The Clinical Use of Prayer in Hospice

Prayer for the Chaplain is often used at the conclusion of a visit.  It might be a novel concept to make prayer a topic of conversation with your patients. 

 

This shift from prayer as a benediction to the visit to a topic of conversation with very specific Goals/Expected Outcomes will provide benefits of inner peace, comfort, and confidence in approaching God, The Transcendent One, or the Divine depending on the patient’s faith understanding.  Using prayer in a clinical fashion will require a Chaplain to cognitively and experientially know the various types of prayer; to develop a clinical methodology to present a type of prayer; and, express a contemplative patience with the patient as he or she journeys through the end of life attempting to connect with God.

 

The Objective in Using Prayer in a Clinical Manner

 

The objective in using prayer in a clinical manner is to provide the patient with a coping strategy to strengthen his or her spiritual connection to the Transcendent and to cathartically vent negative emotions and replace them with a more positive affect toward the Divine.

 

The Common Types of Prayers in Hospice

 

The following are types of prayers useful for hospice chaplain:

• Prayer of Personal Need
• Prayer of the Abandoned
   
   
  What do these prayers look like?  In the next few posts I will provide insight on the Prayer of Personal Need and Prayer of the Abandoned.