Our contracts frequently request new and even extended or adapted versions of our existing presentations. Therefore, new content is added to our curriculum every 2-3 months. Below are some of our recent additions.
If you do not find what you need in the SCIE core curriculum or on this page of Additional Trainings, please contact Carla to plan the exact product to suit your needs.
Companioning
Truly being present and walking with those who are dying and/or in grief is an art that can be learned over time. This presentation considers the theology and craft of simply “being” with persons on their spiritual journey during times of seeking, illness, struggle, questioning, and sorrow.
Ethical Spiritual Care to Non-Theists: Agnostics, Atheists, and Humanists
In the 2013 Spiritual Caregiver and Managers Survey conducted by the Spiritual Caregivers Section of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), both groups rated this topic as their most requested training for Spiritual Care Counselors (chaplains). As an increasing number of patients and family members identify as “Spiritual but not religious” or as not having a spiritual faith system, this presentation helps clinicians learn to meet such persons exactly where they are to provide comfort and help them find meaning within their own value system.
How Not to (Unintentionally) Say Something Stupid: BE-ing with those Experiencing Suffering
Ever heard of “yawn contagion”? You may not have known the term, but you’ve likely experienced the empathic response to another person yawning. That same sensitivity to others may lead us to feel uncomfortable when they are experiencing grief or other forms of suffering. In our discomfort, we sometimes skip past their need, brushing it off with well-worn but ineffective clichés, or trying to “fix” their problem. This presentation discusses how to not unintentionally do more harm by finding the skills to sit and BE with others during these times.
But I Didn’t Go to Seminary!: A Team Approach to Caring for Spiritual Distress
Many interdisciplinary team members feel uncomfortable when it is suggested that patients wish (per research results) that their providers would discuss issues of spirit with them, but largely never do so. Others feel far too comfortable sharing their own faith, and unwittingly breech the ethical boundaries of their profession and impose on the role of the Spiritual Care Counselor. Finding the balance is possible and, with good training and communication, the entire team can find ways to engage in this part of a person’s care that feels comfortable and appropriate to everyone involved.
Making Space for Spiritual Distress in Differential Diagnosis
Diagnosing the source of pain or other symptoms is a process of deduction that often skips the psycho-social-spiritual sources that may be either contributing to, or actually be the very root of, the presenting problem. All clinicians can benefit from understanding words and phrases to listen for as patients and loved one speak about their physical symptoms to discern if spiritual distress may be the cause or an exacerbating factor. With such an understanding of the various presentations of spiritual pain, all disciplines may be better equipped to respond appropriately in the moment and to make proper referrals to the Spiritual Care Counselor for a follow-up visit. Everyone’s job, and the patient’s well-being, can only stand to improve when we all work together.