St Michael's College

Reflections from a Chaplain

“Working within both acute and secure mental health services for just under a year I have become keenly aware of the need for specialist chaplaincy training and development in this challenging and sensitive area of ministry. The Introduction to Mental Health Chaplaincy at St Michael’s has proven to be of great help in engaging with that need for professional development. The tutors and speakers bring with them a wealth of experience and understanding and their input was of a consistently high standard throughout. Each session was designed to engage you at both an intellectual and practical level so as to aid learning and directly impact upon the standard of care given by chaplains. I would recommend this as essential training for anyone engaged in spiritual care within a mental health setting. The standard of the course is also matched by the standard of care given by the College’s support staff who ensure that your stay at St Michael’s is a real pleasure. Thank you to all who were involved in this experience”.

Michael Crilly

Evaluation

I would like to firstly express my appreciation to all members of staff who assisted me with my dietary requirements as it was the course of Ramadhan. The food on the menu during that week was really appetising and tasty.

In my current role as a chaplain, I attend to the pastoral needs of all those within the establishment, including those who are reside within the hospital part of the establishment. As a chaplain, I have specific pastoral and spiritual concern for the service users and also the wider community. This course has really helped me to develop on my learning skills on the basis of taking on a role as a chaplain. This course has also made me more alert of different life issues a service user may have experienced.

All lectures presented by the tutors were well presented and structured and up to my expectations. I really found all lectures very interesting and appealing which will very much help me in my career working as a hospital chaplain. This course gave me the opportunity to meet people from different walks of life enabling me to stay in contact with chaplain’s form various trusts. This course has enhanced my knowledge and understanding on the issues related to health care and mental health. As a result this course has also made me aware of the potential risks that can occur within the working environment working as a hospital chaplain.

Fahmid Syed (Muslim Imam)