Innovations in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Unit and Psychology, Culture, and Religion Unit

Ethical Care? Moral Advocacy and the Challenge of Working in Institutions 

Given the growing consensus among spiritual and therapeutic caregivers that moral advocacy is central to their professional identity, how might spiritual caregivers understand the future of their work in institutional contexts like hospitals, prisons, the military, or others that demand neutrality on political matters such as racial and social justice? And how might pastoral psychotherapists and clinicians negotiate the increasing emphasis on integrating spirituality as a morally-neutral “tool” in psychotherapeutic contexts? We welcome proposals that answer these questions directly or in any way address the moral complexity of operating as professionals at the intersection of spiritual and clinical care in institutional settings.