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Entry to our MA/MSc programmes 2013-2014 in Spirituality, Theology & Health is still possible for the academic year 2013-2014. These programmes provide a unique opportunity for inter-disciplinary and inter-professional study in this field. They form a good basis both for theological reflection on professional practice and also an introduction to research methods for those who are thinking of working towards a PhD or DThM. They can be pursued part-time or full-time.
To quote one of our MSc students:
“Every trip to St John’s College, Durham is eagerly undertaken; not just because Durham is such a fantastic city with a fascinating history and heritage, but because the teaching on the course is to such a high standard, with immensely knowledgeable lecturers who are obviously keen to impart that knowledge and to engage in meaningful debates with the students.”
Applications and enquiries from prospective students are always welcomed. For further information, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions Secretary in the Department of Theology and Religion, Mrs Susan Tait (e-mail: susan.tait@durham.ac.uk).
Alternatively, you can contact one of the members of Academic Staff to discuss potential thesis topics.
To find out more please click on the Courses tab above, download the Spirituality, Theology & Health MA – MSc Flyer, and visit the Department of Theology & Religion website:
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Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Editor: Christopher Cook
ISBN-13: 9780334046264
ISBN-10: 0334046262
Publisher: SCM Press
Format: Paperback
RRP: £45.00
Publish date: 31/05/2013 (the book is not published yet, but it’s available for pre-order)
Flyer: You can view the book’s flyer by clicking here
A few words about the book:
In 2010 a Durham conference on Spirituality, Theology & Mental Health was made possible by support from the Guild of Health. The conference was attended by more than one hundred delegates, from a variety of different professional and academic backgrounds including those working in university departments of theology, anthropology and philosophy, as well as chaplains, clergy and healthcare professionals. The present publication comprises a series of chapters by authors, all of whom presented papers at the conference. It is thus informed by the debate that took place at the conference, but it is more than simply a set of conference proceedings. The aim has been to create a book with multi-disciplinary and multi-professional contributions which show the relevance of theology to healthcare today, and which will provide a resource for postgraduate teaching, research and professional practice.
This book provides reflections from leading international scholars and practitioners in theology, anthropology, philosophy and psychiatry as to the nature of spirituality and its relevance to constructions of mental disorder and mental healthcare. Key issues are explored in depth, including the nature of spirituality and recent debates concerning its importance in contemporary psychiatric practice, relationship between demons and wellbeing in ancient religious texts and contemporary practice, religious conversion, and the nature and importance of myth and theology in shaping human self understanding. These are used as a basis for exploring some of the overarching intellectual and practical issues that arise when different disciplines engage together with an attempt to better understand the relationship between spirituality and mental health and translate their findings into mental healthcare practice.
Are you still unsure why buy this book?
Here are two Commendations by Professors Harold G. Koenig and Sheila the Baroness Hollins…
Professors Harold G. Koenig:
“Scientists and clinicians will find in this book contributions from theology, philosophy and pastoral practice that will give them new insights into the importance of spirituality in mental healthcare. Theological and inter-disciplinary perspectives offered here help all of us to see things differently. This book is commended to all mental health professionals, chaplains and pastoral carers, and academics wanting a broader perspective on spirituality and mental health.”
Professor Sheila the Baroness Hollins:
“Theology and Mental health will be essential reading for clergy, health professionals and academics from different disciplines who are learning, talking and working together in the hope of better addressing the place of spirituality in mental health care. It’s a fascinating book that’s integrative of spiritual and theological perspectives with clinical and pastoral care, importantly introducing theology into a debate that has largely ignored a contribution from this discipline. Many of the writers explore the boundaries that sometimes separate different domains of expertise and differing values and assumptions in diverse settings.”
Consequently, wait no more and pre-order the book here:
http://www.scmpress.co.uk/books/9780334046264/Theology-Spirituality-and-Mental-Health
GOOD PRACTICE IN SPIRITUALITY CONFERENCE
Wednesday 10th – Friday 12th July 2013, Durham
The Durham University, the Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health and the Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust would like to welcome you to the Good Practice in Spirituality Conference. This conference is an opportunity to bring together people for whom spirituality is a major concern, with a selection of speakers, interactive sessions and opportunities to share good practice. It is designed to provide a forum for sharing good practice and an opportunity to network with others who are concerned with the importance of spirituality in mental health care.
Guest speakers include:
CALL FOR PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS:
Professionals throughout the country address spiritual needs and use spiritual practices to help people with mental ill health. If you have a paper, a workshop or an idea you’d like to share we would welcome abstracts of no more than 200 words. Please forward your abstracts to Paul Walker at paul.walker8@nhs.net by 30 April 2013.
BOOKINGS:
To book a place on this conference please visit:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/conference.booking/details/?id=188
MORE INFORMATION AND ENQUIRIES:
For more information about this event please contact Mrs Louise Elliott
at louise.elliott@durham.ac.uk.
iCALENDAR:
Download this event in iCalendar format.
