Resource Document on Religious/Spiritual Commitments and Psychiatric Practice

Approved by the Joint Reference Committee, December 2006

Psychiatrists should maintain respect for their patients' commitments (values, beliefs and worldviews). a. It is useful for clinicians to obtain information on the religious/spiritual commitments of their patients so that they may properly attend to them in the course of assessment, formulation, and treatment. b. Empathy for the patient's sensibilities and particular commitments is essential. Conflicts, either within the patient or within the clinician-patient relationship should be handled with a concern for the patient's vulnerability to the attitudes of the psychiatrist. c. Interpretations that concern a patient's commitments should be made with empathic respect for their meaning and importance to the patient.