Interfaith Spiritual & Chaplain Care

What is an Interfaith Chaplain?

A chaplain serves as a spiritual caregiver in secular or non-congregational settings, such as hospitals, schools, prisons, military units, or workplaces. Chaplains provide interfaith or non-denominational support, meeting the diverse spiritual and emotional needs of individuals from various faith backgrounds—or none at all. Their role often involves crisis intervention, counseling, and offering comfort in times of need. Unlike pastors, chaplains are not confined to a single religious tradition or community, emphasizing inclusivity and support tailored to the individual's beliefs.

Since chaplains are ordained ministers, they can officiate ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. They can lead baptism services and provide final rites for patients who are passing away. Chaplains can also take on the role of a spiritual leader for individuals who do not belong to a specific religious community.

I have experience with a multitude of different spiritual and religious and non-spiritual and religious paths or philosophies including: earth based and indegenious beliefs, Christianity, Community of Christ, Centers for Spiritual Living, Society of Friends (Quaker), Unity, Unity Temple, Buddhism, Sikhism, Prodestant and Catholic Religions, Pagan, Wiccan and Metaphysical beliefs. I am a trained Curandera Espiritu mentored by notable medicine women in the path as well as Haudanosawnee and Objiwe practices.

A Curandera Espiritu is a female spiritual healer, specifically referring to a practitioner who is believed to have a deep connection to the spirit realm and uses this connection to heal others on a spiritual level, often drawing from indigenous traditions in Latin America; essentially, a "healer of the divine spirit" within the practice of curanderismo. 

What is the difference between Palliative Care and Hospice?

Palliative care is appropriate for anyone with a serious illness at any stage, with or without curative treatment, while hospice care is specifically for those in the final months of life, focusing solely on comfort and dignity. Palliative Care provides relief from symptoms, pain, and stress caused by a serious illness, regardless of the stage of the illness or the patient’s prognosis. It can be provided alongside curative treatments. The focus on improving quality of life for the patient and their family, addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Hospice care is specialized care for individuals who are nearing the end of life, emphasizing comfort rather than curative treatments. It is for patients who have chosen to forgo life-prolonging interventions. Typically it is provided when a patient is expected to have six months or less to live, as certified by a physician. It is provided in the patient’s home, hospice centers, nursing homes, or hospitals. It’s focus is entirely on comfort care, supporting both the patient and their family during the final stages of life and through bereavement.

About Interfaith Chaplain Care

  • Personalized Spiritual Support

    As an interfaith, open, accepting Chaplain, I welcome all faiths, non faiths, spiritual processes and non-spiritual philosophies to all people regardless of race, culture, ethinicity, sexual orientation, residency, immigration status, gender identification or ability. Working with you, we determine goals to help you find peace, meaning and fulfillment in your life. While not psychotherapy, but support, in exploring spiritual and exestential questions, thoughts and emotions. We determine what kinds of experience may connect and ground you. This may include being in nature, a mindful movement practice, engaging in expressive art making for restoration and stress reduction, creating a ritual or ceremony and finding support groups. I work 1:1, with the living and the dying as well as families, including children.

  • Spiritual Engagement

    My focus is meeting you where you are at. Spirituality has a different meaning to a lot of people. Let me be clear, spirituality is not religion. Religion has it’s dogma, rituals, rules and doctrines. Spirituality is exestential, a search for meaning in a person’s life and a sense of something greater than themselves.

    Working together, we can collaborate on different experientials, readings, arts processes and rituals that can help you find more meaning and connection in your life.

  • Expressive Arts

    I use a trauma sensitive, mindfulness and nature based approach working with expressive arts as a means of expression of emotions, thoughts, and a door to spiritual connection. Expressive arts include any combination of visual artmaking, writing, music, movement, and more. Expressive arts can be used with rituals, ceremonies, to deepen prayer, to help self regulate and find stress release as well as help you discover and release emotions and thoughts.

  • Ceremony's & Rituals

    Ceremony’s and rituals are often a part of life that help us honor the sacred presence of a life, of God/Energy/the Divine Creator, to help us connect with our “something more”. Rituals and ceremonies can be created and personalized with you, assuring meaning for you and your family. Examples include: Labyrinth Rituals, End of Life Honoring Ritual Ceremony, Preparing the Body Ritual, Letting Go Ceremony and Ritual, Celebrations of Life, Births, Celebrations of Togetherness and Union, Marriages, Limpia’s (Energy Cleansing Rituals), Veneration Rites, Icaros Singing, Sacred Sound and Singing Rituals and Ceremonies, Mandala Ceremonies and Rituals, and more.

  • Bereavement Support

    Grief is often hard to navigate. I’m a ordained interfaith minister and certified advanced grief counseling specialist and have studies using the arts in palliative care as well as complicated grief (Columbia University). There is no timeline for your grieving but there are things we can do to help integrate grief, connect with spirit and to help you find more peace.

  • Celebrations

    Celebrations can be a meaningful part of the spiritual experience of life. For some, celebrations of life, celebrating a phase of life is over and a new one is beginning, celebrating a babies birth, a union, a spiritual milestone or experience that you want to commemorate that’s a part of developing meaning and connectivity to spirit in your life.

Whatever it is, telling your story can make all the difference.