Spirituality

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Spirituality — Evidence & Practitioners | Gyfts

Background

Origin & History

Spiritual practices and belief systems have existed across cultures for millennia, shaping community life, rituals, ethics, and approaches to coping with adversity.

The practice

How It Works

Spirituality operates through personal exploration of meaning, values, and connection—whether through established religious traditions, secular contemplative practices, or individual belief systems. Engagement typically involves practices such as meditation, prayer, ritual, study of sacred texts, community participation, or time in nature, each serving to deepen awareness and foster a sense of purpose or transcendence. These practices may influence psychological wellbeing by providing frameworks for understanding suffering, cultivating compassion, and establishing a sense of belonging within a larger whole.

What to Expect in a Session

A spirituality-focused session may involve reflective discussion, values clarification, contemplative practices (e.g., meditation or prayer when appropriate), and goal-setting to support meaning-making and coping. In healthcare contexts, spiritual care is typically integrated alongside standard medical care.

Evidence Assessment

Research links spirituality/religious involvement with various health-related outcomes and coping measures; intervention studies in clinical settings show mixed-to-moderate effects depending on approach, population, and outcome measured.

Evidence varies by condition and individual response. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.

References

1.Koenig, H. G. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and health: The research and clinical implications. ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, 278730. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/278730
2.GonÃ§alves, J. P. B., Lucchetti, G., Menezes, P. R., & Vallada, H. (2015). Religious and spiritual interventions in mental health care: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. Psychological Medicine, 45(14), 2937–2949. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715001166
3.Puchalski, C., Ferrell, B., Virani, R., Otis-Green, S., Baird, P., Bull, J., Chochinov, H., Handzo, G., Nelson-Becker, H., Prince-Paul, M., Pugliese, K., & Sulmasy, D. (2009). Improving the quality of spiritual care as a dimension of palliative care: The report of the Consensus Conference. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 12(10), 885–904. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2009.0142

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Is spirituality the same as religion?

Not always. Spirituality can be religious or non-religious and often focuses on meaning, purpose, and connection.

Can spiritual care be part of healthcare?

Yes. Many palliative care frameworks include spiritual care as one dimension of whole-person support, alongside medical care.

Does spirituality replace therapy or medicine?

No. It can be complementary, but it should not replace evidence-based treatment when needed.

How does spirituality relate to mental and physical health?

A substantial body of research documents the relationship between spiritual practice and health outcomes. Regular spiritual engagement is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety, greater resilience following adversity, better recovery from serious illness, lower substance use, and improved quality of life in chronic disease. The mechanisms are not fully established but likely include the social support of spiritual community, the meaning-making function of spiritual frameworks, the stress-reducing effects of prayer and meditation, and a sense of coherence and purpose. Harold Koenig's Handbook of Religion and Health (Oxford, 2012) provides the most comprehensive review of this literature.

Can spirituality be explored without belonging to a religion?

Yes — and this is increasingly how many people in contemporary Western contexts approach it. Secular spirituality refers to the pursuit of meaning, transcendence, connection, and inner depth outside of formal religious structures. Mindfulness practice, nature connection, creative expression, depth psychology, and contemplative inquiry are all pathways into spiritual experience that do not require religious affiliation. Many holistic practitioners work in this secular spiritual space — supporting clients in developing a relationship with their inner life, sense of meaning, and connection to something larger than the personal self, within whatever framework is authentic to them.

Ask Vidi about Spirituality

Origin & History

How It Works

How It Works

What to Expect in a Session

References

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Is This For?

Best for

Not ideal for

Commonly used for

Bereavement

Dysthymic disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder

Adjustment disorder

Burnout

Social anxiety disorder

Symptoms practitioners commonly work with