Abstract

Many people in modern society believe that spirituality is no more than antiquated cultural/ religious/ magical beliefs; denial of death; coping mechanisms for unresolved grief; other forms of wishful thinking; or mental aberrations. Growing numbers and varieties of research studies confirming reports of spiritual experiences contradict these disbeliefs. Because spiritual aspects of wholistic healing are often dismissed in these ways, I briefly summarize some of this research here, in an expansion of part of my editorial for this issue of IJHC.