Dimensions of Care.

Abstract

As I journey with you in my first year as editor of JPC&C, I am delighted to share the articles in this issue, which offer insights into a wide range of spiritually integrated topics across geographical locations. The spiritually informed practices—and research for improvement—offered in this issue are inspiring. I also want to communicate a thank you to Terry Bard, whose term as editor concluded at the end of December, and who coordinated most of this issue. In the first two articles, chaplains, trainers, faculty, and counselors—and all concerned about psychological and spiritual well-being—can learn about supporting supervised/clinical pastoral education students in managing performance anxiety, and, from another original research study, understand the importance of positive relationships and selfgrowth in fostering the psychological health of prospective counselors. The next set of three articles can aid us in improving integrated care for hospitalized individuals. Included is information about spiritual care for those with limited English proficiency, implementing spiritual care and improving outcomes in pediatric complex care clinics, and an exploration of the complex interplay of spirituality and resiliency in the pediatric health care practitioner. Clergy and religious leaders across the globe play significant roles in raising awareness about mental health concerns and referring for services when needed, and the exploratory study of Jamaican clergy adds considerations to research and practice in mental health awareness and counseling. The psychological health of clergy is also important, and the pan-Canadian study on clergy resilience can not only help religious leaders with self-care, but also inform practices of those who work with clergy. The eighth article, a pilot study of compassion fatigue experienced by spiritual leaders, includes reports related to coping strategies and support systems. I encourage you to read the brief personal reflections that close the issue, as the considerations from the authors, arising, respectively, out of a near death experience and surviving gun violence, are likely to stay with you. The lessons for a spirituality of death in the context of pastoral care and counseling, and our obligation for the community in the midst of violence, are both timely and rich. Connecting reflections on growing up with gun violence in Columbia to current events such as those at Uvalde, R. Dawn Hood-Patterson writes: “Care is an obligation to those who cause hurt and those who are hurting....Care is a social and political obligation—a devotion to rectify the social milieu which enables such terror.” The issue provides excellent material for a wide variety of practitioners and scholars in pastoral care, counseling, teaching/training, and other spiritually informed practices. Mary Beth Yount, Ph.D., Professor of Theological Studies, Neumann University, Aston, PA 19014, USA. Email: editor@jpcp.org Editorial