(November 8-9, 2003)

The Westin Hotel, Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts

Offered by: Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education and The Mind/Body Medical Institute and The George Washington University and The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWISH)

Course Directors: Herbert Benson, MD and Christina M. Puchalski, MD, FACPThis course centers on the health benefits of spirituality and forgiveness. In lecture, dialogue and interactive workshop settings, participants will be presented the importance of utilizing these healing capacities.

For 35 years, laboratories at the Harvard Medical School have systematically studied the benefits of mind/body interactions. The research established that when a person engages in a repetitive prayer, word, sound, or phrase and when intrusive thoughts are passively disregarded, a specific set of physiologic changes ensue. These changes – decreased metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and rate of breathing – are the opposite of those induced by stress and have been labeled the relaxation response. In conjunction with nutrition, exercise and stress management, the relaxation response is an effective therapy in a number of diseases. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, to that extent the relaxation response is an effective therapy.

This work led to consideration of the healing effects of spirituality since research later established that people experienced increased spirituality as a result of eliciting this state regardless of whether or not they used a religious repetitive focus. Spirituality was expressed as experiencing the presence of a power, a force, an energy, or what was perceived of as God and this presence was close to the person. Furthermore, spirituality was associated with fewer medical symptoms.

Forgiveness plays an important role in each of our lives on a personal as well as societal level. Guilt and resentment have poor health outcomes; forgiveness can help to heal hatred of self and others. The act of forgiveness can result in less anxiety, less depression, and increased self-esteem. It is also associated with physiologic changes that are opposite to those of stress as well as to those of hostility, anger, depression and anxiety. When forgiving, there is decreased heart rate, blood pressure and skin conductance levels.
Spiritual practices offer centuries of traditions and beliefs that are deeply rooted in the practice of forgiveness. This conference will present both the scientific data as well as the spiritual perspectives on forgiveness and its relevance for present day society. In addition, the course will strive to identify future empirical research on the healing aspects of spirituality and forgiveness in medicine.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the course are to provide participants with an understanding of:

* The relationship amongst healing, forgiveness, spirituality and belief
* The physiologic, molecular and neurologic effects of healing resulting from forgiveness and spirituality
* The scientific evidence for the effects of forgiveness and spirituality on healing
* The relationship amongst forgiveness, spirituality and healing from perspectives of world religions and other spirituality-oriented groups
* The next steps for the wider incorporation of forgiveness and spirituality approaches into healthcare

Attendance Limited

SPIRITUALITY & HEALING IN MEDICINE
The Importance of Forgiveness

The Westin Hotel
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8

7:30 - 8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:30 The Power of Belief and the Role of Forgiveness in Healthcare - Herbert Benson, MD

9:30 - 10:30 We Never Dreamed How Far Our Hearts Could Go: Stories of Forgiveness and Healing from Ground Zero - Courtney Cowart, ThD

10:30 - 11:00 Refreshment Break/Music

11:00 - 1:00 The Spiritual Panel

Muslim - Iman Yusuf Hasan, BCC
Catholic - Rev. Joseph J. Driscoll, MDiv
Jewish - Rabbi Amy Eilberg, DMin
Buddhist - Kusala Bhikshu, BA
Christian Science - Virginia Harris, CSB
Rev. Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA - Facilitator

1:00 - 2:00 Lunch

2:00 - 3:30 Workshops:

1 Five Steps to Forgiveness: A Psychoeducational Intervention To Help People Forgive - Everett L. Worthington, Jr., PhD

2 Healing through Contemplation - Margaret Baim, MS, NP

3 Healing at the Bedside - End of Life Issues - The Catholic Perspective - Rev. Joseph J. Driscoll, MDiv

4 Healing at the Bedside - End of Life and Forgiveness - The Jewish Perspective - Rabbi Amy Eilberg, DMin

5 Forgiveness: Religious and Cultural Issues - The Muslim Perspective - Iman Yusuf Hasan, BCC

3:30 - 4:00 Refreshment Break/Music

4:00 - 5:30 Workshops:

1 Forgiveness in Everyday Living: Skill Building Using Three Methods of Personal Empowerment - Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA

2 Forgiveness in Sickness and In Health: How Do We Get There? - Ann Webster, PhD

3 The Relaxation Response and The Breakout Principle - Herbert Benson, MD

4 The Power of Forgiveness as Identified through the Doctor/Patient Interaction - Linda Greer Spooner, MD, JD

5 Healing the Pain and Rebuilding Trust When a Partner Has Been Unfaithful - Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD, ABPP

5:30 - 6:30 Reception

7:30 - 9:30 Creative Dialogue - A Totally Interactive Workshop - Margaret Baim, MS, NP
Teaching Tools for Approaching Forgiveness - Ann Webster, PhD Sharing Personal Positive Experiences in Attaining Forgiveness - Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA

The Westin Hotel
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9

8:00 - 8:30 Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:30 Unforgiveness, Forgiveness, Justice And Health - Everett L. Worthington, Jr., PhD

9:30 - 10:30 The Power of Forgiveness in the Face of Ethnic, Political and Religious Hatred – Global
Perspective and Personal Pain - Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA

10:30 - 11:00 Refreshment Break/Music

11:00 - 12:00 The Stanford Forgiveness Project - Alex Harris, MS

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 Transforming Suffering through Contemplation - Margaret Baim, MS, NP

2:00 - 4:00 Workshops:

1 Rebuilding a Devastated Community Through Forgiveness; Actions Post 9/11 At St. Paul’s Chapel - Courtney Cowart, ThD

2 Scientific Data From the Stanford Study on Forgiveness - Alex Harris, MS

3 The Power of Forgiveness in The Buddhist Tradition - Kusala Bhikshu, BA

4 Introducing Forgiveness as a Healthy Response to Chronic Anger: How to Achieve It - The Hospital Chaplain, Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA

5 Forgiveness and the Role of the Hospital Chaplain - Rev. Joseph J. Driscoll, MDiv

4:00 - 4:30 Closing Remarks and Answering of Questions - Herbert Benson, MD, Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA

Music at all breaks during the conference will be performed by Marcia Guntzel Feldman.

COURSE DIRECTORS:

Herbert Benson, MD President, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School  

Christina M. Puchalski, MD, FACP Director, The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish), Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine and Health Care Sciences, The George Washington University

ASSOCIATE COURSE DIRECTOR:

The Rev. Natalia Vonnegut Beck, MA Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Daniel G. Holbrook Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Mind/Body Medical Institute  

FACULTY

Margaret Baim, MS, NP Associate in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Mind/Body Medical Institute
Kusala Bhikshu, BA Buddhist Monk
Courtney Cowart, ThD Adjunct Professor, Center for Christian Spirituality, General Theological Seminary
The Rev. Joseph J. Driscoll, MDiv Executive Director, National Association of Catholic Chaplains, Editorial Board, Journal of Palliative Medicine
Rabbi Amy Eilberg, DMin Co-Founder, Pastoral Counselor and Spiritual Director, Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, Palo Alto, CA
Marcia Guntzel Feldman, Hospice Musician, Sherrill House Chaplain Department
Alex Harris, MS Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology, Stanford University
Virginia Harris, CSB Chairman, First Church of Christ Scientist
Iman Yusuf Hasan, BCC Staff Chaplain, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Linda Greer Spooner, MD, JD Instructor in Medicine, George Washington University Medical School
Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD, ABPP Diplomate in Clinical Psychology, Yale University
Ann Webster, PhD Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Mind/Body Medical Institute
Everett L. Worthington Jr., PhD Chair, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University

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