We are as uncomfortable with the idea as we are with AIDS, and suggest that it belongs to the realm of religion or perhaps the arts, but is of little concern to the trained physician. This is odd, because the dictionary suggests that the soul is the animating or vital force in mankind. Soul is the vital force in men and women. It is the center of feelings and imagination. If we suppress feelings or act as if the imagination is frivolous and should give way to the rational, functional imperatives of science, then we mute the soul.
Soul is the vital force in everything.
It is there in the sunset or the forest. It exudes from many buildings, especially old ones which were not designed rationally and functionally with cost as the ultimate arbiter. These soulful buildings nudge our feelings so that we feel warm and at home, or inspired or moved in some way. Hospitals have very little soul. Built rationally and functionally in the service of technology, the soul has been cost-cut out of them.