Spirituality, Suffering, and the Self

With the rise of modern medicine, spiritual approaches to cop- ing with pain and understanding distress have been largely aban- doned. However, there is sufficient empirical evidence available that shows the importance of spiritual experiences, beliefs and practices for self- and pain perception as well as coping. Hence, this paper ar- gues that the assessment of patients' spirituality, acknowledgment of the effects of and e_ects upon pain, and utilization of pluralist resources to accommodate patients' spiritual needs reflect our most current understanding of the physiological, psychological and socio- cultural aspects of spirituality and spiritual experiences (regardless of religious or secular expression).