MALIBU, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Kenneth I. Pargament, Ph.D., a professor of clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University, has been selected to deliver the psychology commencement address for the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) on Saturday, May 18, 2013.

Pargament is a practicing clinical psychologist and distinguished scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. He is a leading figure in the resurgence of attention to the connection between spirituality and health. Through studies of groups dealing with trauma survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, victims of natural disasters, and the medically ill Pargament identified many of the specific ways religion can help or hurt people in crisis.

Dr. Pargaments psychology expertise has resulted in inspiring recovery for the individuals and communities hes served, said Margaret J. Weber, dean, GSEP. We are honored to have him share his knowledge and experience with our psychology graduates.

Pargament advocates for greater sensitivity to spirituality in health care. He is editor-in-chief of the recently published two-volume APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality, which highlights the role of spirituality in health. Pargaments 2007 book, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred, covered the insights gained through the application of spiritually integrated treatments for survivors of child sexual abuse, women infected with HIV, and patients with heart disease and cancer.

For this work, Pargament won the Oskar Pfister Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the Outstanding Contributor to Graduate Education at Bowling Green State University, and the National Samaritan Center Award. He has consulted with the National Institutes of Health, the United States Army, and the World Health Organization.

Pargament earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland and interned in clinical psychology at Rutgers Medical School. He completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Pargament will receive an Honorary Degree from Pepperdine University.

The psychology commencement ceremony for GSEP will take place at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 18, 2013, at the Alumni Park on Pepperdine Universitys Malibu, California campus. Pepperdine University commencements are hosted outdoors with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop and are open to the public.

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Kenneth I. Pargament to Deliver Commencement Address for the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and ...