Children with serious illnesses experience life disruptions that are of consequence to long-term health and development. The spiritual is integral to health, yet many healthcare providers claim a lack of understanding and comfort with attending to spiritual issues in practice. This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry explores spirituality as lived by children with cancer and cystic fibrosis and highlights the importance of spirituality in the provision of holistic child healthcare. Four children aged nine to fourteen from each illness group (six males and two females) were interviewed and asked to draw pictures, forming the primary data for interpretation. Conversations with family members were also included in the analysis as supplements to the primary data. Study findings offer insights into children’s lived experiences of the spiritual. They reveal unmet spiritual needs and unique ways of living the spiritual that often went unrecognized by adults. The experiences shared were profound and deeply meaningful, revealing hidden wondering and wisdom that defies contemporary views of how children understand and deal with the complexity of living with serious illness. Findings provide more nuanced understandings of the spiritual that allow for the voices and emotions of children to be heard, revealing a sense of struggle and the need to find meaning in illness with all its disruptions and demands on time and freedom. Findings also reveal the meanings in relationships that sustained children in their efforts to live well with illness. These findings provide possibilities for viewing child health differently—a view that includes the spiritual and its implications—that can lead to a more conscious awareness, wisdom, and sensitivity in practice. Findings offer ways of engaging children in conversations about illness meanings and the spiritual that recognize the complexity in language and the need for alternate strategies to mine the depths of experiences that are often hidden. Because the spiritual does not always wait for experts to arrive, findings are relevant to all healthcare providers and caregivers of ill children. Implications for interprofessional research, education, and practice are also explored, providing possibilities for seeing, exploring, and living the spiritual in our practices of caring for ill children.

Despite the prediction that religion would wane in the 21st century, evidence suggests otherwise. It is important therefore for mental health professionals to understand the role of religion in the lives of their clients and to appreciate its impact on mental health. Research suggests a moderate inverse relationship between religion and depression and anxiety with some cross-cultural support. The relationship is however complex and context needs to be taken into account. The effect of culture and the importance of intrinsic religiosity are discussed. Much research is conducted in the US in the field of psychiatry, suggesting a gap in the British psychological literature. Some implications for clinical practice are discussed. The interplay between religion, culture and wellbeing is discussed

Na presente Tese, vinculada aos Estudos Foucaultianos, proponho pensarmos sobre a Educação e a Pedagogia tentando nos colocarmos externamente a esses campos. Nela, defendo que as referências que advogam pela natureza espiritual das experiências de quase-morte (EQMs) permitem caracterizar esses fenômenos como intervenções psicagógicas que, ao promoverem a ressignificação da vida, objetivam transformar o modo de ser das pessoas para que elas vivam orientadas pelo amor. A noção de psicagogia é o elemento teórico mais importante da presente pesquisa. Concebo psicagogia como o processo de transmissão de uma verdade por meio do qual um sujeito busca modificar a maneira de ser daquele a quem se dirige. A concepção de poder pastoral, entendido como técnica de direção que se volta para aquele que deve conduzir o povo e cada indivíduo para a salvação, constitui-se como outro componente teórico relevante para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho. A partir das análises que realizei, entendo que o amor sobre o qual as relações psicagógicas se sustentam identifica-se com aquele peculiar à doutrina socrático-platônica. Para a realização da pesquisa, analisei textos (livros, artigos e revistas eletrônicas), de autores brasileiros e estrangeiros, que concebem as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e outras obras que permitem descrever algumas das condições de possibilidade para a emergência do campo da Espiritualidade e Saúde (ES) e dos discursos sobre as EQMs. No primeiro capítulo, ao efetuar um estudo de inspiração genealógica, sugiro que o campo da ES e os discursos sobre as EQMs encontram no “imperativo biológico” próprio do nosso tempo uma importante condição de emergência. Dedico o segundo capítulo para descrever os elementos discursivos que caracterizam as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e para apresentar o campo do saber no qual aqueles elementos estão inseridos. Para finalizar, no terceiro capítulo, exponho os motivos que me conduziram a caracterizar as EQMs como intervenções psicagógicas que assumem a forma de relações pastorais. / In the present thesis, linked to the Foucaultian Studies, I propose to think about Education and Pedagogy trying to put ourselves externally in these fields. In it, I argue that the references that advocate the spiritual nature of near-death experiences (NDEs) allow us to characterize these phenomena as psychagogical interventions that, in promoting the re-signification of life, aim to transform people's way of being so that they live oriented by love. The notion of psychagogy is the most important theoretical element of the present