Honoring the "spiritual" in biopsychosocial-spiritual health care: Medical family therapists on the front lines of graduate education, clinical practice, and research

Abstract

Sally quickly fired off her questions, all of which came unsolicited: "How can a loving God do such a thing? What purpose does life have anyway? Why am I here? Who am I? My life doesn't matter! Why shouldn't I just end it all?" Dr. Jones, the attending resident, continued his assessment, asking Sally about pain in her abdomen. It was easy to see that she was annoyed as she stared back at Dr. Jones, silent at first, and then replied, "You're not listening, are you? You are all fakes, you and all of my Bible-thumping friends." She gathered her purse and walked out of the exam room. Across town, David, a provisionally licensed clinician was meeting Bruce, a patient who had just told his biomedical healthcare provider that he was feeling hopeless. David began to assess the situation and quickly learned that Bruce's wife of 57 years had died six weeks earlier. According to Bruce's self-report, he and his wife had spent all of their time together. Now alone, the widower was struggling with his grief. In spite of his emotional pain, Bruce assured David, "I know that God has a plan. I just miss my Sarah.