This course uses a practical theological approach that begins with life experiences of crisis care that could include suicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction, disability, and mental illness with particular populations (military service personnel, veterans, and their families; young adults; those marginalized because of aspects of their identity like sexual minority groups, racial groups, those going through the court system, those who are homeless). Particular case studies will focus on one of these specialized populations and students will work in pairs or teams to generate imaginary spiritual care dialogues with the care seekers portrayed in the case studies.
We will use a narrative approach that identifies psychological and theological themes arising from the intersubjective intermingling of our stories and these care seekers’ stories of crisis. We will draw upon current research and theory in religious/theological and psychological studies, especially those exploring how the intersection of various aspects of identity give both caregivers and care seekers particular social privileges and disadvantages in the current crisis. We will use these perspectives to begin to cocreate psychological and theological meanings around suffering and the ways that spiritual practices and theological meanings provide unique resources to those in crisis. This course helps students continually form and reform identities as pastoral and spiritual caregivers that integrate their own spiritual experiences with critical thinking in order to provide socially just spiritual care within a complex world in ways that deeply engage religious and cultural traditions.
Iliff MDiv Curricular Goal related to Theology and Religious Practices (PR): engage in analysis of contemporary religious traditions and institutions in order to assess, design, and perform meaningful leadership practices with sensitivity to contextual realities and relationships.
Iliff MAPSC Curricular Goals Central to this Course: The course is designed to meet the needs of those preparing for the specialized vocation of pastoral and spiritual care. Students take courses in pastoral and spiritual care that implement an intercultural evidence-based approach to spiritual care, integrating contextual understandings of religious truth with a social justice orientation. Experiential learning will be utilized through developing imaginary spiritual care conversations. This course will help students integrate what they are learning in the core curriculum. Each area has a thematic focus, and courses within each area cohere in directing students to think more critically about their assumptions and to develop theological perspectives necessary for becoming responsible pastoral and spiritual caregivers in a changing world.
Specific Goals of This Course, Outcomes, and Covenant
Specific Goals and Outcomes of This Course Goal 1.To understand the two key ingredients of intercultural spiritual care as Outcomes: Students role playing the care seekers creating fictional care conversations based on case studies and students role playing the collegial consultant will demonstrate how well they implement these two key ingredients of spiritual care conversations. Goal 2. Engage in a your own process of spiritual integration in which you find and use intrinsically meaningful spiritual practices to connect to goodness within yourself and your relationship, helping you be aware of stress-based reactions/emotions that give rise to more life-limiting or socially oppressive beliefs, values and consumer ways of coping Outcomes: Students will report in the first several weeks on their use of spiritual practices to become more aware of stress reactions and to compassionately understand and practice self-care. Goal 3. Develop and demonstrate an intercultural approach to pastoral and spiritual care that respects what is unique and distinctive about each person’s religions, spiritual, existential orienting system (values, beliefs, practices). Outcomes: Students will demonstrate their intercultural capacity in the ways they respond to (a) each other’s forum discussions; (b) the case study discussions; also in (c) creating fictional care conversations based on case studies and (d) the collegial consultation conversations. Goal 4. Demonstrate self-differentiation by tracking one’s personal theology/orienting system (stress-related and intentional beliefs, values and practices for coping) and discerning how it shapes a care-giving relationship. Outcomes: Students will demonstrate self-differentiation in the ways they respond to (a) each other’s forum discussions; (b) the case study discussions; also in (c) creating fictional care conversations based on case studies and (d) the collegial consultation conversations. Goal 5. Demonstrate theological empathy by (1) stepping into the particularities of the care seeker's crisis and your consultant's orientation to spiritual care, and (2) using your pluralistic understandings of spiritual care and beliefs/values about suffering and hope to co-create meanings Outcomes: Students will demonstrate theological empathy in the ways they respond to (a) each other’s forum discussions; (b) the case study discussions; also in (c) creating fictional care conversations based on case studies and (d) the collegial consultation conversations. Goal 6. Develop and articulate an interdisciplinary understanding of particular crises (suicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction, community