Walking-the-Walk: Attending to the “Spiritual” in Medical Family Therapy’s Biopsychosocial/Spiritual Care

Efforts to honor and integrate patients’ and families’ spiritual beliefs and dispositions in biopsychosocial/spiritual care are well-worth the time, energy, and requisite resources that it takes to do so. In this account, the authors describe how targeted education and supervision with students and trainees can serve to promote preparatory knowledge, comfort, and skills toward including spiritual foci in their work. Purposeful assessments, care conversations, and interdisciplinary partnerships are described as advancing better clinical outcomes. Thoughtful strategizing around clinic- and hospital- operations and care structures are described as essential to better workflow and collegial collaborations. Careful attention to financial foci in care provision and team organization that support spiritual health are outlined as key to supporting cost-effectiveness. All of these things—taken together—are put forth as important to the inclusion of what is often and arguably one of the most neglected facets of patients’ and families’ experiences in care practices today.