The Institute to Co-Sponsor 15th Annual Collective Soul Symposium on April 10 and April 11 Dr. Enric Benito to Receive the 2026 Steve Thorney Spiritual Care Award and Deliver Keynote
NEWS RELEASE
HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 11, 2026) – The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center (the Institute), along with the University of Texas MD Anderson Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation & Integrative Medicine, will co-sponsor the 15th Annual Collective Soul Symposium. The theme of this year’s conference is “Living the Integration of Spiritual Care and Creating Healing Environments in our Daily Clinical Practice.”
The purpose of this course is to provide a better understanding of the Clinical Care Team’s role in enhancing the human spirit and relieving a patient’s bio-psychosocial and spiritual suffering. The symposium will be held on Friday, April 10, from 7:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) to 6 p.m. CDT, and Saturday, April 11, from 8 a.m. CDT to 5 p.m. CDT.
In the midst of life-threatening or advanced illness, spiritual distress can add to a patient’s total suffering. The interdisciplinary healthcare team (doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains) has the potential to alleviate spiritual distress by integrating spiritual care modalities into its work of creating a healing environment. The "collective soul" refers to the shared, interdisciplinary, and spiritual connection of healthcare team members working together with a common purpose, values, and, often, a sense of calling. It represents the team's combined commitment to addressing the total, multidimensional suffering of patients—physical, psychological, and spiritual.
“Spirituality and religiosity contribute to the quality of life and coping strategies for many individuals who are facing life-threatening illnesses. Such life-threatening events can also give rise to spiritual distress,” commented Stuart Nelson, president and chief executive officer of the Institute.
“Combined with chronic or acute pain and other physical and psychological symptoms, spiritual distress can add to a patient’s suffering. While palliative care teams seek to alleviate bodily suffering, they also seek to give light to the human spirit and create an environment conducive to peace and healing in the midst of painful or distressing experiences – often as the end-of-life approaches,” Nelson added.
The Collective Soul symposium is well-suited for community-based hospital chaplains, ministers, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Symposium speakers will help attendees gain a better understanding of how healthcare teams can embrace the human spirit of patients with advanced illness facing multiple physical and psychosocial, spiritual, and religious issues. Attendees will leave the event with spiritual care skills applicable in cases of advanced and life-threatening illness. Students are also welcome to attend.
“The Collective Soul Symposium offers spiritual care insights and strategies for clinicians caring for patients with advanced or life-threatening illness. We encourage medical, nursing, and other healthcare professionals, as well as chaplains, religious ministers, and anyone who wants to offer spiritual comfort to those with advanced illness to attend this symposium,” said Marianne P. Florian, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in religion and medicine working jointly at UTHealth McGovern Medical School and the Institute for Spirituality and Health. Florian is also a member of the planning committee for the symposium.
The symposium agenda includes the presentation of the 2026 Steve Thorney Spiritual Care Award by Eduardo Bruera, M.D., FAAHPM, to Enric Benito, M.D, Ph.D. Dr. Bruera is the Chair, Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Bruera’s bio is available here. Dr. Benito will deliver the 2026 Steve Thorney Keynote Lecture in Spiritual Care: "Cultivating Presence Is A Path We Can Take Every Day to Creating Healing Environments for Those in Suffering." Dr. Benito is a world-renowned palliative expert, a specialist in oncology, and an honorary Member of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (SECPAL). His experience and teachings are respected as a reference for palliative care and for the accompaniment and humanization of the process of dying well. The Steve Thorney Award was established in 2019. Thorney is a retired Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and board-certified chaplain. He served for many years as a staff chaplain at MD Anderson Cancer Center and as an associate pastor at Southminster Presbyterian Church in the Houston suburb of Missouri City. He also served as a guest speaker for the 2024 Silent Nights: A Meditation on Grief During the Holidays special event hosted annually by the Institute.
Fees and Registration
Fees are $50 per person for students, $75 for general admission, $100 for nurses, and $150 for physicians. The registration fee includes online materials, presentation PowerPoint slides, and symposium session recordings. Those interested in attending can register online. Continuing education credits are available.
More about Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care
According to MD Anderson, palliative care is a holistic approach that helps ease the suffering and improve the quality of life for patients with advanced, life-threatening, or life-limiting, or chronic illnesses, as well as those recovering from serious illness. The goal is to provide the best possible quality of life at every stage of treatment, from diagnosis onward. Palliative care is also known as supportive care or symptom control.
Palliative care can address:
Physical symptoms such as pain, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, and other treatment-related symptoms
Mental, emotional, and behavioral health
Patient-Centered approaches to wellbeing, including religious and spiritual resources and distress
End-of-life or hospice care
Support systems and social support
If an illness can no longer be treated, the focus of healthcare professionals and spiritual caregivers shifts to providing end-of-life care. Palliative care specialists can help determine a patient’s needs and create a plan to address them.
M.D. Anderson sources also explained that end-of-life care can include:
Patient comfort care planning to treat symptoms such as pain, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and other problems.
Advance care planning addresses decisions about wills, funeral arrangements, and other details.
Decision-making about where and how care will be provided.
About the Institute
The Institute is an independent, interfaith organization established in 1955. A founding member of the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, it continues to make a meaningful difference by cultivating well-being for all community members.
The Institute’s mission is to enhance well-being by exploring the relationship between spirituality and health. It advances this mission through education, research, and direct service programs, guided by its four Centers of Excellence: the Rabbi Samuel E. Karff Center for Healthcare Professionals, the Center for Body, Spirit, and Mind, the Center for End of Life and Aging, and the Center for Faith and Public Health.
For more information about the Institute, please visit www.spiritualityandhealth.org.
Media Contact:
Laura Pennino, Senior PR Consultant for The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
mobile: 713-419-1776 | email: lp@penninoandpartners.com