Spirituality and Spiritual Healing

This section of the Holistic Webworks website is dedicated to spirituality and spiritual healing.  We begin by defining these concepts that seem to be so much a part of the holistic approach to health and healing.

Consider first, spirituality. Spirituality and religion are intertwined and difficult to separate.  But, for many researchers, spirituality can be viewed as the personal, subjective part of religious beliefs and experience.  Most people experience spirituality within the context of an organized religion.  However, because it is so subjective and so personal, spirituality does not have to be experienced within a traditional religion.  A person can experience spirituality whether or not that person participates in an organized religion or engages in traditional religious practices.

Overall, religious involvement and spirituality are positively related to a variety of measures of health and mortality.  Greater levels of religious involvement and spirituality predict better mental and physical health.  For example, people who feel closer to God, tend to have less depression, better self-esteem, and tend to cope better with stress.

Consider next, spiritual healing.  Spiritual healing is often called natural healing or faith healing.  It is something that has been practiced for centuries in cultures throughout the world. One of the very best reviews of both reports of spiritual healing and formal research on spiritual healing is a book by Daniel J. Benor, MD:  Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of A Healing Revolution (Healing Research, Volume 1) .

In his book, Dr. Benor defines spiritual healing as a "systematic, purposeful intervention by one or more persons aiming to help another living being… by means of focused intention, hand contact, or passes to improve their condition."  This means that spiritual healing involves prayer or meditation (focused intention) or some form of laying-on of hands.

In his careful review of spiritual healing, Benor finds that individuals who conduct spiritual interventions draw on forces that are not typically associated with modern medical practices. Depending on the situation, as well as the beliefs of the healer and the person healed, healing may be ascribed to God, spirits, or some other higher power.  Alternatively, the intervention and healing may be attributed to unseen, universal energies.  Reiki and Therapeutic Touch are examples of healing modalities that make use of universal energies.

There are many anecdotal stories about sudden, miraculous spiritual healings.  However, most often, improvements in disorders treated with spiritual healing tend to be gradual rather than sudden.  Spiritual healing brings about a more positive outlook on life along with a reduction in suffering. 

The positive effects of religious involvement and spirituality on health are clear.  But, why this is the case is unknown.  Most researchers would agree that there are psychological factors are at work.  Yet, there must be something else involved.  Psychological factors are unable to explain fully the many positive correlations between spirituality and health.  That "something else" may be the force that spiritual healing taps into.  Certainly, it seems that some individuals are able connect with what we call the divine, the sacred, or the spiritual to influence healing for themselves or others.