The National Association of Catholic Chaplains

Menu
  • Membership
      • Apply for Membership
      • Frequently-Asked Questions about Membership
      • Request Retired Membership
      • State Liaisons
      • Newest Members
      • Membership Directory
      • Member map
      • Celebrating Our Members’ 25-year Membership and Certification
      • In Memoriam: deceased NACC members
    • Close
  • Certification
    • Initial Board Certification
      • Board Certified Chaplain (BCC)
      • Certified Associate Chaplain (CAC)
      • Palliative Care and Hospice Advanced Certification (PCHAC)
      • VA Initial Board Certification
      • Recognition of Strategic Partners Board Certification
      • Newly Certified Chaplains
      • Close
    • Renewal of Certification
    • Certification Competencies & Procedures
      • Certification Competencies & Procedures
      • Important Background on NACC Certification Competencies
      • Professional Code of Ethics for Spiritual Care Professionals
      • Certification Commission
      • Certification Appeals Panel
      • Ethics Appeals Panel
      • Close
    • Mentors
    • Recognition of Strategic Partners Board Certification
    • Verifying Certification
    • Maintaining Certification in Retirement
    • Graduate Theological Programs
    • Close
  • Education Resources
      • 2023 Retreat
      • 2023 Webinar Series
      • Recorded webinars (2009-2022)
      • Calendar of Events
      • Graduate Theological Programs
      • CPE Programs
      • NACC Professional Networking Calls
      • Continuing Education Hour Requests – Guidelines and Forms
      • Ongoing Educational Opportunities
      • Local/Regional Gatherings & Events
      • Past Conferences (2004 – 2022)
      • Vision
    • Close
  • Resources
    • Antiracism Resources
    • Administrator Resources
    • Awareness Resources
    • Chaplaincy Care Resources
    • Coronavirus Resources & Updates
    • Job Listings
    • The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling
    • Partners in Pastoral Care
    • Research
    • Specialty Care Resources
    • Spirituality and Prayer Resources
    • Spiritual Care Department Resources
    • Vision
    • Close
  • About NACC
    • About the NACC
      • Mission/Vision/Values
      • Constitution and ByLaws
      • Strategic Plan
      • History
      • Close
    • Annual Awards
    • Association Leadership
      • NACC Board of Directors
      • Committees, Commissions, and Panels
      • National Office Staff
      • Episcopal Advisory Council
      • Close
    • Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition (CPMC)
    • Choose Chaplaincy
    • Health Care Collaborators
    • NACC Merchandise
    • NACC Publications and Documents
      • Vision
      • NACC Now
      • Annual Reports & Financial Reviews
      • Documents and publications
      • NACC Blog
      • Close
    • Partners in Pastoral Care
    • Partners for Professional Excellence in Spiritual Care
    • Vision
    • Close
  • Choose Chaplaincy
  • Contact Us
      • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

    • Close
  • Donate Now
  • Member Login
Home » Vision » November-December 2015 » Chaplains promote spiritual wellness as foundation

Chaplains promote spiritual wellness as foundation

By Julianne Dickelman

Providence Health and Services has recently launched a well-being initiative aimed at employees. This initiative from our human resources department encourages us to take advantage of benefits at our disposal to nourish five dimensions of well-being — emotional/spiritual, community, career, financial, and physical. The initiative envisions “well-being champions” who are “committed to building a resilient, inspired and vibrant workplace; encouraging healthy behaviors … and supporting those around them.”
NACC Vision Logo Oct 15

But haven’t chaplains always been well-being champions? Haven’t we always supported fellow staff, believing in the trickle-down theory that if the care provider is cared for, then the patient and family receive better care? (We may not always be as good at taking care of ourselves — but I see great improvement on that front.)

Chaplains in other ministries likely do what we do here at Providence Health Care in eastern Washington: serve as critical incident debriefers, lead prayer and memorial services for staff, offer hand-blessings and other rituals, build relationships, become trusted team members, listen compassionately as colleagues share their stories both personal and professional, participate in Schwartz Center rounds, and help create — and advocate for — sacred space in our clinical real estate. There are numerous examples of activities and interventions in which chaplains lead and participate.

But perhaps more essentially, I see great progress in our ability to clearly identify and articulate indicators of spiritual health, such as the ability to articulate meaning in the face of change/loss/grief or to name and describe utilization of support systems. We have also made progress with indicators of spiritual distress; e.g., despair that manifests as noncompliance or anger; physical pain as an indicator of spiritual pain rooted in specific or aggregate loss; an inability to forgive or to receive forgiveness; indicators of alienation from family/God/faith. We had to find better vocabulary in order to improve our assessments and charting. Now a rippling effect infuses all the dimensions of our work, and hopefully in our beings as well. That chaplains can help name these issues is fundamental to an individual’s or organization’s ability to design “plans of care” that enhance the positive and support the challenges.

What is the difference between spiritual and emotional health? What expertise do we bring to that specific aspect of whole-person fitness? I am biased that spiritual health is not one of several dimensions, but the ground from which all the others grow. When our HR departments lump this in with the other dimensions, conflate it with emotional health, I think it our responsibility to illuminate the unique role of spiritual health to overall resilience.

Without splitting semantic hairs, we may discover that spiritual resilience differs from the emotional when we commit to digging more deeply — and helping others dig — beneath coping resources to uncover profound issues of meaning, from simply surviving to transcendence, beyond flexibility in handling change to finding purpose that’s not dependent on status quo, beyond positive thinking to profound joy. How do you do this? It’s a worthy conversation.

To paraphrase Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, who said “We need to create a society in which it is easier for people to be good,” let us celebrate the ministries of chaplains and those who walk with us in humble, authentic, compassionate service, creating environments where it is easier for others to be spiritually well. Let us continue to give voice to that, to intentionally integrate, in all aspects of our work and our beings, a fluency in the language of spiritual health.

Julianne Dickelman is a chaplain educator at Providence Health Care in Spokane, WA.

The National Association of Catholic Chaplains
Become a Member Would you like to get Certified?

Free Publications

Don’t miss the latest news, subscribe to our newsletter today! You don’t have to be a member to subscribe.

National Association of Catholic Chaplains
4915 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 501
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Get Directions

Phone: (414) 483-4898
Fax: (414) 483-6712
Email: info@nacc.org

Our office hours
Mon-Thur 8:00am – 5:00pm Central Time
Friday 8:00am – 12 Noon
Sat-Sun closed

Job Listings

Current job opportunities for chaplains, priests, CPE residents, supervisors, directors of pastoral care, managers, mission directors, and more.

Job Listings

Free Publications

Don’t miss the latest news, subscribe to our newsletter today! You don’t have to be a member to subscribe.

Donate Now

Learn more about making a tax-deductible donation to NACC.

Donate Now

Connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
© 1997 - 2023 National Association of Catholic Chaplains - Sitemap

Built by Westwords