Faith as a mental health practice: what scans and believers show
September 29, 2026 · 17 min read
Andrew Newberg's brain imaging of prayer, Arthur Brooks on faith as practice, and Mel Gibson and Pastor Michael Todd on faith in recovery and relationships show spiritual practice supporting meaning and calm. It frames religion and spirituality as a resource people can use, whatever their beliefs.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Andrew Newberg: everyone has a similar brain, so spiritual experience is open to believers and atheists alike.
- Newberg's common definition of spiritual: connecting with something greater than the self, including nature, music or humanity.
- Scan findings: the parietal lobe quiets during oneness; the frontal lobes quiet at surrender; the limbic system writes the experience into memory.
- Five elements of spiritual experience: unity, intensity, clarity, surrender, transformation.
- About 90 to 95% of survey respondents said the experience changed them for the better.
- Newberg: when stuck, find a new ritual or practice.
- Newberg: small moments of awe count; it is how you engage, not what you do.
- Arthur Brooks: start with practice; belief and feeling come only occasionally.
- Brooks's three questions: coherence, purpose and significance.
- Mel Gibson: appealing to a higher power ended his addiction; he prays each morning not to deceive himself.
- Michael Todd: pair faith with therapy; common faith anchors a relationship.
- No practice is one-size-fits-all, and nothing guarantees an experience.
- Scans show brain activity, not whether the experience is true.
- For depression, addiction or trauma, work with a doctor or therapist; faith is a complement.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.