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SEMINAR PROGRAMME - Easter Term 2013
These seminars are open to all staff and students of Durham University and to the general public. However, please be aware that they are aimed at a postgraduate level and are therefore especially suitable for MA, PhD and DThM students, as well as for others engaged in postgraduate study in relevant areas of enquiry.
If you would like to attend any of these seminars, please send an e-mail to Charidimos Koutris (charidimos.koutris@durham.ac.uk) in order to ensure that a place is reserved for you.
Wednesday 15 May 2013 (4.30-6pm)
Is Life Worth Living? William James, Psychology and the Religious Imagination
Seminar Room C, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham
by Jeremy R. Carrette, Professor, Religion and Culture, Head, Department of Religious Studies, School of European Culture and Languages, University of Kent, UK
Thursday 13 June 2013 (4.30-6pm)
Title TBA
Seminar Room C, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham
by Mrs Julia Head, Specialist Chaplain, SLaM
Thursday 20 June 2013 (4.30-6pm)
Ritual, Pastoral Presence and Character Virtues in Healthcare Chaplaincy
Seminar Room C, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham
by Revd Mark Newitt, Hospital Chaplaincy Support to Bereaved Parents in the Department of Theology and Religion
Wednesday 26 June 2013 (4.30-6pm)
Religious Commitment and Marital Status are Robust Predictors of Health Risk Behaviors
Seminar Room B, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham
by Andrea “Andi” D. Clements, Ph.D. Professor and Acting Chair, Department of Psychology in the East Tennessee State University
FAITH IN HEALTH AND HEALING CONFERENCE: Integrating the church with health services
24/25 April 2013, Birmingham
The conference is hosted by the Anglican Health Network and Parish Nursing Ministries UK in association with Burrswood Hospital, Acorn Christian Healing Foundation, St. Marylebone Healing and Counselling Centre, Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health at the University of Durham, Holy Rood House, Wholecare, USPG, Mind and Soul. Sponsorship has been provided by the Guild of Health.
Please visit the new conference portal to book your tickets and learn more.
Christians promote a comprehensive experience of health and healing. In this they follow Christ, who spent much of his time amidst the people curing diseases, bringing reconciliation and subverting the powers of oppression. Throughout the following 2000 years, the Church established and maintained hospices and hospitals to offer compassionate care to the sick. Yet this comprehensive ministry is now more detached from the medical establishment. Faith has settled into the private sphere and no longer seems present nor believed to be helpful in the places in which the sick are cared for.
However, there are signs now that faith and health are being reunited. For example:
- Christian healing agencies have pioneered ‘whole-person’ approaches to health care.
- GP practices offer spiritual support from their surgeries.
- Churches nurses work with churches to strengthen the interaction between pastoral care and health services.
- Churches work with NHS primary care organisations to offer innovative services to educate and support people in attaining a better level of health.
- Hospital chaplains come alongside patients and staff with prayer, reassurance and spiritual support.
The conference will reflect on these emerging trends and ask fresh questions about the role of the church in clinical care, public health and social care. This invigoration of faith and health will prompt church and society to seek new paths together to bring health and healing to individuals in communities throughout the country. The Conference will enable participants to discover practical ways forward.
For more information, the conference introductory booklet, the themes to be examined and the postal and e-mail registration forms, please visit:
http://www.anglicanhealth.org/ConferenceHome.aspx
Finally, to download the conference brochure, please click here:
http://www.anglicanhealth.org/Resources/PDF/Conference_tri-fold_R5.pdf
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This seminar will take place on Thursday 14th March 2013, 3.30-5pm in the Dun Cow Cottage Seminar Room (Dun Cow Lane, off Palace Green, Durham).
Rev. Paul Walker, Leader of the Chaplaincy Team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
ABSTRACT:
The Seminar will consider certain practical interventions relating to the staff Health and Wellbeing Strategy in the Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS foundation Trust. For example staff have, for the last five years, been invited to attend ‘non –religious retreats’. So far 240 members of staff have attended. These retreats have used traditional religious and spiritual practices devoid of any doctrinal content. Mindfulness drawn from the Buddhist tradition has been used as well as the Jesuit practice of ‘the examen’ and various Christian meditation techniques. The notion of God has been stripped from these practices. The effect has been to reduce sickness absence figures for those attending to such an extent that the retreats more than pay for themselves. As a result more events such as preparing for retirement and bespoke staff away days have used similar practices with similar results.
The seminar will hypothesise that perhaps the real value of religion for its practitioners is not so much what it invites them to believe but rather what it encourages them to do.
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BIOGRAPHY:
Paul was born in York. He studied Politics at Durham University and Theology at Southampton University – so anybody living by the maxim that you should never talk about politics or religion should avoid him.
