Santa Clara University

Spirituality and Health Institute

The Spirituality and Health Institute (SHI) is devoted to exploring the complex relationship between spirituality and health from an interdisciplinary, multicultural perspective.

Faculties from Santa Clara as well as other universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley) participate in a variety of collaborative research, teaching and outreach projects. The intention behind SHI is to bring creative, thoughtful and rigorous scholarly pursuit to better elucidate the relationship between spirituality and health.

Institute Conferences

Read about upcoming conferences and proceedings of past conferences.

Participating Professors

Visit the professors' pages below for a brief biography and to learn about their interests.

• Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., ABPP
• Shauna L. Shapiro, Ph.D.
• Diane Jonte-Pace, Ph.D.
• Diane Dreher, Ph.D.
• Carl E. Thoresen, Ph.D.
• Doug Oman, Ph.D.
• David Feldman, Ph.D. 
  

Other participants

• Carol and Tim Flinders
• Kate McNicholas, Hospice of the Valley
• Jane Ferguson, St. Mary's parish and Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley

Recent SHI Book Projects

• Plante, T.G., & Thoresen, C. E.(2007). Spirit, Science and health: How the Spiritual Mind Fuels Physical Wellness. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
• Plante, T. G. (Ed). Contemplative Practices in Action: Diverse Paths for Well Being, Wisdom, and Healing. Praeger/Greenwood. In preparation.
  
• Greenwood Press Link: http://www.greenwood.com

Presentations from the APA 2007 Convention in San Francisco

• Spirit, Science and Health: How the Spiritual Mind Fuels the Body. Symposium presentation at the 115th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA, August 18, 2007.
• Learning from Spiritual Models and Meditation: A Randomized Intervention Among College Undergraduates [PowerPoint]
• Mindfulness as Mediator [PowerPoint]

Related Links

• Visit the Spirituality and Health Blog
• Society of Behavioral Medicine, Spirituality and Health Special Interest Group
• American Psychological Association, Psychology and Religion
• Psychology and Religion Web