Professorship of Spiritual Care and Psychosomatic Health

 


"Spirituality"

(from Latin "spiritus" meaning soul, breath, wind)

 

is used in health sciences as a broad-based, interdenominational and interfaith concept. 

 

 

"Spirituality" can be understood as personal religiosity within a religious community, but also as a world view without institutional ties.

 

Spiritual Care is the shared concern of medicine, nursing, psychotherapy and other healthcare professions for the spirituality of sick people, but also for their own spirituality.

 


 

Spiritual Care: Dialogue with medical students

When is a suitable moment for taking a spiritual history?

 

 

Prof. Dr. med. Eckhard Frick SJ

 

  Eckhard Frick has researched and taught on the subject of spiritual care for many years. He is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Jesuit. Since 2021, he holds the professorship of Spiritual Care and Psychosomatic Health.  

 

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Professorship - Team

 

  Our team members bring experience from a wide range of disciplines and professions. Together, we want to promote spiritual care as a research topic and as a resource in healthcare practice.                               

 

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News

Job advertisement

Philosopher in Residence

In cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study of the TU Munich, there is the opportunity to work as a Philosopher in Residence at the Chair of Spiritual Care for 12 months as part of a fellowship with a joint project!

Application deadline: February 18, 2025

more info >>

Want an example? Presentation >> of our former Philosopher in Residence, Dr. phil. Rico Gutschmidt

Are you interested? Then give us a call: 089-23862230

Published now !

Project MD_INSpir:

How the consideration of spiritual types could help in coping with moral distress: a qualitative study

 

Authors: Kubitza, Jenny; Handtke, Violet; Mächler, Ruth; Teutsch, Dagmar; Frick, Eckhard

 

Journal article >>

We are happy to provide the full-text article on request!

Published now !

What motivates critical care nurses to stay in their job?

Structural aspects for empowering intrinsic motivation in permissive professional contexts: A scoping review

 

What encourages nurses to remain loyal to this field of work? What gives them a boost and allows them to flourish?

 

Authors: Dagmar Teutsch, Eckhard Frick, Jenny Kubitza

 

PDF >>

Research Projects

Call for Papers !

Spiritual Care for Critical Care Patients & Staff

We are preparing a special issue of Medizinische Klinik – Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin, an internationally respected interdisciplinary and bilingual journal:

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital are confronted with a life-threatening disease or a critical condition, with challenging bodily symptoms such as pain or grave infirmity. Moreover, they must tackle the (temporary) loss of autonomy and self-determination or even a reduced state of consciousness.

On the other hand, not only patients in ICUs are confronted with spiritual questions and needs. The staff assigned to ICUs, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and others, face grave diseases and critical conditions each day, as well as the sometimes underlying factors behind the disease. Part of professional understanding is to perceive the person of the patient as a whole, and to provide treatment on a holistic level, including the spiritual needs of the patient.

Qualitative and quantitative papers are welcome! Please contact us: spiritualcare.psychosomatik@mh.tum.de

Courses (non-German)

 

ESPIRAC - MOOC en castellano

¿Qué le espera en este curso?

inscripción >>  ¡gratuita!

Videos in English

Publications in English

2025

Kubitza J, Handtke V, Mächler R, Teutsch D, Frick E (2025) How the consideration of spiritual types could help in coping with moral distress: a qualitative study. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing44(2):62-68.https://doi.org/10.1097/DCC.0000000000000684

Teutsch D, Frick E, Kubitza J (2025) What motivates critical care nurses to stay in their job? – Structural aspects for empowering intrinsic motivation in permissive professional contexts: A scoping review. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing 88:103929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2024.103929

 

2023

Hinzmann, D., Schütte-Nütgen, K., Büssing, A., Boenisch, O., Busch, H.-J., Dodt, C., Friederich, P., Kochanek, M., Michels, G. & Frick, E. (2023) Critical care providers' moral distress: Frequency, burden, and potential resources. Int J Environ Res Public Health 20(1): 333. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/333

Kubitza, J., Große, G., Schütte-Nütgen, K. & Frick, E. (2023) Influence of spirituality on moral distress and resilience among critical care staff in the era of the Covid 19 pandemic: A scoping review Intensive & Critical Care Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2022.103377  

Mächler, R., Frick, E., Sturm, N., Stolz, R., Valentini, J. & Straßner, C. (2023) Evaluation of an intervention in general practices to strengthen social activities in older patients–A qualitative study of patients’ experiences in the project HoPES3. Patient Educ Couns 107: 107571.

 

2022

Große, G., Frick, E. & Schütte-Nütgen, K. (2022) Does spirituality mitigate critical carers’ moral distress and strengthen their resilience? A scoping review protocol (registration DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/UYV9G). Spir Care 11(2): 192-198.

Maidl, L., Seemann, A.-K., Frick, E., Gündel, H. & Paal, P. (2022) Leveraging spirituality and religion in European for profit organizations: a systematic review. Humanistic Management Journal 7: 23–53.

Sohail, M. M., Frick, E. & Büssing, A. (2022) Spiritual care competences among health care professionals in Pakistan: Findings from a cross-sectional survey. Religions 13(4): 370.

Huperz, C., Sturm, N., Frick, E., Mächler, R., Stolz, R., Schalhorn, F., Valentini, J., Joos, S. & Straßner, C. (2022) Experiences of German health care professionals with spiritual history taking in primary care: a mixed-methods process evaluation of the HoPES3 intervention. Family Practice.

 

2021

Kunsmann-Leutiger, E., Straßner, C., Schalhorn, F., Stolz, R., Stotz-Ingenlath, G., Buhlinger-Göpfarth, N., Bentner, M., Joos, S., Valentini, J. & Frick, E. (2021) Training general practitioners and medical assistants within the framework of HoPES3, a holistic care program for elderly patients to integrate spiritual needs, social activity, and self-care into disease management in primary care. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare 14: 1853.

Sturm, N., Stolz, R., Schalhorn, F., Valentini, J., Krisam, J., Frick, E., Mächler, R., Szecsenyi, J. & Straßner, C. (2021) Self-efficacy, social activity, and spirituality in the care of elderly patients with polypharmacy in Germany—A multicentric cross-sectional study within the HoPES3 trial. Healthcare 9(10): 1312.

 

< 2021

Kunsmann-Leutiger, E., Loetz, C., Frick, E., Petersen, Y. & Müller, J. J. (2018) Attachment style and spiritual coping in palliative patients. J Hospice Pall Nurs 20(4): 385-391.

Partners

 

Josef and Luise Kraft Foundation

The Josef and Luise Kraft Foundation is a sponsor of the Chair. The topic of “healthy aging” creates strong scientific connections between the Chair and the Foundation. The Foundation’s purpose is to “support destitute elderly people worthy of assistance” and generally promote aid and care for the elderly.

 

 

My Home Life

The My Home Life program was launched in 2006 by the National Care Forum. This program, which has integrated scientific input from the outset, operates successfully in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Australia – and was also launched in Germany several years ago.

 

 

MUTASPIR

How can nursing and healthcare institutions integrate spiritual care as a resource? The MUTASPIR network, a project at Munich School of Philosophy, develops tailored organizational and staff development strategies to support the implementation of spiritual care in healthcare settings.