Psychiatric Symposium to Explore Link Between Religion and Mental Health

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The relationship between spirituality and mental health will be explored during the annual Cherry Blossom Psychiatric Symposium on Friday, March 14, in the Mercer School of Medicine Auditorium.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director and founder of the Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health at Duke University, will be the guest speaker. The symposium is sponsored by Mercer University School of Medicine and Coliseum Psychiatric Center.

Koenig is the editor of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, a refereed medical research journal, and is founder and editor-in-chief of Research News & Opportunities in Science and Theology. His research on religion, health and ethical issues in medicine has been featured on more than 35 national and international television news programs, including all major U.S. networks; on 65 national and international radio programs, including multiple NPR, BBC and CBC interviews, and in more than 150 national and international newspapers and magazines.

Koenig’s research on depression has been funded by several grants from the National Institutes of Health. He also has received grants from the Retirement Research Foundation, the

Mary Biddle Duke Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation to study the relationship between religion and health.

His latest books include The Healing Power of Faith: Science Explores Medicine’s Last Great Frontier, The Healing Connection, The Link Between Religion, and Health and Spirituality in Patient Care.

The symposium is open to the public. The cost to attend is $20 for a half-day and $30 for the full day. Additional costs are required for physicians, nurses, social workers and family therapists who seek continuing education credits.

For more information about the Cherry Blossom Psychiatric Symposium, contact Margaret Cox at 301-2107.


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