Abstract
Theologians are not the only ones concerned with spiritual matters. To enhance their effectiveness as healers, doctors are now studying spirituality at American medical colleges. They are learning that suffering springs from causes physical, nervous and moral, and how stubbornly these intertwine.
So how do doctors go about healing their patients? To begin with, they must seek to understand each one empathetically, with an aim toward fellowship. This means to listen with attention and provide an atmosphere of spontaneity. Until the patient is understood empathetically, there can be no reciprocity of feeling. And without reciprocity of feeling, there can be no trust in which the patient can seek, unjudged, peace with his or her situation.
Responding verbally is also recommended. Doctors can offer pithy statements that guide the healing course. To empower themselves, an honest study must be made of their own lives: ‘How have life events and conditions influenced my beliefs and decisions? How ought I respond to pain, disappointment, and the needs of others?’ Having considered these questions, they are better equipped to mediate the interior struggle of the hurting. And physicians must read. Without examples to learn from, it's difficult to formulate the right words.
This pastoral approach to medicine, while helping patients to see the significance of their illness in holistic terms, benefits the doctor also. Often victims of routine, cut off from their relational/intuitive side, doctors may be offering only a fragment of their ability. When they provide the mediation necessary for the patient to break down resistances that block a more meaningful life, their vocation increases in value.
The following essay contains encouragement for succoring those who feel trapped in their illness, that they may find a measure of relief and escape.
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