Psychology

Posted: August 5th, 2013

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to attempt to investigate the effect that spiritual healing has on chronic pain. It was found that mainstream methods of relieving pain after enduring different situations among victims were not efficiently working in lowering the pain. Drugs have over the years tried to hide the pain but they have not managed to do this. Abbot applied the principle of intercessory prayer as a therapy in order to try to prove the role that the clergy, spiritual healing and self-treatment had in relieving chronic pain. The study was also done in order to display the development of non –medical approaches like guided imagery, Reiki and intercessory or spiritual healing.

Implications

The implications that the spiritual healing approach has had is great. The studies done by Abbot proved that spiritual healing is far more beneficial than other forms of healing. Religion has become an important aspect of coping with painful situations within the society. People have increasingly turned to religion as a way to relieve their sorrows that have been because of deaths, accidents and mistakes in their lives. This can be used to explain the increased attendance of religious shrines like the church and the mosque. It can also be used to explain the increased significance that religious leaders have had in presiding of social functions.