research. I conceive psychagogy as the process of transmitting a truth whereby a subject seeks to change the way of being of he or she is addressed. The conception of pastoral power, understood as a technique of direction that turns to the one that must lead the people and each individual to salvation, is constituted as another relevant theoretical component for the development of this work. From my analyzes, I understand that the love on which the psychagogical relations are sustained is identified with that peculiar to the Socratic-Platonic doctrine. In order to carry out the research, I have analyzed texts (books, articles and electronic journals) by Brazilian and foreign authors that conceive NDEs as spiritual phenomena and other works that allow us to describe some of the conditions of possibility for the emergence of the field of Spirituality and Health (SH) and discourses on NDEs. In the first chapter, in carrying out a study of genealogical inspiration, I suggest that the field of SH and discourses on NDEs find in the "biological imperative" proper of our time an important emergency condition. I dedicate the second chapter to describe the discursive elements that characterize the NDEs as spiritual phenomena and to present the field of knowledge in which those elements are inserted. Finally, in the third chapter, I explain the reasons that led me to characterize NDEs as psychagogical interventions that take the form of pastoral relationships.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 25, 2010). Directed by Craig Cashwell; submitted to the Dept. of Counseling and Educational Development. Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-163, 228-230).

Na presente Tese, vinculada aos Estudos Foucaultianos, proponho pensarmos sobre a Educação e a Pedagogia tentando nos colocarmos externamente a esses campos. Nela, defendo que as referências que advogam pela natureza espiritual das experiências de quase-morte (EQMs) permitem caracterizar esses fenômenos como intervenções psicagógicas que, ao promoverem a ressignificação da vida, objetivam transformar o modo de ser das pessoas para que elas vivam orientadas pelo amor. A noção de psicagogia é o elemento teórico mais importante da presente pesquisa. Concebo psicagogia como o processo de transmissão de uma verdade por meio do qual um sujeito busca modificar a maneira de ser daquele a quem se dirige. A concepção de poder pastoral, entendido como técnica de direção que se volta para aquele que deve conduzir o povo e cada indivíduo para a salvação, constitui-se como outro componente teórico relevante para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho. A partir das análises que realizei, entendo que o amor sobre o qual as relações psicagógicas se sustentam identifica-se com aquele peculiar à doutrina socrático-platônica. Para a realização da pesquisa, analisei textos (livros, artigos e revistas eletrônicas), de autores brasileiros e estrangeiros, que concebem as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e outras obras que permitem descrever algumas das condições de possibilidade para a emergência do campo da Espiritualidade e Saúde (ES) e dos discursos sobre as EQMs. No primeiro capítulo, ao efetuar um estudo de inspiração genealógica, sugiro que o campo da ES e os discursos sobre as EQMs encontram no “imperativo biológico” próprio do nosso tempo uma importante condição de emergência. Dedico o segundo capítulo para descrever os elementos discursivos que caracterizam as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e para apresentar o campo do saber no qual aqueles elementos estão inseridos. Para finalizar, no terceiro capítulo, exponho os motivos que me conduziram a caracterizar as EQMs como intervenções psicagógicas que assumem a forma de relações pastorais. / In the present thesis, linked to the Foucaultian Studies, I propose to think about Education and Pedagogy trying to put ourselves externally in these fields. In it, I argue that the references that advocate the spiritual nature of near-death experiences (NDEs) allow us to characterize these phenomena as psychagogical interventions that, in promoting the re-signification of life, aim to transform people's way of being so that they live oriented by love. The notion of psychagogy is the most important theoretical element of the present research. I conceive psychagogy as the process of transmitting a truth whereby a subject seeks to change the way of being of he or she is addressed. The conception of pastoral power, understood as a technique of direction that turns to the one that must lead the people and each individual to salvation, is constituted as another relevant theoretical component for the development of this work. From my analyzes, I understand that the love on which the psychagogical relations are sustained is identified with that peculiar to the Socratic-Platonic doctrine. In order to carry out the research, I have analyzed texts (books, articles and electronic journals) by Brazilian and foreign authors that conceive NDEs as spiritual phenomena and other works that allow us to describe some of the conditions of possibility for the emergence of the field of Spirituality and Health (SH) and discourses on NDEs. In the first chapter, in carrying out a study of genealogical inspiration, I suggest that the field of SH and discourses on NDEs find in the "biological imperative" proper of our time an important emergency condition. I dedicate the second chapter to describe the discursive elements that characterize the NDEs as spiritual phenomena and to present the field of knowledge in which those elements are inserted. Finally, in the third chapter, I explain the reasons that led me to characterize NDEs as psychagogical interventions that take the form of pastoral relationships.

