ABSTRACT
The act of gathering information is a necessary precursor to intervention, but such activities are also truly interventions in themselves. Before a clinician can begin to integrate spirituality into the healthcare context and introduce any sort of intervention, there are a number of prerequisites that are important to observe. The interventions that are possible within the healthcare context will involve all three levels. These are: active listening and providing counsel, and psychotherapy or formal spiritual counseling. The first two are likely to take place in the healthcare setting itself and be implemented by the clinicians themselves. The third is more likely to take place outside the clinical setting and be provided by spiritual experts or mental health professionals. These interventions will be the result of a referral by the healthcare professional, and, ideally, will be collaborative in nature. The first prerequisite of the effective integration of medicine and spirituality is the development of a safe environment.
