E-Book Overview
From James L. Griffith, well known for his work on harnessing the healing potential of religion and spirituality, this book helps clinicians to intervene effectively in situations where religion is causing harm. Vivid examples illustrate how religious beliefs and practices may propel suicide, violence, self-neglect, or undue suffering in the face of medical or emotional challenges. Griffith also unravels the links between psychiatric illness and distorted religious experience. He demonstrates empathic, respectful ways to interview patients who disdain contact with mental health professionals, yet whose religious lives put themselves or others at risk. The book incorporates cutting-edge research on the psychology of religion and social neuroscience.
E-Book Content
Religion That Heals, Religion That Harms
Religion That Heals, Religion That H arms A Guide for Clinical Practice
James L. Griffith
The Guilford Press New York London
To Lynne, whose fierce love keeps me forever in the field of play To my late father, Lamont Griffith, who showed me that person-to-person relatedness is neither preceded by a “why?” nor followed by an “in order to” In memory of Tom Andersen, Michael White, and Harry Goolishian, whose lives and work created a radical humanism in which everything about a person in psychotherapy would be pushed back, so the person could be fully brought forward
© 2010 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Publisher. ISBN 978-1-60623-889-9
About the Author
James L. Griffith, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology and Associate Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC. He also is Director of the Psychiatry Residency Program and Director of the Psychiatric Consultation–Liaison Service in George Washington University Hospital. As an educator, Dr. Griffith has developed a program of psychiatric residency training that balances biological and psychosocial therapies in the treatment of patients within their family, community, and cultural contexts. His first book, The Body Speaks: Therapeutic Dialogues for Mind–Body Problems (1994), introduced familycentered approaches for treating psychosomatic disorders and psychosocial sequelae of chronic medical illnesses. A second book, Encountering the Sacred in Psychotherapy: How to Talk to People about Their Spiritual Lives (2002), presented a clinical approach for incorporating the spiritual and religious resources that patients bring to clinical settings. Currently, Dr. Griffith provides psychiatric treatment for immigrants, refugees, and survivors of political torture at Nothern Virginia Family Services in Falls Church, Virginia. From 2000 to 2004, he served as Director of Training for the Kosovar Family Professional Educational Collaborative, a project to develop a family-centered mental health system in Kosovo. Dr. Griffith has received the Human Rights Community Award from the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area and the Margaret B. and Cyril A. Schulman Distinguished Service Award from the George Washington University Medical Center, for both the training of mental health professionals and the development of mental health services in the Washington metropolit