1 Articulate an approach to spiritual care rooted in one’s spiritual tradition and integrated with a theory of spiritual care.
2 Provides spiritual care that incorporates a working knowledge of the academic study of religion/spirituality.
Throughout these blogs, I will attempt to demonstrate the competencies loosely with some details that are from study and experience. Each applicant will have to find ways to integrate these competencies that are true to their histories, theories, and practices. The head of my Master’s program spent time as a reserve chaplain. It was the first time I heard of the profession. Then in his courses, it was the first time I looked into suffering and Theodicy which led me to apply for my first CPE unit. Well, that, and I got hit by a taxi in downtown Chicago so I was able to go ahead with the internship.
ITP 1 and 2 are asking for the roots and foundation of one’s tradition and how those beliefs are integrated into their practice. They go even further by asking the candidate to demonstrate that they can incorporate academic knowledge from social studies that are not explicitly religious or spiritual. For my study, the work of Morgan and Sandage has been a good example. They write on the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DISM) and use it to develop the model for inter-religious competence.[1] In particular, their point is that “Awareness of and attunement to religious differences may help unearth tensions and promote empathy.[2] These blogs will give plenty of other resources and examples to round out your essays.
[1] Jonathan Morgan and Steven J. Sandage, “A Developmental Model of Interreligious Competence,” Archive for the Psychology of Religion 38, no. 2 (2016): 142.
[2] Ibid., 151.
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