Na presente Tese, vinculada aos Estudos Foucaultianos, proponho pensarmos sobre a Educação e a Pedagogia tentando nos colocarmos externamente a esses campos. Nela, defendo que as referências que advogam pela natureza espiritual das experiências de quase-morte (EQMs) permitem caracterizar esses fenômenos como intervenções psicagógicas que, ao promoverem a ressignificação da vida, objetivam transformar o modo de ser das pessoas para que elas vivam orientadas pelo amor. A noção de psicagogia é o elemento teórico mais importante da presente pesquisa. Concebo psicagogia como o processo de transmissão de uma verdade por meio do qual um sujeito busca modificar a maneira de ser daquele a quem se dirige. A concepção de poder pastoral, entendido como técnica de direção que se volta para aquele que deve conduzir o povo e cada indivíduo para a salvação, constitui-se como outro componente teórico relevante para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho. A partir das análises que realizei, entendo que o amor sobre o qual as relações psicagógicas se sustentam identifica-se com aquele peculiar à doutrina socrático-platônica. Para a realização da pesquisa, analisei textos (livros, artigos e revistas eletrônicas), de autores brasileiros e estrangeiros, que concebem as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e outras obras que permitem descrever algumas das condições de possibilidade para a emergência do campo da Espiritualidade e Saúde (ES) e dos discursos sobre as EQMs. No primeiro capítulo, ao efetuar um estudo de inspiração genealógica, sugiro que o campo da ES e os discursos sobre as EQMs encontram no “imperativo biológico” próprio do nosso tempo uma importante condição de emergência. Dedico o segundo capítulo para descrever os elementos discursivos que caracterizam as EQMs como fenômenos espirituais e para apresentar o campo do saber no qual aqueles elementos estão inseridos. Para finalizar, no terceiro capítulo, exponho os motivos que me conduziram a caracterizar as EQMs como intervenções psicagógicas que assumem a forma de relações pastorais. / In the present thesis, linked to the Foucaultian Studies, I propose to think about Education and Pedagogy trying to put ourselves externally in these fields. In it, I argue that the references that advocate the spiritual nature of near-death experiences (NDEs) allow us to characterize these phenomena as psychagogical interventions that, in promoting the re-signification of life, aim to transform people's way of being so that they live oriented by love. The notion of psychagogy is the most important theoretical element of the present research. I conceive psychagogy as the process of transmitting a truth whereby a subject seeks to change the way of being of he or she is addressed. The conception of pastoral power, understood as a technique of direction that turns to the one that must lead the people and each individual to salvation, is constituted as another relevant theoretical component for the development of this work. From my analyzes, I understand that the love on which the psychagogical relations are sustained is identified with that peculiar to the Socratic-Platonic doctrine. In order to carry out the research, I have analyzed texts (books, articles and electronic journals) by Brazilian and foreign authors that conceive NDEs as spiritual phenomena and other works that allow us to describe some of the conditions of possibility for the emergence of the field of Spirituality and Health (SH) and discourses on NDEs. In the first chapter, in carrying out a study of genealogical inspiration, I suggest that the field of SH and discourses on NDEs find in the "biological imperative" proper of our time an important emergency condition. I dedicate the second chapter to describe the discursive elements that characterize the NDEs as spiritual phenomena and to present the field of knowledge in which those elements are inserted. Finally, in the third chapter, I explain the reasons that led me to characterize NDEs as psychagogical interventions that take the form of pastoral relationships.