The Mindful Body: A Phenomenology of the Body With Multiple Sclerosis

For people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), one’s own body may no longer be taken for granted but may become instead an insistent presence. In this article, we describe how the body experience of people with MS can reflect an ongoing oscillation between four experiential dimensions: bodily uncertainty, having a precious body, being a different body, and the mindful body. People with MS can become engaged in a mode of permanent bodily alertness and may demonstrate adaptive responses to their ill body. In contrast to many studies on health and illness, our study shows that the presence of the body may not necessarily result in alienation or discomfort. By focusing the attention on the body, a sense of well-being can be cultivated and the negative effects of MS only temporarily dominate experience. Rather than aiming at bodily dis-appearance, health care professionals should therefore consider ways to support bodily eu-appearance

Treatment alliance and needs of care concerning religiousness and spirituality: A follow-up study among psychiatric inpatients

Background:Patient satisfaction with religious/spiritual (R/S) care during mental health treatment has been associated with a better treatment alliance.Aims:To investigate the longitudinal relations between (un)met R/S care needs and treatment alliance/compliance over a 6-month period.Method:201 patients in a Christian (CC) and a secular mental health clinic completed a questionnaire (T0) containing an R/S care needs questionnaire, the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and the Service Engagement Scale (SES). After 6 months 136 of them took part in a follow-up (T1). Associations were analysed using hybrid linear mixed models and structural equation modelling.Results:R/S care needs decreased over time, but a similar percentage remained unanswered (e.g. 67% of the needs on R/S conversations in a secular setting). Over a 6-month period, met R/S care needs were associated with a higher WAI score (β = .25; p unmet R/S care needs with lower WAI score (β = −.36; p between subjects effects. Patients reporting a high score of unmet R/S care at baseline, reported a decrease in SES over time (β = −.13; p Conclusions:Satisfaction with R/S care among mental health patients is related to a better treatment alliance. When unmet R/S care needs persist, they precede a decrease in treatment compliance. Mental health professionals are recommended to assess the presence of R/S care needs and consider possibilities of R/S care especially in the first weeks of treatment