Spirit, Science, and Health

Thomas G. Plante is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Santa Clara University and Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has authored, edited, or co-edited 10 books, and more than 100 chapters and journal articles. Widely known in the popular media, Plante has been featured in TIME, People, USA Today, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report. He is series editor for the Preager series, Abnormal Psychology.Carl E. Thoresen is Professor Emeritus of Education and Psychology, and, by courtesy, Psychiatry/Behavioral Science at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Spirituality & Health Institute at Santa Clara University. Thoresen has worked in the field of Counseling and Health Psychology for more than 30 years. A Founding Fellow for the Society of Behavioral Medicine, he served on an Expert Panel for the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences, focused on spirituality and health. His many awards include the John Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, election to Fellow status in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Psychological Association, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.

This book could serve very effectively as a brief reference handbook or as an introductory textbook for the emerging field of spirituality and health--now a component in the curriculum of many schools of nursing, medicine, and other health-related professions, as well as in some colleges of liberal arts or education. The book is a particularly well-integrated collection of short reports on the current state of the field. It covers concepts and assessment instruments typically used in spirituality-and-health research. It also covers basic techniques for self-management and personal development (such as prayer and meditation) that long have been part of spiritual traditions, and increasingly are recognized as having relevance for health maintenance too. The book concludes with consideration of general ethical issues and with problems characteristic of specific population groups, e.g., adolescents, the elderly, HIV/AIDS sufferers, and cancer patients. Contributors treat these issues with discernment, respect, and appropriate expertise….Recommended. All levels.