Kaiser Permanente

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Professional Chaplains

Connecting with Your Inner Self

While you are in the hospital, your medical team works together to treat your body. But another important part of your total care is attending to your spirit. Being away from your family, friends, and normal surroundings can be difficult. You may also be faced with tough decisions regarding your treatment. At times, all this can seem overwhelming.

Our Spiritual Care Team is here to help. We provide compassionate spiritual support for you, your family, and your friends to help with the challenges you may be facing. Spiritual Care Team members can give you needed comfort, support, compassion, and understanding when you need it.

Reflecting on Your Life

Although spirituality is sometimes associated with religion, it can include other areas of life as well. Spiritual reflections can arise from the common need to find meaning in our lives. For example, people often face spiritual questions after the birth of a child or when confronted by grief and loss. Members of our Spiritual Care Team can support you as you look back on your life, plan for the future, or face the challenges of the present. You don't need to have a spiritual concern to call us for support.

Offering Enlightened Care for All

Our Spirtual Care Team provides holistic spiritual care to everyone, and our team members are open to and respectfull to all belief systems. They value each person and honor spiritual and cultural preferences.

Our spiritual care services include the following:

Listening, especially when you need to have an open-hearted conversation with someone about hope, gratitude, fear, or finding meaning or purpose.
Support when there is a new diagnosis, a recurrence of a serious or life-threatening illness, or if you’re just anxious about an upcoming procedure.
Counseling when a difficult ethical decision needs to be discussed or advance directives need to be made.
Consultation regarding family conflicts, or when you’re struggling with difficult spiritual questions.
Support when facing loss or end of life issues.
Grief counseling.
Stress reduction and spiritual connection through guided imagery and meditation.
Help in connecting you with your faith tradition and finding spiritual resources in the community. A member of the Spiritual Care Team will call your clergy or place of worship if you wish.
Prayers, blessings, or the sacraments.