When you are diagnosed with cancer, or blindsided by a stroke, a health crisis can turn into a dark night of the soul.

Many patients torment themselves, asking, What did I do to make my body turn against me? And if months of agonizing treatments stretch ahead, with no guarantee of a complete recovery, the burning question may be, What is the meaning of all this suffering?

In addition to prescribing medication to help with physical symptoms, health-care professionals are increasingly tuning in to their patients spiritual needs.

For the past year at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, outpatients have been able to book a 20-minute session of non-denominational support from a spiritual-care provider before or after a chemo treatment. Occupational therapists in Canada have enshrined spiritual care in their guidelines, making it their job to help patients who may be physically or cognitively impaired tap into life-affirming sources of personal meaning, such as nature or the arts.

The new approach to spiritual care is not the same as religious counselling or the healing response associated with the placebo effect. Rather, it is based on the idea that everyone has the need for hope, meaning and purpose in life, and that connecting to ones spirit, the essence of the self, can be a powerful motivator in healing.

Researchers in the emerging field of spirituality in medicine argue that science alone cannot meet the needs of aging populations who increasingly suffer from depression, social isolation and chronic diseases such as diabetes and dementia, which tend to worsen over time.

Physicians and nurse practitioners should not only prescribe pills or recommend psychotherapy, researchers say, but also support patients through compassion and mindfulness.

Patients want much more than a cold doctor, said Dr. Christina Puchalski, a palliative-care physician and founder of the GW Institute for Spirituality and Health at George Washington University in Washington.

In the past two decades, more than 75 per cent of U.S. medical schools have integrated spirituality-related topics into their training.

Puchalski noted that a growing number of health-care workers, including doctors, are participating in group discussions and reflective writing exercises designed to enhance their own self-awareness.

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Reclaiming medicines spiritual roots: Treating people, not just diseases