Teaching/Education

PhD Program

The centre runs a research PhD program focusing on key issues within the area of spirituality and health and the theology of disability. Projects currently ongoing include:

Spirituality and Health

• A Theological Interpretation of “Mental Illness

• "What does it mean to be saved?": Evangelicalism and People with Profound and Complex Learning Disabilities

• An Autoethnographic and dialogical narrative analysis approach towards reframing and witnessing the lived experience of mental health problems

• Trauma amongst soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan

• What is the Impact of Western Psychology on the Counselling Ministry of the African Churches within the United Kingdom: A grounded theory Research on Integration in Pastoral Counselling?

• “Congregational Health in the Church of Scotland: study utilising an holistic model of health”

• How Might Psychiatrists and Chaplains Work Collaboratively in Delivering Spiritual Mental Health Care? – A Canadian Perspective.

• The lived experience of losing a child in the context of chaplaincy

• Spirituality in public health within the NHS

• The lived experience of grief amongst Scottish Men

• Spirituality and people experiencing stroke

Theology of Disabilty

• Wholeness In The Body Of Christ: A theological investigation into the ‘prophetic’ role of the Church in the full inclusion of Disabled People.

• EU policy and a just vision of the human person

• Disability and the image of God

• Shame and Learning Disabilities

• A public theology of disability

Practical Theology

• The Body Broken: Relationship, Meaning and Healing in the Aftermath of Child Sexual Abuse

• Ministry with homeless people

• A theology of disaffection in schools

Masters Program

The Centre also has an active research Masters course. Details of the application process for both degrees can be found at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/.

Multidisciplinary Modules on Spirituality, Health and Healing

The centre runs an honours level course on spirituality health and healing. This course was originally supported by a grant from the Templeton Foundation as part of their spirituality and health programme. The course is unique within the United Kingdom in that it brings together students from medicine, theology and nursing (Robert Gordon’s University in Aberdeen) and draws them into constructive dialogue around the subject of spirituality, health and healing. In bringing together scientific and theological perspectives around the subject of spirituality and health, it has been possible to draw out the connections and explore the important interconnectivity and complementarity between these three disciplines. Such a combination of disciplines and variety of perspectives has provided a unique educational context within which the relevance and significance of spirituality both for the church in its healing ministry, and for contemporary health care practices, has been explored and its implications for research, theory and practice worked out.

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/medical/resource_centre/medical_humanities/#courseId1