David B. Larson
David B. Larson, M.D., was a psychiatrist trained at Duke, who founded and directed the National Institute for Healthcare Research and was a leader in the religion and health research field. He died suddenly at the young age of 54 on March 5, 2002. The David B. Larson Memorial Lecture was established in 2003 to honor Dr. Larson’s pioneering work.
David B. Larson Memorial Lecture
The 10th Annual David B. Larson Memorial Lecture will be held Thursday, March 8, 2012. The speaker will be Ken Pargament, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH. For details about the location and time of the lecture contact Dr. Koenig (koenig@geri.duke.edu).
From Research to Practice:
Envisioning an Applied Psychology of Religion, Spirituality,
and Health
Thursday, March 8, 2012
5:30PM - 6:30PM
Duke University Hospital North Rm 2001
Presented by
Kenneth I. Pargament, Ph.D.
Summary
Over the last 50 years, researchers in the domain of religion, spirituality, and health have shed light on the deepest and most elusive dimensions of human functioning. We have made significant progress toward three of the basic goals of any science: description, explanation, and prediction. These advances have made possible the pursuit of a fourth and vital goal – putting the knowledge from research and scholarship into practice. This lecture will present a vision for an applied psychology of religion, spirituality, and health as a multi-disciplinary field that draws on empirical science to benefit individuals, families, institutions, and society. The first part of this lecture will focus on why the movement from research to practice is especially challenging in the area of religion, spirituality and health. The second portion will present a brief rationale for conceptualizing religion, spirituality, and health as an applied field. Most of this lecture will be devoted to elaborating on a vision for an applied psychology of religion, spirituality and health. The lecture concludes with a discussion of future directions and challenges for our field.
Kenneth Pargament is Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Spirituality and Health of the Texas Medical Center, and professor of clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Pargament has been a leading figure in the effort to bring a more balanced view of religious life to the attention of social scientists and health professionals. He has published over 200 articles on religion and mental health. He is author of The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. He is editor-in-chief of the forthcoming two-volume APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. Dr. Pargament has consulted with several foundations, the National Institutes of Health, the United States Army, and the World Health Organization. His awards include the William James Award for excellence in research in the psychology of religion from Division 36 of APA, the Virginia Staudt Sexton Mentoring Award from APA for guiding and encouraging others in the field, and two exemplary paper awards from the John Templeton Foundation. More recently, he was awarded the 2009 Oskar Pfitzer Award from the American Psychiatric Association and 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohio Psychological Association in recognition of his research and practical efforts to understand and enhance the links between religion and mental health.
