Although followers of religious traditions may suffer from physical and mental ill health like anyone else, it appears that the possibility of healing - in particular of mental problems - is greatly enhanced by their faith. Conversely, if those with intransigent psychic and psychological problems can be brought to have faith then their chances of recovery, of becoming "whole", are greatly increased. The equivalence of physical healing and spiritual wholeness, ignored in the west since the age of enlightenment but currently seeing a resurgence, is implicit in language (for example, in English, "healing", "wholeness" and "holiness" all derive from the same root); and is central to many religions, in particular to Christianity - cf the end of St Mark's Gospel (chapter 16 verses 17-18) where the disciples are told that in Jesus' name they "shall cast out devils" and "lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". It is interesting that a significant, probably the main, part of Jesus ministry was in healing the sick, but that his emphasis was always on faith and forgiveness rather than on the physical cure, although the physical cure was achieved. Clearly true healing is that of the spirit and mind as well as the body. This is the position of the Charismatic Movement, to which the gifts of the Spirit (charisms) are as real today as they were in the early Church and which considers healing the sick as one of the keynotes of its ministry.
The theme of forgiveness, of healing of past hurts and of memories has been combined with Erikson's theory of human development in the eight stages of life by Matthew and Dennis Linn and Sheila Fabricant. They see trauma, hurt and spiritual wounds as interfering in the normal development of personality, but that the maladjustment so caused may be corrected by inner healing through resolution of the conflicts inherent in each particular stage. By making the experience of healing also a concrete experience of God's love, the individual also comes into a closer and undistorted relationship with God. They also look at forgiveness in terms of the five stages of dying (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross), so that working through negative emotions to forgive others can be compared with the same struggle to forgive God, others and one's self for the decline which the process of death demonstrates in mortal life. The experience of being loved enough to accept one's self and of sharing one's negative feelings with another is important - but the professional psychological approach is combined with charismatic prayer and the sacrament of eucharist.
