Thanks to all our presenters and panelists for their wisdom and generosity during Spiritual Care Week

Chaplaincy and Mental Health: It’s Healthy to Get Help
October 22 – 28, 2023

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Boundaries and Dual-Role Relationships Within Chaplaincy

Tuesday, March 26th @ 12:00PM (EST) / 11:00AM (CST) 

Description

This webinar will explore the related issues of boundaries and dual relationships within health and social care chaplaincy. It will begin by noting a tension between an understanding of pastoral care as having unstated and flexible boundaries and the clear statements from professional bodies that boundaries help the effective functioning of caring and supportive relationships. Drawing on a range of research we will look at some of the factors which can make boundaries within chaplaincy care problematic. We will suggest that caution is needed in relation to dual/multiple roles and that, early in their careers, chaplains may need to be particularly careful about how they manage boundaries. While we believe that chaplaincy boundaries may need to be flexible, we will argue that any extending of boundaries needs to be done consciously. We suggest that boundaries and motivations for visiting patients should be discussed within supervision; seeing awareness helping to optimize workloads, reduce risk of burnout, and ensure we do not, inadvertently, do harm to either ourselves or the patient. We’ll conclude with the recommendation that the profession develops formal supervision standards.

Presenters

Mark Newitt is an experienced hospital chaplain who holds a number of healthcare chaplaincy related posts. Principally Mark is the Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy at the Free Churches Group (UK) as well as being part of the chaplaincy teams at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT and St Luke’s Hospice, Sheffield, UK.

Chris Swift has spent more than thirty years in chaplaincy work, much of it in two large teaching hospitals in Leeds. He is a past-President of the College of Health Care Chaplains – the professional body for UK chaplains – and his PhD focused on the practice of chaplaincy in the twenty-first century.

Respondent

Alex Beth Schapiro, ACO Chaplain, Manager, Spiritual Services, Atlantic Accountable Care Organizations

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We’re proud to feature the Article of the Month from ACPE Research. We’re grateful to editor John Ehman for sharing his work here and encourage you to take advantage of this valuable resource.