Chaplaincy and Mental Health

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." —French philosopher, priest, and paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Spiritual Care Week: It's Healthy to Get Help.

Source: Esteban Benites/Unsplash

Chaplains are a commonly overlooked and undervalued part of integrative care within the healthcare system. Spiritual Care Week celebrates chaplains during the third week of October,* supporting spiritual care for all and specifically in support of chaplains and the work they do.

To understand more about this, I spoke with Reverend Susan Cosio about Spiritual Care Week, chaplaincy, and the role of a chaplain, especially during the pandemic—as well as what Susan practices for her own spiritual care.

Jess: What is Spiritual Care Week, and why is it important?

Susan: Spiritual Care Week is celebrated across the U.S. and beyond. Its purpose is:

• To celebrate the education for and practice of spiritual care through professional chaplaincy and pastoral counseling
• To interpret and promote spiritual care
• To honor and celebrate all practitioners of spiritual care
• To express appreciation to institutions and their staff who support spiritual care ministries
• To publicize the work of spiritual care organizations
• To promote continuing education for clergy, laity, and institutional employees regarding the value of spiritual care

Each year, a new theme brings to light a certain aspect of spiritual care as a focus. This year’s theme is “Chaplaincy and Mental Health: It’s Healthy to Get Help.”

Jess: What do you do as a hospital chaplain?

Susan: Chaplains work in various healthcare settings: hospitals, hospices, and clinics. Chaplains are a part of the interdisciplinary healthcare team and specifically assess and address the spiritual needs of patients and families. Spiritual needs are important to a person’s health and recovery.

Often, when patients are facing a difficult diagnosis or prognosis, a health crisis truly is a spiritual crisis because it causes a person to question their sense of identity, purpose, reality, and relationship to God and the world around them. This can be disorienting in the midst of an already disorienting experience. Chaplains support those in the midst of a healthcare process by providing ongoing and crisis support to patients, families, and staff.

Jess: A whole-person or biopsychosocial-spiritual approach is key for our health. What are the challenges of providing integrated care from your perspective at this time?

Susan: The U.S. healthcare system is focused primarily on one’s physical (biomedical) systems, but a person’s health is really a connection of body, mind, and spirit. Unfortunately, physicians are not always trained in a holistic approach and assume there is always a mechanistic solution for what they see as scientific problems. Some practitioners minimize or are unaware of the importance of one’s spirit, even to their own health and well-being, and therefore may overlook its importance in their patients’ lives and recovery.

Jess: What is a major misconception that the public has about chaplains as part of a healthcare team?

Susan: People often think chaplains are volunteers who walk around praying for people or seeking to convert them. Professional chaplains have at least a master’s-level education with a minimum of one year of full-time, post-graduate training at an accredited facility (typically a hospital setting). This training is called Clinical Pastoral Education and is a strenuous training program that requires at least 40 hours per week over a period of at least one year.

Chaplains come from a variety of spiritual traditions but must be ordained or credentialed and endorsed by their religious body. Professional chaplains are then board-certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains or another certifying body. We are trained to assess and meet the needs of patients and families of all spiritual traditions as well as those with no identified religious or spiritual practice.

Jess: Early on in the pandemic, many healthcare workers witnessed people dying without their friends and family around them. You sometimes felt alone, yet ran from crisis to crisis, especially during COVID’s worst. How do you cope with this?

Susan: Yes, COVID-19 presented challenges for healthcare chaplains who continued to provide direct patient care during the pandemic. We also had to adjust to a continually changing work environment as we adapted to rapid changes that impacted patients, their families, and hospital staff. It also impacted us, but because we were among the “first responders” caring for patients, families, and staff, we needed to remain calm, and it was hard to access the support or resources we needed. Very little tends to be in place to support chaplains, so one thing I have done in response to this is to create events such as retreats for chaplains (Cultivating a Rhythm of Grace) during Spiritual Care Week to meet this critical need.

Jess: You seem to care deeply about your work. What else do you do for your personal biopsychosocial-spiritual care to prevent burnout?

Susan: I take a daily walk by myself to connect with God, nature, and my spirit. Movement helps relieve tension in my body. I spend time alone but also connect with family and friends—we laugh to maintain a sense of lightness of spirit. With this, I practice letting go of being in control and trusting God. I have also learned to reach out for additional help when I need it without shame or hesitation.