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Okay... I have had an aaaahhhhaaaaa moment of sorts. I've been trying to work out what I want to be when I grow up.
I am thinking about chaplaincy. BUT. I am not a Christian & don't subscribe to Christianity.
I am spiritual with a mostly Buddhist leaning but I also am quite firmly placed in Earth based religion also.
SO, I am wondering if anyone knows anything about this? Does that sound confusing???:doh:
I know a lot of the schools over here have a voluntary 'Scripture' class - it used to be teaching kids about the Bible, but these days you can't do that so it's become more of a spiritual counselling kind of thing. My aunt used to do Scripture at her boys school, she didn't need any special qualifications. Maybe ask around the schools in your area to see if they do that kind of thing, and if you can sit in on a class or two?
No that's not the type of thing I mean Keike. Chaplains supply spiritual guidance in tines of crisis or sometimes in schools, hospitals, defense forces etc. So it's from a counselling perspective (but not essentially counselling) but always with a spiritual edge.
I don't mean religious education classes...
Oh sorry darl, my brain's not functioning well today :redface: Hope someone else can help!
Get in touch with your local hospice. Although most are Christian based, if you get in contact with their Pastoral Care Director you should be able to find a starting point at least.
Most private schools also have a dedicated Pastoral Carer with whom you could speak.
HTH :)
I've been to non-denominational/"minister of every faith" funerals.
Sorry Inanna, I dislike them. The "minister" people, that is. I really disagree with being able to represent every faith or just say that "vaguely spiritual" sounds good. If you could represent a faith, it's because you believe in it. If you believe in it, you can't believe in all the others. So you are actually a minister of NO faith - or just a person with a very wet handshake.
By all means be a counsellor. I think you'd be a fantastic one. But please don't bring faith into it, unless the other person does. :) Pander to my tastes, I demand it LOL.
I really do take your point Ryn. I don't want to be a minister (I can just see God rolling her/his eyes at the thought! :lol:).
I have done a bit of work with grief & that's the area I want to be in. Trauma & grief. However I don't want to be a psychologist (at least I dom't think I do... :think:)
I already have a nursing background - I have almost decided on doing a grad dip in counselling next year. However, I like the idea of taking spirituality into my work. Thus the idea of doing chaplaincy.
I don't personally believe that God/Universe/Universal Energy has boundaries of religion. I know I feel differently than you do Ryn & I honor & respect your beliefs just as I honor and respect less mainstream beliefs.
I feel it unjust that chaplaincy has to be based on Christianity - especially in our hospitals/emergency services. So I am sure I'm not the only one who's felt this. So, I am wondering if there is an area for this... :think:
We have certain brothers assigned to different hospitals, and they go up regularly to offer support and scriptural assistance to any JW's in hospital, or anyone that says they would like a JW to visit. Religion aside, is that closer to what you want to do, or am I still off base?
If that's it, our brothers don't have additional training by us. Each hospital has different policies, but the one my Grandad used to be assigned to just asked him to come for a few hours one day as a sort of 'orientation' to the hospital, where they set down the ground rules and gave him a hospital ID and let him know who he could contact to find out who to visit. Maybe you could ask at the hospital you work at or your local hospital and ask what kind of policies they have in place for trauma/grief counselling, and explain to them what you want to do?
As an emergency services person, I reach for a number of different supports in times of stress. I have both a Christian belief but also a belief in not so traditional thoughts. I have to believe in paths and purposes to maintain my belief in a kind and benevolent God and to be able to do the work I do. But when I need to talk and debrief, I am not after biblical platitudes either (although particular readings and hymns gave great comfort when Greg died).
I guess I am after a support person now at this stage of processing my grief (and at other times) who believes in something else other than the here and now (I would not feel able to discuss the spiritual with an atheist because I do believe in something other than just us) but is also open to a more general spiritual belief system.
Inanna - it looks like becoming a psychologist and specialising in grief / trauma with an emphasis on spiritual healing would be a logical path for you. How you get that spiritual training, I am not sure but I see the end result being a melding of conventional and non-conventional beliefs. When you are finished, you can practice on me ;)
I just don't know if I want to be a psychologist... I would like to be on a retrieval team though - I am good in a crisis - but my days as a clinician in a medical sense I feel have run their course.
I think that sounds like a great idea, it could be really appealing to people who would like some spiritual support, but who aren't christian. Have you looked into the schools chaplaincy program? I'm sure I heard that there was a buddhist organisation that provides school chaplains. Not that that would help with the grief counselling aspect so much. I guess the difficulty might be finding an emloyer who would have large enough numbers of people interested in a spiritual but non-religious chaplain. Also, can't you become an accredited counsellor of some description without doing a psych degree? If you subscribe to buddhism, perhaps contact your local buddhist association and ask them if there are options they know of, and you could introduce some of your own earth-based stuff later? Sorry, bit random thoughts there, but I wanted to support your idea :)