Abstract:

In this presentation, we are called to draw up an outline of the spiritual dimensions of healthcare focusing on the differences between psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers, priests and chaplains. Some basic questions, which need to be answered, are why we still face so many major problems in the relationships between some of the basic healthcare specialists, including chaplains. Given though, modern therapy and healthcare are multidisciplinary tasks by definition. What is the role of spiritual care in health care? Why are the tensions often sharply visible in the assumptions that chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists have about each other? We will try to answer these questions by following a spiral ascension which starts from history and moves to recent definitions and the framing of each discipline. From these tensions and assumptions we will move to the boundaries of chaplaincy and the chaplain's identity. Here, some unconscious conflicts of the chaplains will be discussed. Finally, we attempt to formulate some conclusions and proposals on the discussed issues.

Author: Adamantios Avgoustidis