Background Psychedelic-assisted therapies hold early promise for treating multiple psychiatric co... more Background Psychedelic-assisted therapies hold early promise for treating multiple psychiatric conditions. However, absent standards for the care, teams providing psychedelic-assisted therapy pose a major roadblock to safe administration. Psychedelics often produce spiritually and existentially meaningful experiences, and spiritual health practitioners have been involved in administering psychedelic-assisted therapies in multiple settings, suggesting important qualifications for delivering these therapies. However, the roles and competencies of spiritual health practitioners in psychedelic-assisted therapies have not been described in research. Method This study examined interviews with 15 spiritual health practitioners who have facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapy. Thematic analyses focused on their contributions, application of expertise and professional background, and roles in administering these therapies. Results Seven themes emerged, comprising two domains: unique and general contributions. Unique contributions included: competency to work with spiritual material, awareness of power dynamics, familiarity with non-ordinary states of consciousness, holding space, and offer a counterbalance to biomedical perspectives. General contributions included use of generalizable therapeutic repertoire when conducting PAT, and contributing to interdisciplinary collaboration.
A mixed-method evaluation of implementation determinants for chaplain intervention in a hospital setting
Journal of health care chaplaincy, Apr 15, 2024
Discovering compassion in medical training: a qualitative study with curriculum leaders, educators, and learners
Frontiers in Psychology
BackgroundCompassion is considered a fundamental human capacity instrumental to the creation of m... more BackgroundCompassion is considered a fundamental human capacity instrumental to the creation of medicine and for patient-centered practice and innovations in healthcare. However, instead of nurturing and cultivating institutional compassion, many healthcare providers cite the health system itself as a direct barrier to standard care. The trend of compassion depletion begins with medical students and is often attributed to the culture of undergraduate medical training, where students experience an increased risk of depression, substance use, and suicidality.ObjectivesThis qualitative study aims to develop a more comprehensive understanding of compassion as it relates to undergraduate medical education. We used focus groups with key stakeholders in medical education to characterize beliefs about the nature of compassion and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to compassion within their daily responsibilities as educators and students.MethodsResearchers conducted a series o...
Mixed-Method Evaluation of the Public Health Questionnaire for Estimating Depression Among Tibetan Buddhist Monastics
Frontiers in Communication
Background: Depression is the largest source of global medical disability, highlighting the impor... more Background: Depression is the largest source of global medical disability, highlighting the importance of translating and validating depression screening instruments to improve our understanding of differences in the prevalence of depression in divergent cultures around the world. The aim of this study was to translate and evaluate a widely used depression screening and diagnostic instrument, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), for use with Tibetan populations. A secondary aim was to use the Tibetan-PHQ-9 (T-PHQ-9) to estimate the prevalence of depression symptoms in a population of Tibetan-speaking Buddhist monastic scholars engaging in a 6-year science curriculum in India, the Emory Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI).Methods: Three-hundred-eighty-four monastics (363 monks, 21 nuns) completed the T-PHQ-9. We computed measures of internal consistency and conducted factor analysis to evaluate scale performance. Following this, we evaluated the prevalence of depressive symptoms a...
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Papers by Erin Brauer