When he was a Vicar in Sunderland, Paul was voted Times Preacher of the Year in 1997. Paul has written for several journals and newspapers on various topics and has published one book: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for: God for agnostics (O Books 2007)
Since 2004, Paul has jointly led the Chaplaincy team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. Paul works clinically visiting hospital wards and patients at home. At least once a day somebody says to him ‘More tea Vicar?’
Further to that Paul began an initiative of leading non-religious retreats in his Trust which have so reduced sickness absence rates that they more than pay for themselves and have been expanded. Paul leads pre-retirement courses, staff engagement courses, team away days. He trains investigators into untoward incidents how to show emotional intelligence when leading investigations. He recently spoke on Compassion at the Trust’s Nursing Conference, and on mental health Chaplaincy at a conference organised by the Muslim Council of Britain for Muslim Health Care Chaplains.
Paul is married to Christine (an RMN) and has six children.
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This seminar took place on Thursday 14th March 2013, 3.30-5pm in the Dun Cow Cottage Seminar Room (Dun Cow Lane, off Palace Green, Durham).
Rev. Paul Walker, Leader of the Chaplaincy Team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
ABSTRACT:
The Seminar will consider certain practical interventions relating to the staff Health and Wellbeing Strategy in the Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS foundation Trust. For example staff have, for the last five years, been invited to attend ‘non –religious retreats’. So far 240 members of staff have attended. These retreats have used traditional religious and spiritual practices devoid of any doctrinal content. Mindfulness drawn from the Buddhist tradition has been used as well as the Jesuit practice of ‘the examen’ and various Christian meditation techniques. The notion of God has been stripped from these practices. The effect has been to reduce sickness absence figures for those attending to such an extent that the retreats more than pay for themselves. As a result more events such as preparing for retirement and bespoke staff away days have used similar practices with similar results.
The seminar will hypothesise that perhaps the real value of religion for its practitioners is not so much what it invites them to believe but rather what it encourages them to do.
—
BIOGRAPHY:
Paul was born in York. He studied Politics at Durham University and Theology at Southampton University – so anybody living by the maxim that you should never talk about politics or religion should avoid him.
When he was a Vicar in Sunderland, Paul was voted Times Preacher of the Year in 1997. Paul has written for several journals and newspapers on various topics and has published one book: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for: God for agnostics (O Books 2007)
Since 2004, Paul has jointly led the Chaplaincy team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. Paul works clinically visiting hospital wards and patients at home. At least once a day somebody says to him ‘More tea Vicar?’
Further to that Paul began an initiative of leading non-religious retreats in his Trust which have so reduced sickness absence rates that they more than pay for themselves and have been expanded. Paul leads pre-retirement courses, staff engagement courses, team away days. He trains investigators into untoward incidents how to show emotional intelligence when leading investigations. He recently spoke on Compassion at the Trust’s Nursing Conference, and on mental health Chaplaincy at a conference organised by the Muslim Council of Britain for Muslim Health Care Chaplains.
Paul is married to Christine (an RMN) and has six children.
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These seminars are open to all staff and students of Durham University and to the general public. However, please be aware that they are aimed at a postgraduate level and are therefore especially suitable for MA, PhD and DThM students, as well as for others engaged in postgraduate study in relevant areas of enquiry.
If you would like to attend any of these seminars, please send an e-mail to Joanne McKenzie (j.m.mckenzie@durham.ac.uk) in order to ensure that a place is reserved for you.
8 February 2013
Exploring the Relationship between Depth Psychology and the Christian Contemplative
Seminar B, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham. 4.30-6pm.
Julienne McLean, St Mary’s University College, London.
22 February 2013
Struggling with God: Silence and Suffering in Theological and Spiritual Perspective
Seminar C, Abbey House, Department of Theology and Religion, Palace Green, Durham. 4.30-6pm.
Dr Simon Podmore, Liverpool Hope University.
14 March 2013
Taking God Out of Prayer
Dun Cow Cottage Seminar Room, Dun Cow Lane, off Palace Green, Durham. 3.30-5pm.
Rev. Paul Walker, Leader of the Chaplaincy Team at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.
click here: PAST SEMINARS
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Our new MA/MSc programmes in Spirituality, Theology & Health will commence in Michaelmas 2012. These programmes provide a unique opportunity for inter-disciplinary and inter-professional study in this field. They form a good basis both for theological reflection on professional practice and also an introduction to research methods for those who are thinking of working towards a PhD or DThM. To find out more please click on the Courses tab above and also see further information on the Department of Theology & Religion website.
13-16 September 2010 — Durham, England
Spirituality, Theology & Mental Health: Myth, Authority & Healing Power will begin an ongoing dialogue between theology, anthropology, psychiatry and philosophy, and will be of interest to academics and practitioners (including religious ministers and counsellors) in these areas. It will address issues such as the importance of religion and spirituality in psychiatric treatment of mental illness and the necessity of treating the whole person, and form an ongoing mutually critical engagement between theology and psychiatry. These and related issues will be explored both through academic papers and also through praxis-based workshops such as meditation workshops.
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