Spiritual Transformation and Healing: Anthropological, Theological, Neuroscientific, and Clinical Perspectives

by Joan D. Koss-Chioino, Philip Hefner, Carol Rausch Albright, Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Mary Ann Bucklin

Overview

Joan D. Koss-Chioino and Philip Hefner's new volume is unique in exploring the meaning of spiritual transformation and healing with new research from a scientific perspective. An interdisciplinary group of contributors-anthropological, psychological, medical, theological, and biological scientists-investigate the role of religious communities and healing practitioners, with spiritual transformation as their medium of healing. Individual authors evaluate the meaning of spiritual transformations and the consequences for those who experience it; the contributions of indigenous healing systems; new frameworks for neurological and physiological correlates of transformative religious experiences; the support from neuroscience for the radical empathy and intersubjective exchange that takes place in healing practices; and evidence for universal elements of the healing process. This exciting new book will be an invaluable resource for those generally interested in the role of religion in society, across the sciences, social sciences, and all religious traditions. With a foreword by Solomon H. Katz.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759108660
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	05/12/2006
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.46(w) x 9.22(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joan D. Koss-Chioino is professor emerita of anthropology at Arizona State University. Philip Hefner is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Preface Part 3 Part I: Finding Our Way Through New Terrain Chapter 4 Chapter 1: Exploring Spiritual Transformation and Healing: Fundamental Issues Chapter 5 Chapter 2: The Meaning of Spiritual Transformation Chapter 6 Chapter 3: The Spirit of Spiritual Healing in the United States Part 7 Part II: Traditional and Indigenous Healing Systems: Anthropological Perspectives Chapter 8 Chapter 4: Spiritual Transformation and Radical Empathy in Ritual Healing and Therapeutic Relationships Chapter 9 Chapter 5: Radical Empathy, Gender, and Shamanic Healing: Examples from Peru Chapter 10 Chapter 6: Sustainable Faith? Reconfiguring Shamanic Healing in Siberia Chapter 11 Chapter 7: The Making of a Shaman: A Comparative Study of Inuit, African, and Nepalese Shaman Initiation Part 12 Part III: Spiritual Transformation and Healing from Religious Perspectives Chapter 13 Chapter 8: Spiritual Transformation and Healing: An Encounter with the Sacred Chapter 14 Chapter 9: Spiritual Transformation and Healing in Light of an Evolutionary Theology Chapter 15 Chapter 10: Personal Tranformation: Perspectives from Psychology and Christianity Chapter 16 Chapter 11: Spiritual Growth, Cognition, and Complexity: Faith as a Dynamic Process Part 17 Part IV: Neuroscientific Perspectives on Spiritual Transformation and Healing Chapter 18 Chapter 12: The Neurobiology of Spiritual Transformation Chapter 19 Chapter 13: Narrative in Holistic Healing: Empathy, Sympathy, and Simulation Theory Chapter 20 Chapter 14: Healing of the Self-in-Context: Memory, Plasticity, and Spiritual Practice Part 21 Part V: Clinical Perspectives on Spiritual Transformation and Healing Chapter 22 Chapter 15: Spirituality, Spiritual Experiences, and Spiritual Transformations in the Face of HIV Chapter 23 Chapter 16: Spiritual Engagement and Transformation in Cancer Patients: The Experience of the Patient, the Role of the Physician

Editorial Reviews

The book that Joan Koss-Chioino and Phillip Hefner put together does a remarkable job of addressing critical questions....This book showcases well how multidisciplinarity can be a critical vehicle.

Ethos - Journal Of The Society For Psychological Athropology

This excellent book has it all - state of the art studies of spiritual transformation from medicine, anthropology, and neuroscience all ably reflected upon by philosophy and theology and made relevant to care and healing in the clinical situation. A wonderful contribution.

Don Browning

A deep-seated concern with the possibility of personal transformation is apparent in any reading of human history. In recent years this concern has taken the form of an interest in "spirituality" and attempts to define this phenomenon in a way permitting its empirical investigation, accelerated with the advent of neuro-imaging and neuroscience. This volume is a stimulating exploration of the processes involved in spiritual transformation, in healers as well as help-seekers.

Eugene B. Brody

The book that Joan Koss-Chioino and Phillip Hefner put together does a remarkable job of addressing critical questions....This book showcases well how multidisciplinarity can be a critical vehicle.

September 2008 Ethos - Journal Of The Society For Psychological Athropology

This excellent book has it all - state of the art studies of spiritual transformation from medicine, anthropology, and neuroscience all ably reflected upon by philosophy and theology and made relevant to care and healing in the clinical situation. A wonderful contribution.--Don Browning, University of Chicago, author of Christian Ethics and the Moral Psychologies

"A deep-seated concern with the possibility of personal transformation is apparent in any reading of human history. In recent years this concern has taken the form of an interest in "spirituality" and attempts to define this phenomenon in a way permitting its empirical investigation, accelerated with the advent of neuro-imaging and neuroscience. This volume is a stimulating exploration of the processes involved in spiritual transformation, in healers as well as help-seekers."--Eugene B. Brody, and Mental Disease, Editor in Chief, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

The book that Joan Koss-Chioino and Phillip Hefner put together does a remarkable job of addressing critical questions....This book showcases well how multidisciplinarity can be a critical vehicle.--Ethos - Journal Of The Society For Psychological Athropology, September 2008

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