got the memo at a lunch at Pelee Island. Now when I say argument it only means a discussion with opposing and sometimes non opposing views. Nothing like a mini holiday to get the blood juices going. Enough of tidbit. I attended an Annual Conference with CASC at North York Hospital and my highlight for the day was listening to a Chaplain, Shawn Lucas from CAMH providing a talk about Assessing Transcendent experiences vs. mental illness in Spiritual Care. In 1990 the APA issued guidelines directing their members on how to deal with religious clients. Research on the benefits of religion was conducted in the 80’s and 90’s and is still continuing. Researchers have found that participation in organized religions has many benefits. Religion can increase one’s sense of security. It can increase meaning and purpose in the world. One can live longer and have lower amount of stress and more resilience in marriages. Religious Delusions: usually long; negative; you have a special purpose which is okay. Most religions have a long discernment process for priests etc….. Receive less support from religious community. Transcendence - beyond the limits of -ordinary experiences. -initial experience (hallucinations) is very brief (few seconds to minutes). However it is important to allow that some experiences may be longer. But, at least we can say that experience is transient. Experience is usually very pleasurable and peaceful (not always). People want more of these experiences - usually helpful-life transforming as well as wanting to be a better person. It is often difficult to put into words. Some have some specific insight into themselves and the world. Three different types: cultivated - prayer or meditation. Substance - when hallucinogenic. 10% to 25% of the population have a Transcendence experience (Shade and Bental 1988).