Spiritual, but not religious?

Reflections on the inclusion of the spiritual dimension in the treatment of non-religiously bound cancer patients

Abstract

The inclusion of the spiritual dimension in the treatment of chronic and serious illnesses is nowadays firmly anchored under the term “Spiritual Care” in the daily clinic routine of a holistic and interprofessionally oriented health care. One of the common approaches to structuring further training in the field of Spiritual Care is to reflect on the respective religion-specific characteristics that are important in the treatment of religiously bound patients of the different world religions. In addition, the present contribution takes a look at the growing group of Western individuals as a possible patient group who no longer feel at home in the traditional institutionalized forms of religiousness and instead turn to one of the manifold manifestations of a personally shaped, non-religiously bound spirituality. This article explores the question of what spiritual needs, struggles and crises such patients can experience and how we can assess and address them as accompanying health care professionals. The focus is on psychological-psychotherapeutic perspectives.