Book Reviews
St. Anthony Messenger—Cincinnati, OH - Vol. 114, No. 6
11/1/2006
This is a remarkable resource for caregivers, medical schools and schools of theology. In four parts and 14 chapters, author and physician Harold G. Koenig describes 10 ways that religious faith can contribute to mental health and wellness.
In my own work as a pastoral counselor, I have found Koenig’s book helpful for explaining psychotherapy, spiritual direction and coaching of patients with anxiety, depression and even psychotic features.
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Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith—Ipswich, MA - Vol. 58, No. 2
6/1/2006
Koenig wrote this book for two audiences: mental-health professionals seeking to understand the roles of religion in their field, and religious professionals who counsel persons with emotional illness. Although I belong to neither category, the book was a great interest to me because of my strong conviction that obedience to God’s commandments is beneficial to our health and well-being.
According to Koenig, many leading scientists still hold the view that religion and science are incompatible (it seems to me that ASA is well-equipped to address this situation). In this final chapter, Koenig suggests possible solutions. His final recommendation is that "only by working together as colleagues, respecting and valuing each other’s contributions, can the secular health community and the faith community meet the challenges that lie before them." That sounds to me like good advice for all who seek to improve the interface between science and religion.
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CHOICE—Middletown, CT
2/1/2006
No text of comparable scope, currency, or clarity exists.
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Post and Courier—Charleston, SC
1/29/2006
"Faith and Mental Health" discusses the relationship between religion and mental health and how different religions care for people with mental illnesses or emotional problems. . . . Dr. Harold Koenig, a psychiatrist who has done extensive research on this topic, also explores how religion influences the medical care system. . . . His intended audience is the health-care community and religious professionals, including counselors, chaplains, and seminary professors.
Sigmund Freud called religion an obsessional neurosis. After his studies became well-known, religion was removed from hospitals. During the 1980’s, there were few religious psychiatrists. However, the numbers have increased as research has placed more value on faith and mental health. All faiths, including Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.
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Science and Theology News
11/1/2005
This book should be required reading for anyone working in the mental-health field, and I especially hope that research-funding bodies will take its implications for the future seriously.
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ALAM Update—E-Newsletter
10/1/2005
It’s not often that a book of the breadth, stature and excellence arrives, so when it does, we all do well to respectfully take notice. This book is of general interest for professionals and practitioners who work with people of faith in any capacity, but it is of particular importance, to a point of being mandatory reading, for any of us who care for and about senior adults, their spiritual development, and their mental health.
This book is a research compendium marvel destined to be the definitive "go-to" reference for anyone interested in mental health issues in general, and particularly those associated with faith based organizations (FBOs), i.e., churches and church sponsored or affiliated programs.
This is a monumental book. It is a veritable tour-de-force of research related to mental health and faith. To say the book is comprehensive and thorough is to understate its reality. It is relevant and readable, personally interesting and vitally confirmatory for anyone working in FBOs. This book is the work of a master scholar; it is destined to rank as the definitive statement on faith and mental health. I recommend you get this book, read it, and keep it handy on your shelf both for reference and for comfort.
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Theology Digest—Vol. 52, No. 3
9/21/2005
Harold Koenig is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health. He examines what religion has done for and against people who struggle with emotional problems and mental disorders; looks at what people of faith are doing now to meet the needs of the mentally ill, and what more they could be doing; offers research on the relationship between religion and positive emotions, psychiatric illness and severe positive emotions, and severe and persistent mental disorders; notes ways religion has influenced mental health historically, and how it now and in the future can be involved in mental health: describes Christian and non-Christian faith-based organizations that provide mental health resources for professionals and faith communities on how to design programs. He includes a glossary, a directory of additional resources, and an index.
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Market Wire
9/15/2005
In Faith and Mental Health: Religious Resources for Healing, [Koenig] provides an unprecedented source of practical information about the relationship between religion and mental health. Using scientific methodology, he explores how religious beliefs and practices are related to coping and positive emotions, as well as the use of religion for psychiatric disorders, substance abuse disorders, and severe mental illness. Based on this research, he offers an evaluation of whether religious faith represents a resource or a liability in terms of mental health.
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