catastrophe, moral injury) with particular populations (military service personnel, veterans, and their families; those marginalized because of aspects of their identity like sexual minority groups). Outcomes: Students will demonstrate their intercultural capacity in the ways they respond to (a) the case study discussions; also in (c) creating fictional care conversations based on case studies and (d) the collegial consultation conversations. Learning Covenant Academic, experiential and chaplaincy learning: This is not simply a theoretical course that requires students to demonstrate knowledge. It is an intercultural spiritual care course where we will integrate theory and practice through experiential models of learning. Forum discussions are designed so that students bring concepts from readings into dialogue with case studies and their own process of spiritual integration. Demonstrating knowledge and academic skills: In order to function in academic and professional contexts, students need to be able to demonstrate knowledge according to academic and professional standards of writing, grammar, and in-text citation using APA formatting. Forum posts and responses are expected to meet professional and academic standards, not the more casual standards of many kinds of online discussions. Points will be deducted for inadequate proof reading or citations. Demonstrating a capacity to differentiate one’s own emotions, values, beliefs and practices from others: The content of the course will elicit emotional responses, and we will each need to take responsibility for experiencing, interpreting, and channeling feelings in appropriate personal and professional ways, especially those arising from our personal experiences. Ultimately, we want to be able to experience our emotional/stress reactions as resources and not liabilities in our learning. You will need to demonstrate differentiation of self in all forum posts and responses and in the journal assignments and spiritual care conversations. We will be sharing spiritual practices that we use to help us to emotionally regulate our reactions. Demonstrating intercultural capacities with each other: We come to this learning experience with a range of experiences, thoughts, and feelings about spiritual care, as well as religion and spirituality. In our forum posts and responses, we agree to demonstrate intercultural attitudes that respect what is unique and distinct about each other’s values, beliefs, and practices (demonstrating skills of respecting radical religious and spiritual differences, and the capacity to step into another religious/spiritual/existential world as respectful guests). Demonstrating theological empathy: Theological empathy is the reflexive capacity to imagine how another’s stress-based emotions generate a lived theology or orienting system of values, beliefs, and practices that may be life limiting, when intersecting social oppressions make people judge themselves as bad. Theological empathy is an extension of the cognitive capacities for interpersonal and social empathy: self-other macro-systemic awareness, perspective taking, emotional regulation, and contextual understanding of systemic barriers and privileges. In their fictional spiritual care conversations and in their work with each other in this course, students are expected to demonstrate theological empathy. Confidentiality: Personal disclosures are not to be discussed outside of class without agreement and permission. Students can, however, talk to people within their support systems about their own reactions, as long as the focus is on them and not the content of what class members share, and as long as any identifying information about other students is disguised. Keep in mind, however, that Iliff is a small community where others can be easily identified. Faculty will abide by the bounds of professional rather than absolute confidentiality. Syllabus guidelines regarding Colorado reporting laws and practices will be followed. Levels of self-disclosure: Each person is responsible for his or her level of self-disclosure. The purpose of self-disclosure (as with any self-disclosure in spiritual care conversations) is to enhance group learning. Students can use their support systems when they need to process their own experiences. Commitment to our learning community: In order to build and maintain relationships of trust and dependability, everyone needs to abide by deadlines for group postings, responses and assignments. When students post late, this creates stress for students that post on time and want to be timely in their responses. If emergencies arrive that prevent ontime posting, students must notify faculty and members of their forum. Points will be deducted for late assignments. Availability of faculty: The professor is available for support, clarification, and advice. She is not able to offer ongoing counseling or therapy; she will help students evaluate the extent to which counseling may be helpful and make appropriate referrals. Language framework: We use inclusive language that respects all forms of religious traditions, theological, and political perspectives, and gender and sexual orientation diversity. Revising and monitoring ground rules: We all share in monitoring and revising these ground rules to ensure safety and engender trust.
Teaching Methods: A variety of methods will be utilized to accomplish the purposes of this course: small group discussion of readings, experiential exercises, and case studies.
