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Teaching Clergy and Religious

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Resources for Teaching Mindfulness

Abstract

The community of clergy and religious orders totals more than 350,000 people in the USA alone (Wells, Probst, McKeown, Mitchem, & Whiejong, 2012), comprising a diverse range of individuals with widely varying professional responsibilities and roles. Churches and religious organizations have varied expectations and requirements for members of the clergy (e.g., celibacy) which can present challenges for the development and maintenance of social support networks. Mindfulness-based programs can provide strategies that assist clergy and members of religious orders in maintaining appropriate forms of self-care and facilitating effective engagement in valued life activities even when intensive time demands and complex roles and responsibilities threaten to reduce opportunities for reflection and contemplation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Studies in Psychology, Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ, 07083, USA

    Donald R. Marks Psy.D.

  2. Center for Contemplative Studies, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 930 E. Lincoln Highway, Suite 100, Exton, PA, 19341, USA

    Christine D. Moriconi PsyD, LMFT, PMHCNS-BC, RN

Authors
  1. Donald R. Marks Psy.D.
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  2. Christine D. Moriconi PsyD, LMFT, PMHCNS-BC, RN
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Correspondence to Donald R. Marks Psy.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Contemplative Studies, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

    Donald McCown

  2. Mindfulness Institute, Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Diane Reibel

  3. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Marc S. Micozzi

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Marks, D.R., Moriconi, C.D. (2016). Teaching Clergy and Religious. In: McCown, D., Reibel, D., Micozzi, M. (eds) Resources for Teaching Mindfulness. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30100-6_22

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