The UK is home to one of the most religiously and culturally diverse populations in Europe. Similarly, in South East Asia, India is diverse in terms of religion, language and culture. In the UK, large first- and second-generation communities of South Asian heritage form one of the largest minority ethnic groups, accounting for nearly 9% of the population in England and Wales according to the 2021 Census. Their diverse cultural and spiritual traditions often shape how health, illness and recovery are understood, making it essential for clinicians to integrate cultural and religious sensitivity into practice.
Spiritual beliefs frequently shape patients’ experiences of illness, recovery and engagement with services, yet these are often overlooked or inconsistently assessed. We believe clinicians should be skilled in assessing spiritual beliefs through a collaborative and respectful stance as part of the bio psychosocial formulation.
Assessment of spiritual beliefs includes the person’s values and views on life, selfhood, relationship with others, their understanding of suffering, attribution of symptoms, illness and disability.
The speakers will summarise major traditions from the Indian subcontinent such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam , and explore different perspectives on health, illness, suffering and its meaning. The speakers will discuss their own personal spiritual perspectives, and experience from their specialties such as social psychiatry, liaison psychiatry, and medical psychotherapy.
The presentation will highlight similarities such as compassion and finding meaning, purpose and fulfilment in life. An understanding of the differences and similarities across these traditions will help to co construct collaborative individualised formulations for interventions and treatment for patients who value spirituality.
Ethical principles of spiritual care will be discussed to further understanding of how practitioners can avoid pitfalls and risks such as avoidance or overinvolvement, bias due to own beliefs, exertion of undue influence and proselytism.
Learning objectives
By the end of this webinar you should be able to:
• take a Religion/Spirituality History
• learn to develop a formulation by understanding the influence of spiritual and religious beliefs in shaping core beliefs about self, relationship to others and life in general
• learn how own personal spiritual beliefs can help or hinder in coping with mental and physical illness
• identify two things you could use in clinical practice to improve health and well being.
Speakers
Chair: Professor Swaran Singh, Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, Coventry
Dr Padakkara Saju, Bradford District Care Trust, Bradford
Professor Swaran Singh, Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, Coventry
Professor Patricia Casey, University College, Dublin
Funding
RCPsych International Congress is financially supported by the purchase of exhibition stand packages. A full list of confirmed exhibitors can be found here: Exhibiting Organisations at International Congress 2026
Availability
This webinar is part of the Congress webinar 2026 package. If you attended all four days of Congress, you will have access to these as part of your Congress package. Otherwise the Congress webinar 2026 package can be purchased below.
