Spiritual and emotional support throughout the cancer journey
Cancer can affect more than the body. For patients and families, illness may also bring fear, uncertainty, questions about meaning or faith, changes in relationships, and concerns about what lies ahead.
At Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital, Clinical Pastoral Care provides a ministry of presence, listening and spiritual support for patients and families throughout the cancer journey.
Our role is not to tell someone what they should believe or how they should feel. It is to meet each person where they are, listen to what matters to them and accompany them with compassion and respect.
Support is available to people of different faiths and backgrounds, as well as those who may not identify with a particular religion.
What Is Clinical Pastoral Care?
Clinical Pastoral Care is concerned with the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of the person.
For some people, spirituality is closely connected to religious faith. For others, it may be found in relationships, family, personal values, hope, meaning, forgiveness or the things that give their life purpose.
When illness changes someone’s life, these areas may become particularly important.
Our Clinical Pastoral Care team provides a safe and supportive space for patients and family members to talk, reflect, pray where appropriate, or simply have someone present with them during a difficult time.
Sometimes, the most meaningful form of care is simply being there and listening.
Caring For The Whole Person
At Mount Miriam, we believe cancer care involves more than treating physical illness alone.
A person’s wellbeing can involve interconnected physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.
Cancer diagnosis and treatment may bring experiences such as:
- fear or uncertainty;
- loneliness or isolation;
- changes in independence;
- concerns about family and relationships;
- questions about meaning or purpose;
- anger or sadness;
- struggles with faith or beliefs;
- feelings of guilt or regret; or
- concerns about illness, dying or what may happen to loved ones.
These experiences are deeply personal.
Clinical Pastoral Care provides patients and families with an opportunity to explore them without judgment and at their own pace.
Crucially, spiritual care is not the same as religious instruction. You do not need to belong to a particular religion, attend religious services or hold specific beliefs to speak with our Clinical Pastoral Care team. Support begins with what matters to you.
What Is Spiritual Distress?
Spiritual distress can occur when illness challenges the things that normally give a person meaning, hope, identity or connection. It may not always be obvious.
A person experiencing spiritual distress might:
- feel that life has lost its meaning or purpose;
- express hopelessness or worthlessness;
- struggle with questions of faith or belief;
- feel angry, abandoned or deeply afraid;
- withdraw from people who are important to them;
- experience guilt, regret or unresolved conflict; or
- struggle to find peace with what is happening.
Experiencing these feelings does not mean that something is wrong with the person. They may simply indicate that the person is trying to make sense of a difficult and deeply personal experience.
Respecting Different Faiths and Beliefs
Mount Miriam’s heritage is rooted in the healthcare Mission of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM), and compassionate service remains central to the way we care for patients.
At the same time, every person is treated with respect for their own beliefs, values and background.
Where requested and appropriate, ministers or representatives from different religions may be invited to provide religious support according to the wishes of the patient and family. Our purpose is simply to accompany the person with dignity, compassion and respect.
How Can Clinical Pastoral Care Help?
Someone to Listen Without Judgement
Sometimes patients or family members simply need a safe place to speak openly about what they are experiencing.
Our team provides a listening presence without judgment or the expectation that every problem needs an immediate answer.
Finding Meaning and Hope
Serious illness can change how a person sees their life, relationships and future.
Spiritual care can provide space to reflect on what remains meaningful and important, and where the person may continue to find hope, connection or peace.
Faith and Spiritual Questions
Illness may strengthen someone’s faith, challenge it or lead to questions they have never previously considered.
Patients who wish to explore these questions may do so in a supportive environment and in a way that respects their own beliefs.
Relationships and Reconciliation
For some people, serious illness brings a desire to reconnect with family, resolve difficult relationships, seek or offer forgiveness, or express things that have remained unsaid.
Spiritual care can provide support as patients reflect on these wishes.
Support During Difficult Decisions
Patients and families may sometimes face difficult conversations or decisions about care.
Clinical Pastoral Care does not make medical decisions on behalf of the patient or family, but can provide emotional and spiritual support during these challenging times.
Spiritual Care During Palliative and Hospice Care
Spiritual support can become particularly important when someone is living with advanced cancer or when the focus of care begins to change.
Patients may experience questions about meaning, hope, faith, relationships, forgiveness, fear, loss or what matters most to them. Family members and caregivers may be facing many of these same concerns.
As part of Mount Miriam’s approach to palliative and hospice care, the Clinical Pastoral Care team is available to support patients and families according to their individual wishes, beliefs and needs.
For some people, this may involve prayer, religious support or conversations about faith. For others, it may simply mean having someone present to listen, reflect with them and provide a safe space to talk about what they are experiencing.
Clinical Pastoral Care forms part of our commitment to caring for the whole person, not only physically, but also emotionally, socially and spiritually.