Living the Questions: Is It Ethical to Pray with Your Patients?

By Cynthia M. A. Geppert, MD, PhD | November 3, 2009

by Frank Hosszu | September 07, 2010 8:30 PM EDT

I pray with/for patients after asking them if they would like me to and their response is, "yes."
We generally tend to forget that when a person goes into hospital or care, that they don't just have physical ailments, pain and disease, disabilities, mental health issues etc, they also have spiritual needs and these need to be addressed also if and when appropriate.

Frank Hosszu

by Sharon Winters | June 18, 2010 8:31 AM EDT

Prayer is communicating with God. I pray for my patients always, in that I pray for guidance in helping me be supportive, healing, directive, comforting, and most of all edifying. Of course, I am a Christian, so I believe in prayer. I manifest my beliefs through my actions. I don't preach, pontificate, lecture. or sermonize. The power of prayer is amazing. This situation is one in which the psychiatrist was either agnostic or atheist so that what was happening when the woman asked for him to pray with her, is that he was only being a good listener, which is very important but not the same as "praying with her". I guess it doesn't really matter what we call his response. She would be praying with God and the pschiatrist would be listening and acknowledging her suffering and embracing her hope. No different than if the patient and psychiatrist agreed to have her write a letter to someone important to the lady such that she could communicate her feelings and hopes. The difference is in whether the psychiatrist does not believe in God, in which case, he would feel he was participating in the woman's delusion! In any case, none of this is an ethical issue in my opinion.

by kenneth tuzzi | June 17, 2010 8:16 PM EDT

i believe it is ethecal to pray with a client, as long as the client asks. also i would let the client know that they should pray with their reverened or family not their therapist. only praying with her because of the current situation.

by Bogdan Sasaran | June 17, 2010 10:35 AM EDT

No.

by Richard Fisher | June 17, 2010 10:26 AM EDT

Much has to do with the local culture, and if you share the same faith traditions as the patient. If in the "Bible Belt" and you share the same beliefs as the patient, it can provide tremendous comfort to them.

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Should You Pray with Your Patient? . . . A Reader Responds

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Living the Questions: Is It Ethical to Pray with Your Patients?

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