Disability Accommodations (see policies and services page)
Professional Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting: All students must agree to abide by professional confidentiality in all matters, which means that they will preserve anonymity by disguising the identity of cases when seeking consultation and case reporting. Student disclosures to one another and to the professor will remain confidential, unless the law requires otherwise. In all cases, students must be aware of the mandatory reporting laws of the state in which they provide professional caregiving. If they are designated spiritual caregivers within their religious tradition, they need to also be aware of what their religious organization requires. If students have reason to suspect or have first-hand knowledge of recent, current, or ongoing child abuse or neglect perpetrated on a child currently under the age of 18 years, elder abuse, sexual and domestic violence, or threats of homicide or suicide in any of the pastoral situations they use for fulfilling the requirements of this course they need to seek immediate consultation with supervisors, denominational leaders, and the professor of this course so that proper reporting procedures can be ascertained. We will work together to establish an appropriate pastoral relationship with all parties facing these crises. State laws on mandatory reporting are available at State Laws on Mandatory Clergy Reporting Colorado mandatory reporting requirements may be found at Colorado Revised Statutes 19-3-304, 1a, 2(aa, II, III); 13-90-107c.
Requirements
ZOOM instructions: If you do not have a zoom account, you will need to create one. Our IT staff has a helpful video about using zoom. https://iliff.bloomfire.com/posts/1440512-from-zoom-video-to-youtube-to-canvas (Links to an external site.) Exchange your zoom account name with your partner and then you can schedule a meeting using zoom. You can test zoom by recording a meeting with yourself (which is how I record my videos for this course). Once you open zoom, you hit start a meeting, then click, join a meeting. You record the meeting by hitting the record button on the bottom of the screen. When you end the meeting zoom will create a file of the video recording, and I think it should create a zoom folder on your computer where this is stored. Practice this ahead of time and let me know if you have questions. There is a 40" limit, but you should only need about 20" or so for your conversation. Tasks for week 1 and 2 Week 1: review the case studies listed here; review the profiles for people in the course and reach out to find a partner. You may wish to partner with someone who has been your partner in previous courses, or you may wish to partner with someone new. By week 2: find your partner/consultant; you each sign up for different case studies and post on the signup sheet what case study you are doing as a care giver and who your consultant SCHEDULE OF CASE STUDIES AND DUE DATES: Week 4 Case Study Forum posted by Wednesday, 4/18; Responses by Saturday, 4/21 Topic: Sexual Violence. Case Study: Gay, R. (2017). Hunger: A memoir of (my) body. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. Gay 2017 Hunger.pdf Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/6 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/11 Week 5 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 4/25; Responses by Saturday, 4/28 Topic: Addiction & Loneliness: Internet Pornography. Case Study: Pargament, K. (2014). The pursuit of false gods: Addressing the spiritual dimension of addictions in counselling. In T. S. J. O'Connor, K. Lund & P. Berendsen (Eds.), Psychotherapy: Cure of the soul (pp. 245-254). Waterloo, Canada: Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. Pargament 2014 The Pursuit of False Gods Addressing the Spiritual Dimension of Addictions.pdf Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/13 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/18 Week 6 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/2; Responses by Saturday, 5/5 Topic: Military moral injury. Case Study based on the novel Hoffman, C. (2014). Be safe I love you. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, as used in Doehring, C. (in press). Military moral injury: An evidence-based and intercultural approach to spiritual care. Pastoral Psychology, Forthcoming. Doehring Military Moral Injury 11-12-2017.docx Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/20 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/25 Week 7 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/9 Responses by Saturday, 5/12 Topic: Intimate Partner Violence Case Study found in Mahoney, A., Abadi, L., & Pargament, K. I. (2015). Exploring women's spiritual struggles and resources to cope with intimate partner aggression. In A. J. Johnson (Ed.), Religion and men's violence against women (pp. 45-59). