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Published on: February 23, 2024

How faith heals: a theoretical model.

Jeff Levin1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

Explore (New York, N.Y.)
|March 11, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Faith, defined as belief, trust, and obedience, shows a healing effect. Psychology supports this faith-healing association through various theories and mechanisms, suggesting a link between religion and medicine.

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Last Updated: Jun 25, 2026

A Swine Burn Model for Investigating the Healing Process in Multiple Depth Burn Wounds
02:49

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Published on: February 23, 2024

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Religion
  • Medicine

Background:

  • Faith is defined as a congruence of belief, trust, and obedience in relation to God or the divine.
  • The Jewish canon provides examples of religious affirmation for the connection between faith and health outcomes.
  • Contemporary psychology offers theories that can accommodate the concept of faith's healing power.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To summarize theoretical perspectives from psychology supporting a healing effect of faith.
  • To present evidence for a faith-healing association, both empirical and theoretical.
  • To discuss implications for integrating religion and medicine.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of theoretical perspectives in psychology.
  • Examination of evidence for a faith-healing association.
  • Citation of passages from the Jewish canon.
  • Reference to theories of hope, learned optimism, positive illusions, disclosure, psychoneuroimmunology, and placebos.

Main Results:

  • Contemporary psychology can accommodate a healing power of faith.
  • A typology of five hypothesized mechanisms underlying a faith-healing association is proposed: behavioral/conative, interpersonal, cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological.
  • The Jewish canon attests to biblical and rabbinic support for a faith factor in health and well-being.

Conclusions:

  • Psychological theories and research support the concept of a healing effect of faith.
  • The proposed mechanisms provide a framework for understanding the faith-healing association.
  • There are implications for the rapprochement of religion and medicine.