Division 36: Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality will cohost the 2026 Global Summit on Spirituality, Religion, and Mental Health on May 14-15, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts, along with the World Psychiatric Association, Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry. The theme is “Charting the Future: Translating Research to Practice.”
There has now been more than a quarter-century of sustained empirical measurement development and data evaluation of the psychology of religion and spirituality (R/S): mental health risk and protective factors have been identified, interventions have been developed, training programs have been implemented, and their outcomes have been studied. Across these twenty-five years, the methodologies for basic research on R/S, as well as positive and negative clinical implications of R/S, have emerged from Wonder if? . . . to . . . Look at that!
The research of the members of Division 36, when applied to the research of any of APA’s other 53 divisions, can expand what is known. This begins with the empirical understanding that religion is real: it is present across all human history, and still today influences cognitions, emotions, and behaviors of persons across geography, ethnicity, age, and gender. This is distinct from any conversation about whether any one religion may be true, which is not the purview of psychology.
Religious communities and their leaders are part of networks of spiritual/faith-based organizations (SFBOs) that are naturally occurring social infrastructures (churches, mosques, synagogues, temples . . .). There are over 356,642 SFBOs in the United States. They support both well-resourced as well as underserved communities. Persons from underrepresented ethnic groups who contend with other social determinants of poor health (e.g., systemic racism, poverty), as well as older persons—with higher disease burdens and poorer health outcomes—tend to be more likely to participate in community SFBO activities, as well as seek help and counsel there.
The good news and bad news about religion is that it is powerful. The effects can be positive; they can also be negative and traumatic. The work of colleagues across Division 36 can provide necessary concepts and tools to learn about a subject that few psychologists know how to study or address in clinical practice, because R/S is not a standard element in our curricula. The tools we’ve developed can generate data across all of the different subjects of study of our APA divisions; whether it is children or adults or families; whether history or philosophy; whether community or trauma or the military; or whether the emerging psychological research of AI and psychedelics. Efforts are also nearing completion to propose a set of Professional Practice Guidelines for Addressing Religion and Spirituality in Psychological Practice for our broader APA community.
So, if you can attend, we’d love to welcome you to the 2026 Global Summit on Spirituality, Religion, and Mental Health, in Boston this coming May 14–15. Be sure to look for more posts and pieces as we offer religion to every division.