Inviting people to integrate their spirituality into the stories of their lives
Narrative spiritual care combines narrative therapy and practice with pastoral and spiritual care. The result is a method of collaborative meaning-making that invites people to create connections between the personal, political, and spiritual dimensions of their stories. From varied religious, philosophic, and cultural traditions, chaplains and caregivers are adapting this distinctive form of spiritual care to more fully serve the needs of their communities.
In this new guide for spiritual care professionals, educators, and students, Mary Clark Moschella offers a clear and comprehensive path through the theory, rationale, and practice of narrative spiritual care. She explains how to implement narrative conversations in multiple chaplaincy settings including hospitals, colleges, protest movements, prisons, retirement homes, and disaster sites, as well as in congregations and diverse spiritual collectives. Through exercises for practicing and teaching, Moschella shows how to create space in conversations from which spiritual and transcendent themes can emerge. She also addresses current topics in caregiving professions, including trauma, mental health, and movements toward social and cultural change. Weaving practices of respect, compassion, and justice into caregiving relationships,
Narrative Spiritual Care offers a powerful approach that has the potential to resist structural inequities such as racism, heteronormativity, and climate change denial.
