A pragmatic approach to teaching psychiatry residents the assessment and treatment of religious patients.
OBJECTIVE
The authors describe a pragmatic and atheoretical frameword for teaching psychiatry residents how to assess and treat religious patients.


RESULTS
The psychiatrist's goals in assessing the religious history are clarified. These goals differ between the assessment and treatment phases. During assessment, attention is paid to psychiatric phenomenology and careful history-taking, utilizing knowledgeable outside informants. A framework is presented for engaging religious patients, fostering therapeutic alliance, avoiding pitfalls, and facilitating treatment within the patient's religious context.


CONCLUSIONS
Emphasizing knowledge of phenomenology and information gathering skills may be more effective than emphasizing broad knowledge of many religions, except for clinicians practicing within a particular religious community.
Blass
David M
DM
Abarbanel Mental Health Center, 15 Keren Kayemet Street, Bat Yam, Israel, 59436. dmblass@jhmi.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D012067:Religion