Amy D. Owen, Ph.D.
B.A., Luther College
M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Amy D. Owen, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health. She received her BA in Psychology from Luther College in 1999, and her PhD in Educational Psychology and an additional MS in Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008. Her primary focus of research has been on forgiveness: as a therapeutic intervention for various populations, the impact of forgiveness on those who forgive, and the concept and process of forgiveness in different cultures. Currently, Dr. Owen is studying the role of forgiveness (of self, another person, and perceived forgiveness from God) in the physical health of people living with HIV-AIDS. In addition, she is collaborating on studies of the relationship of forgiveness and cancer; religious factors and cardiovascular disease and mortality; and the longitudinal effects of religious identification and life-changing spiritual experiences on structural neuroanatomy in late life. Dr. Owen’s other interests include psychoneuroimmunology, the effects of mindfulness and meditation on health and addiction, physiological processes during spiritual experiences, and the influence of theological beliefs on health. She has experience working with quantitative and qualitative methodologies, cross-cultural research, and substance abuse treatment, and values interdisciplinary perspectives of inquiry and translational research goals. Dr. Owen enjoys speaking to audiences from both pulpit and podium about forgiveness and spirituality and health. She can be contacted at: amy.owen@duke.edu.
