WPA Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry
Open accessAbstract
The WPA and the World Health Organization (WHO) have worked hard to assure that comprehensive mental health promotion and care are scientifically based and, at the same time, compassionate and culturally sensitive1, 2. In recent decades, there has been increasing public and academic awareness of the relevance of spirituality and religion to health issues. Systematic reviews of the academic literature have identified more than 3,000 empirical studies investigating the relationship between religion/spirituality (R/S) and health3, 4. In the field of mental disorders, it has been shown that R/S has significant implications for prevalence (especially depressive and substance use disorders), diagnosis (e.g., differentiation between spiritual experiences and mental disorders), treatment (e.g., help seeking behavior, compliance, mindfulness, complementary therapies), outcomes (e.g., recovering and suicide) and prevention, as well as for quality of life and wellbeing3, 4. The WHO has now included R/S as a dimension of quality of life5. Although there is evidence to show that R/S is usually associated with better health outcomes, it may also cause harm (e.g., treatment refusal, intolerance, negative religious coping). Surveys have shown that R/S values, beliefs and practices remain relevant to most of the world population and that patients would like to have their R/S concerns addressed in health care6-8. Psychiatrists need to take into account all factors impacting on mental health. Evidence shows that R/S should be included among these, irrespective of psychiatrists' spiritual, religious or philosophical orientation. However, few medical schools or specialist curricula provide any formal training for psychiatrists to learn about the evidence available, or how to properly address R/S in research and clinical practice7, 9. In order to fill this gap, the WPA and several national psychiatric associations (e.g., Brazil, India, South Africa, UK, and USA) have created sections on R/S. WPA has included "religion and spirituality" as a part of the "Core Training Curriculum for Psychiatry"10. Both terms, religion and spirituality, lack a universally agreed definition. Definitions of spirituality usually refer to a dimension of human experience related to the transcendent, the sacred, or to ultimate reality. Spirituality is closely related to values, meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality may develop individually or in communities and traditions. Religion is often seen as the institutional aspect of spirituality, usually defined more in terms of systems of beliefs and practices related to the sacred or divine, as held by a community or social group3, 8. Alexander Moreira-Almeida1,2, Avdesh Sharma1,3, Bernard Janse van Rensburg1,4, Peter J. Verhagen1,5, Christopher C.H. Cook1,6 1WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry; 2Research Center in Spirituality and Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil; 3'Parivartan' Center for Mental Health, New Delhi, India; 4Department of Psychiatry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 5GGZ Centraal, Harderwijk, the Netherlands; 6Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, Durham, UK This document was proposed by the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry and approved by the WPA Executive Committee in September 2015. The authors thank all who contributed during the process of developing this position statement, and especially D. Bhugra, R. Cloninger, J. Cox, V. DeMarinis, J.J. Lopez-Ibor (in memoriam), D. Moussaoui, N. Nagy, A. Powell, and H.M. van Praag. This position statement has drawn on some of the text of recommendations already published in the Royal College of Psychiatrists position statement11.
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The World Psychiatric Association published a Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry that recommended integrating R/S into mental health research, training, and clinical practice.
“The World Psychiatric Association published a Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry that recommended integrating R/S into mental health research, training, and clinical practice.20”
The WPA has published a Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry acknowledging the importance of considering the spiritual dimension in psychiatric training, research, and clinical practice.
“The WPA has recently published its ‘Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry’ which acknowledges the importance of considering the spiritual dimension in psychiatric training, research and clinical practice.5–8”
From A preliminary survey on the religious profile of Brazilian psychiatrists and their approach to patients' religiosity in clinical practice (2016) · cites this paper as [8]
Medical organisations including the WPA, RCPsych, APA, and ABP have created specific committees to handle matters related to the inclusion of religion/spirituality in clinical practice, medical training, and continuing education.
“Based on these growing number of studies supporting the relevance of religion/spirituality, medical organisations, among them the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and more recently the Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (Brazilian Association of Psychiatry – ABP), have created specific committees to hand”
From A preliminary survey on the religious profile of Brazilian psychiatrists and their approach to patients' religiosity in clinical practice (2016) · cites this paper as [8]
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“20 Despite the available evidence and recommendations, there are few evidence-based guidelines on how to incorporate R/S into mental health care.”
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Towards a multidisciplinary guideline religiousness, spirituality, and psychiatry: what do we need?