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media. Mahoney, Abadi, & Pargamenty 2015 Exploiring women's spiritual struggles... to cope with intimate partner aggressionpdf.pdf Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/27 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/2 Week 8 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/16 Responses by Saturday, 5/19 Topic: Suicide Case Study: Excerpts from Hall, E. R. (2017). “Maybe Jesus was suicidal too”: A qualitative inquiry into religion and spirituality in suicide attempts. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Hall 2017 Dissertation excerpts.docx Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 5/5 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/9 Week 9 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/23 Responses by Saturday, 5/26 Topic: Disasters. Case Study: A Devastating Fire in Shelby Devasting fire.docx Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 5/11 Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/16
Week 2: find your partner/consultant; you each sign-up for different case studies and post on the sign up sheet what case study you are doing as a care giver and who your consultant
Case studies and due dates are here. Requirements
Sign Up Page for case studies is here
Use this updated case study assignment outline Assignment Outline for Crisis Care Course 4-16-2018-1.docx
ZOOM instructions: If you do not have a zoom account, you will need to create one. Our IT staff has a helpful video about using zoom. https://iliff.bloomfire.com/posts/1440512-from-zoom-video-to-youtube-to-canvas
Exchange your zoom account name with your partner and then you can schedule a meeting using zoom. You can test zoom by recording a meeting with yourself (which is how I record my videos for this course). Once you open zoom, you hit start a meeting, then click, join a meeting. You record the meeting by hitting the record button on the bottom of the screen. When you end the meeting zoom will create a file of the video recording, and I think it should create a zoom folder on your computer where this is stored. Practice this ahead of time and let me know if you have questions. There is a 40" limit, but you should only need about 20" or so for your conversation.
Week 4 Case Study Forum posted by Wednesday, 4/18; Responses by Saturday, 4/21
1. Learning Partners: Robin Stretch-Crocker, Care giver, Sonya Greef, Consultant
2. Learning Partners: Wendy Musgrave, Caregiver, Sylvia Canty, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Nikki Kranzler-Gacke, Caregiver; Sara Keith, Consultant
Topic: Sexual Violence. Case Study: Gay, R. (2017). Hunger: A memoir of (my) body. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. Gay 2017 Hunger.pdf
Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/6
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/11
Week 5 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 4/25; Responses by Saturday, 4/28
1. Learning Partners: Dane Breslin, Caregiver; Rika Lively, Consultant
2. Learning Partners: Asa Holly, Caregiver; Carla Shibuya, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Tom Cruse, Caregiver; Darlene Smith, Consultant
4. Learning Partners: Robert Patterson, Caregiver; Genevieve Rohret-Navin, Consultant
5. Learning Partners: Dee Torrell, Caregiver; Andriene Sterlington, Consultant
Topic: Addiction & Loneliness: Internet Pornography. Case Study: Pargament, K. (2014). The pursuit of false gods: Addressing the spiritual dimension of addictions in counselling. In T. S. J. O'Connor, K. Lund & P. Berendsen (Eds.), Psychotherapy: Cure of the soul (pp. 245-254). Waterloo, Canada: Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. Pargament 2014 The Pursuit of False Gods Addressing the Spiritual Dimension of Addictions.pdf
Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/13
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/18
Week 6 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/2; Responses by Saturday, 5/5
1. Learning Partners: Bridget Preece and Larry Watchorn
2. Learning Partners: Kathie Walker, Caregiver and Janet Mulroy, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Nicole Dick, Caregiver and Carla Vogel, Consultant
4. Learning Partners: Sara Keith, Caregiver and Nikki Kranzler-Gacke, Consultant
Topic: Military moral injury. Case Study based on the novel Hoffman, C. (2014). Be safe I love you. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, as used in Doehring, C. (in press). Military moral injury: An evidence-based and intercultural approach to spiritual care. Pastoral Psychology, Forthcoming. Doehring Military Moral Injury 11-12-2017.docx
Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/20
