Chaplains do stuff. We have a taxonomy that tells us so. We call what we do interventions. We purposefully help careseekers approach their religious and existential concerns to help them find meaning, purpose and balance. These specific acts, for many of us, include: spiritual histories, spiritual pain assessments, connectedness with the sacred or profane, guided imagery, psycho//social modalities, prayer, deep active listening, feedback loops, nature and energy work. Each setting for chaplaincy utilizes different assessment tools, and some do not use any. This Forest Find is designed for members to critically explore assessment tools in the hope that you will develop and refine tools to share in the community.

Assessing the Value of Rituals Used

Improving Care Outcomes

When you craft and lead rituals with careseekers, the impact, outcome or evaluation of the event may not be immediate. However, it is important to assess and explore the efficacy of these rituals. These materials and the challenges they pose can broaden and deepen your ritual assessment skills.

The Effects of Rituals

From the Journal for the Psychology of Religion

Why Rituals Work  - Scientific American 

Family Rituals and Resilience: Relationship Among Measures of Religiosity, Openness to Experience - University of North Texas Dissertation, Clinical Psychology 

Your everyday Rituals do Impact your life — just not how you might expect - NPR: Shortwave Science Podcast

Ritual Explained:Interdisciplinary Answers  - Philosophical Papers:  Royal Society of London

Agency, Identity, and the Emergence of Ritual Experience - Sociological Research For A Dynamic World

The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework - UC Berkeley: Dept. of Psychology 

Consider

Have you ever designed or participated in a ritual or symbolic act that reframed how you considered assessment tools?