Braam, A. W. (2017) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1377949 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“The contents of a possible multidisciplinary guideline on R/S and psychiatry are derived from several sources: brainstorm sessions with key participants in the field of R/S and psychiatry, the position statements on R/S and psychiatry of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK (Cook, 2013) the proposal for a cons…”
BackgroundFellinger, M., Holzinger, D., Fogler, J., & Fellinger, J. (2023) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-023-02451-x · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Frøkedal, H., Stifoss-Hanssen, H., Ruud, T., Demarinis, V., & Gonzalez, M. T. (2017) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1400528 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“63, 1997–1998), and the World Psychiatric Association position (Moreira-Almeida et al., 2016; Verhagen, 2017).”
BackgroundDr. A.M. - A Case of a Modern Mystic? Implications for Psychology and Medicine
Facco, E., Lucangeli, D., & Tressoldi, P. E. (2018) · Spirituality in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1037/scp0000171 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Religion, Spirituality, and Ethics in Psychiatric Practice
Dike, C. C., Briz, L., Fadus, M., Martinez, R., May, C., Milone, R., Nesbit-Bartsch, A., Powell, T., Witmer, A. M., & Brendel, R. W. (2022) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0000000000001505 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Mental Health Stigma Among Black Immigrant Women in An Urban Setting.
Pederson, A. B., Earnshaw, V. A., Clark, C. T., Zumpf, K. B., & Burnett‐Zeigler, I. (2021) · PubMed · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Siau, C. S., Wee, L.-H., Wahab, S. B., Visvalingam, U., Yeoh, S. H., Halim, N. A. A., & Ibrahim, N. (2021) · Journal of research in nursing · doi:10.1177/17449871211008520 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“…care into medical practice, taking into account the suicidal patient’s religion/spirituality in assessment, treatment, and referral, and establishing appropriate ethical boundaries (Cook, 2014; Gearing and Alonzo, 2018; Moreira-Almeida et al., 2016; Oxhandler and Pargament, 2014).”
BackgroundMethodTrofa, G. C., Germani, A. C. C. G., de Oliveira, J. A. C., & Eluf‐Neto, J. (2021) · Physis Revista de Saúde Coletiva · doi:10.1590/s0103-73312021310409 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Cancer-Induced Bone Pain Management Through Buddhist Beliefs
Cheng, F. K. (2017) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-017-0401-5 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Nardini-Bubols, M., da Silva, D. S., dos Santos-Silva, A., Stagnaro, O. K., Irigaray, T. Q., & Alminhana, L. O. (2019) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-019-00855-1 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Πολεμικού, Ά., Zartaloudi, E., & Polemikos, N. E. (2019) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2019.1692195 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“It may develop individually or in communities and traditions” (Moreira-Almeida et al., 2016, p. 87).”
BackgroundVanderpot, L. E., Swinton, J., & Bedford, H. (2017) · Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/19349637.2017.1297692 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
ReligiositySpirituality (RS) in the Clinical Context: Professional Experiences of Psychotherapists
da Cunha, V. F., & Scorsolini‐Comin, F. (2019) · Temas em Psicologia · doi:10.9788/tp2019.2-10 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Spiritualität – Wert der Beziehung
Utsch, M. (2016) · Der Nervenarzt · doi:10.1007/s00115-016-0228-4 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Sandilands, O., & Ingram, D. M. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1340335 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
WPA Scientific Sections: update on the activities
Javed, A. (2016) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20317 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Amerongen-Meeuse, J. C. V. N., Schaap‐Jonker, H., Westerbroek, G., & Braam, A. W. (2022) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel13100965 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Assessment of clinical co-morbidities
Basu, D., Basu, A., & Ghosh, A. (2018) · Indian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_13_18 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Spiritual, Religious, and Faith-Based Practices in Chronicity
Hatala, A. R., & Roger, K. S. (2021) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003043508 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Religiosidade/Espiritualidade na Prática em Enfermagem: Revisão Integrativa
da Cunha, V. F., de Almeida, A. A., Pillon, S. C., Fontaine, A. M., & Scorsolini‐Comin, F. (2022) · Revista Psicologia e Saúde · doi:10.20435/pssa.v14i2.1287 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Frøkedal, H., Sørensen, T., Ruud, T., DeMarinis, V., & Stifoss‐Hanssen, H. (2019) · Archive for the Psychology of Religion · doi:10.1177/0084672419883345 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Recommendations for addressing these needs have been included in mental health policy statements (Moreira-Almeida et al., 2016; Verhagen, 2017).”