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 4/25
Week 7 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/9 Responses by Saturday, 5/12
1. Learning Partners: Lindsey Jeavons, Caregiver and Deb Dahlke, Consultant
2. Learning Partners: Carla Shibuya, Caregiver; Asa Holly, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Sonya Greef, Caregiver; Robin Crocker, Consultant
4. Learning Partners: Reed Tanner, Caregiver; Julie Hiramatsu, Consultant
5. Learning Partners: Kathy Albers, Caregiver; Kris Ireland
6. Learning Partners: Rachel Carter, Caregiver, Jamie Schwoerer Consultant
Topic: Intimate Partner Violence Case Study found in Mahoney, A., Abadi, L., & Pargament, K. I. (2015). Exploring women's spiritual struggles and resources to cope with intimate partner aggression. In A. J. Johnson (Ed.), Religion and men's violence against women (pp. 45-59). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media. Mahoney, Abadi, & Pargamenty 2015 Exploiring women's spiritual struggles... to cope with intimate partner aggressionpdf.pdf
Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 4/27
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/2
Week 8 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/16 Responses by Saturday, 5/19
1. Learning Partners: Larry Watchorn, Caregiver and Bridget Preece, Consultant
2. Learning Partners: Rika Lively, Caregiver; Dane Breslin, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Janet Mulroy, Caregiver and Kathie Walker, Consultant
4. Learning Partners: Kris Ireland, Caregiver and Kathy Albers, Consultant
5. Learning Partners: Sylvia Canty, Caregiver and Wendy Musgraves, Consultant
6. Learning Partners: Genevieve Rohret-Navin, Caregiver and Robert Patterson, Consultant
Topic: Suicide Case Study: Excerpts from Hall, E. R. (2017). “Maybe Jesus was suicidal too”: A qualitative inquiry into religion and spirituality in suicide attempts. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Hall 2017 Dissertation excerpts.docx
Fictional conversation and reflection questions submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Friday 5/4
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/9
Week 9 Case Study posted by Wednesday, 5/23 Responses by Saturday, 5/26
1. Learning Partners: Deb Dahlke, Caregiver and Lindsey Jeavons, Consultant
2. Learning Partners: Carla Vogel, Caregiver and Nicole Dick, Consultant
3. Learning Partners: Julie Hiramatsu, Caregiver; Reed Tanner, Consultant
4. Learning Partners: Darlene Smith, Caregiver; Tom Cruse, Consultant
5. Learning Partners: Jamie Schwoerer, Caregiver; Rachel Carter, Consultant
6. Learning Partners: Andriene Sterlington, Caregiver; Dee Torell, Consultant
Topic: Disasters. Case Study: A Devastating Fire in Shelby Devasting fire.docx
Fictional conversation submitted to partner and Dr. Doehring: Wednesday 5/9
Recorded zoom conversation shared with Dr. Doehring by: Wednesday 5/16
ZOOM instructions: If you do not have a zoom account, you will need to create one. Our IT staff has a helpful video about using zoom. https://iliff.bloomfire.com/posts/1440512-from- zoom -video-to-youtube-to-canvas (Links to an external site.)
Exchange your zoom account name with your partner and then you can schedule a meeting using zoom. You can test zoom by recording a meeting with yourself (which is how I record my videos for this course). Once you open zoom, you hit start a meeting, then click, join a meeting. You record the meeting by hitting the record button on the bottom of the screen. When you end the meeting zoom will create a file of the video recording, and I think it should create a zoom folder on your computer where this is stored. Practice this ahead of time and let me know if you have questions. There is a 40" limit, but you should only need about 20" or so for your conversation.
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Mar 29, 2018 | Thu | Week 1 Post by Wed. 3/28; reply by Sat. 3/31 | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 05, 2018 | Thu | Week 2 Post by Wed 4/4, reply by Sat. 4/7 | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 12, 2018 | Thu | Video Consultations | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 12, 2018 | Thu | Week 3 Post by Wed. 4/11; reply by Sat. 4/14 | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 14, 2018 | Sat | Case Studies (see due dates for the case study you signed up for) | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 19, 2018 | Thu | Week 4. due Wed., 4/18; Sat., 4/21 | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 26, 2018 | Thu | Week 5 Post by Wed., 4/25; Sat., 4/28 | due by 05:59AM |
| May 03, 2018 | Thu | Week 6 post by Wed. 5/2; Sat. 5/5 | due by 05:59AM |
| May 10, 2018 | Thu | Week 7 post Wed. 5/9, Sat. 5/12 | due by 05:59AM |
| May 17, 2018 | Thu | Week 8 Post by Wed., 5/16; reply by Sat. 5/19 | due by 05:59AM |