Last December, the department of continuing education at Harvard Medical School and The Mind/Body Medical Institute, Deaconess Hospital in Boston, presented their second annual symposium, "Spirituality & Healing in Medicine—II." It was attended by a thousand physicians, psychologists, health-care administrators, nurses, allied health professionals, social workers, clergy, and others who had come simply to consider the connection between spirituality and healing. They heard talks on African, Buddhist, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Islamic, Hispanic-Pentecostal, and Christian Science spiritual healing practices, and general discussion on the efficacy of spiritual healing and its place in current medical practice. The course will be repeated at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles on March 15, 16, and 17.
Here are some observations on the scope of the Boston conference and excerpts from remarks made by some of the speakers:
In a keynote speech at the pre-conference dinner, Dr. Robert Coles, a researcher and teacher of psychiatry at Harvard University, said that we all need to understand our spirituality—not just for ourselves, but for the world. He said, "We're here to hand one another along .... Let's do it, and be healthy and whole."
