May 2026
A new program at the Yale School of Medicine spans spirituality and mental health. “We want to train students to think fluidly across boundaries,” says one of the founders.
What do levitation, gospel music, and holistic medicine have in common? They are part of the same curriculum at Yale University.
The Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine has started a new program to explore the intersection between spirituality and mental health. Spirituality can have a powerful influence on mental health, yet only 10 percent of psychiatrists ask patients about their spiritual beliefs, according to an April 21 announcement of the program.
“We want to train students to think fluidly across boundaries,” says Charles Pittenger, professor of psychiatry at the medical school, and one of the founders of the new program.
“Spiritual experience is an incredibly important part of people’s lives and often a source of resilience. It can also be a source of trauma, alienation, or strain,” Pittenger said. “If you’re working closely with someone and trying to understand their lives and their struggles, spiritual issues come constantly.”
Yet in academic psychiatry, discussion about spirituality is too often avoided, Pittenger said, partly because it’s difficult to find the right language.
The program will feature monthly public colloquia between Yale academics working in various fields at first, then broadening the view of teachers and researchers at the university and beyond.
One recent conversation was between Pittenger and Yale historian Carlos Eire who has researched reports of levitation and bilocation through history and cultures. Eire argues thousands of such reports are sufficiently documented they should be taken seriously by academics, yet researchers shy away for fear of sullying their reputations.
Another recent dialogue was between AZA Allsop, a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and artist who conducts research on social cognition, music mindfulness, and psychedelics, and Braxton Shelley, a professor who specializes in African American gospel music.
The program was inspired by Anna Yusim, a Yale School of Medicine graduate and New York City psychiatrist who came to a personal and professional epiphany about the importance of spirituality and holistic mental health therapy. She wrote about her experiences in a book, “Fulfilled; How the Science of Spirituality Can Help You Live a Happier, More Meaningful Life.” Eben Alexander, a well-known neurosurgeon who wrote about his Near-Death Experience, wrote the foreword to the book.
The program is at least the second effort within the Yale School of Medicine to integrate spirituality. In 2014, two Yale doctors created The Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion, founded upon the belief that healing concerns the wellness of both the body and the spirit. That program was co-founded by Benjamin Doolittle who is professor both in the medical school and in the Yale Divinity School.
Recently, an interdisciplinary team of researchers within that program developed a model for how scientists and clergy can collaborate in research. The model grew out of questions about the use of prayer in pain management.
“Presently, we are in a watershed moment … for the incorporation of integrative and spiritual practices in the holistic care of patients,” says a paper on the model published recently in the journal Religions.
Written by Tom Zolper
Edited by Liza Horan