BackgroundReligiosity and spirituality in coping with suicide grief: A review
de Almeida, V. A. S., Shintani, A. O., Paulino, P. R. V., Passos, I. C., & Moreira‐Almeida, A. (2025) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/00207640251345508 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationMental illness, mental health, and mental well-being
VanderWeele, T. J., Johnson, B. R., Bradshaw, M., Goodman, D., Kubzansky, L. D., Lomas, T., Moreira‐Almeida, A., Okafor, C. N., Ouyang, S. T., & Patel, V. (2026) · npj Mental Health Research · doi:10.1038/s44184-026-00193-7 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationNews from WPA Scientific Sections
Javed, A. (2014) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20135 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Espiritualidade e religiosidade: desafios e possibilidades para prática médica
Vieira, A. A., Maciel, P. H., Gomes, R. O. D. N., & Mendonça, A. V. P. D. M. (2023) · Research Society and Development · doi:10.33448/rsd-v12i5.41396 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
WPA Secretariat: playing a dynamic role
Kallivayalil, R. A. (2017) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20468 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Curiosity and Creative Experimentation Among Psychiatrists in India
Lang, C., & Halliburton, M. (2023) · Culture Medicine and Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s11013-023-09829-1 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“…the position of the World Psychiatric Association which aims to integrate religion and spirituality into psychiatric training and clinical practice (Moreira-Almeida et al., 2016), although the three psychiatrists we have described focus more on indigenous philosophies and healing approaches than…”
BackgroundHow do relatives cope with eating disorders? Results from an Italian multicentre study
Fiorillo, A., Sampogna, G., Luciano, M., Vecchio, V. D., Volpe, U., Monteleone, A. M., Bruni, A., Segura‐Garcìa, C., Catapano, F., Monteleone, P., et al. (2016) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.22632 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“People who use spiritual coping are less likely to engage in emotion-focused coping reactions,(18) confirming the important role of religiosity and spirituality in coping with severe mental disorders.(19)”
BackgroundSpiritist “Passe” (Spiritual Healing) as a Health Care Practice: Scope Review
da Cunha, C. R. O. B. J., da Cunha, V. F., & Scorsolini‐Comin, F. (2023) · International Journal of Latin American Religions · doi:10.1007/s41603-023-00206-9 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“In view of this, important bodies such as the World Psychiatric Organization have worked so that this knowledge is widely disseminated, valued, and respected as part of the health condition of people (Moreira-Almeida et al. 2016).”
Spiritualität in der psychiatrischen Pflege – Begriffsanalyse und Vorschlag einer Arbeitsdefinition
Grabenweger, R., & Paal, P. (2020) · Spiritual Care · doi:10.1515/spircare-2019-0131 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
On the existential core of professionalism in mental health care
Glas, G. G. (2017) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1380122 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Commentary: On the need for metaphysics in psychedelic therapy and research
Cheung, K., & Yaden, D. B. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1341566 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Bringmann, H. C., Berghöfer, A., Jeitler, M., Michalsen, A., Brunnhuber, S., & Haller, H. (2023) · Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.1089/jicm.2023.0179 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“9 Recent highest quality evidence and expert review also underline the spiritual needs of patients in serious illness and the benefits of spirituality in an array of mental (and physical) health outcomes.”
Freund, H., Böhringer, S., Utsch, M., & Hauth, I. (2018) · Der Nervenarzt · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Moreira‐Almeida, A., & Hood, R. W. (2023) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-023-01896-3 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationSchoot, M., Bartels‐Velthuis, A. A., Recchia, D. R., Frick, E., Büssing, A., & Hoenders, R. H. J. (2024) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel15040496 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Moreira‐Almeida, A., Sharma, A., van Rensburg, B. J., Verhagen, P. J., & Cook, C. C. H.
- Affiliations
- Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (BR)
- Wisconsin Parkinson Association (US)
- WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry
- GGz centraal (NL)
- Durham University (GB)
- Venue
- World Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 87-88
- ISSN
- 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
- 2051-5545
- PMC
- PMC4780301
- OpenAlex
- W2264092943
- Cited by
- 291
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 6 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 29.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Demography › Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- religion and spirituality, psychiatry, mental health
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