Elizabeth J. Berger

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT ELIZABETH J. BERGER

Many people neglect the spiritual aspect of work-life integration for fear of religious proselytizing or professional embarrassment. My academic frameworks help organizations safely build spiritual capital. Call me to see if my programs might be a good fit for your organization!(40••••••10 I combine the insights from my secular upbringing and my work in healthcare and medical education to demystify spiritual health for people of all faiths and no faith so they can truly thrive at work. What is spiritual health? Spiritual health, which may or may not include religious practice, is the frequently overlooked aspect of mental health through which persons seek and assess meaning, purpose, and connectedness. I work within the evidence-bound realms of Western work culture to improve well-being by deconstructing persisting 20th-century associations of spirituality with anti-intellectualism. I have presented internationally on narrative medicine and the connections between spiritual health, performance and patient experience. Narrative medicine employs media and reflective writing to deepen awareness and improve relationships, with an overarching goal of reinvigorating commitments to service. A 2019 BMJ literature review associated narrative medicine with an array of positive outcomes for health science professionals including,\"enhancing narrative competence, communication and empathy; detecting and mitigating burnout; fostering reflection with regard to professional identity formation; promoting team-building and facilitating teaching competencies.\" Its emphasis on meaning-making also makes narrative medicine a highly effective vehicle for the delivery of spiritual care to participants in ways that transcend religion. I am an ordained member of the Jewish clergy. My areas of interest include burnout, moral injury, spirituality as a social determinant of health, unexplainable events, the ethics of narrative humility, reflection, mindful practice, team building, conflict resolution, curriculum development, and research.