D20: Spiritual Health

A person practicing yoga in outdoor setting, focusing on meditation and mindfulness.

Course Overview

CE Hours

3 CE Credits

Course Description

Spiritual Health is an intensely personal course that examines the spiritual dimensions of health and wellness. This course helps learners develop an understanding of their spiritual life, gain insight into their spiritual journey, identify resources for spiritual emergencies, and explore the meaning of death and grief. Topics include the relationship between spirituality and religion, tools for taking a spiritual history, signs of spiritual injury, the five stages of grief, the Dying Person’s Bill of Rights, and the role of spirituality in counseling and overall health. Learners will come away with practical frameworks for fostering spiritual health in themselves and their clients.

Course Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  1. Distinguish between spirituality and religion and explain how each relates to overall health and well-being
  2. Describe the four key dimensions of spiritual life — relationship with God, self, others, and creation
  3. Apply the SPIRIT mnemonic to take a spiritual history in a clinical or counseling context
  4. Identify the characteristics of spiritual integration versus spiritual disintegration
  5. Describe the nature and purpose of a spiritual journey and explain its key stages
  6. Define spiritual emergencies as a DSM-IV diagnostic category and identify signs of significant spiritual injury
  7. Describe the five stages of grief according to Kubler-Ross and explain their clinical relevance
  8. Apply the rights outlined in the Dying Person’s Bill of Rights to end-of-life care settings
  9. Identify therapeutic approaches for supporting dying patients and their families

Course Format and Faculty

Course Format:

Online linked resources and lectures available anytime, 24/7. Includes one multiple-choice exam taken at the end of the course. A passing grade of 75% is required. Upon passing, learners may print their certificate immediately.

Course Developers and Instructors:

R. Klimes, PhD, MPH (Johns Hopkins University) is a scholar and author in health-related research, health behaviors, ethics, end-of-life care, and overall wellness. He has written numerous research reports and books and has held academic and leadership roles in higher education and public health internationally.

Course Time:

Approximately 3 hours for online study, test taking, course evaluation feedback, and certificate printing.