Confidential Conversation
Life unfolds on many levels. Beneath the static of day to day worries, big questions may tug at the edges of awareness. Chaplains are here to listen as you navigate daily challenges and stitch meaning together from the pieces you’ve been given and others that you’ve found. We are confidential resources which means we will not share anything we hear without permission.
It may be helpful to have a confidential conversation with a chaplain if:
- You need someone to listen to your full range of emotions
- You feel lonely or overwhelmed
- You feel tensions between familiar and emerging identities
- You’d like to find time for spirituality and self-care
- You are processing a relational change like divorce, marriage, or parenting
- You are grieving the loss of a loved one
Raymond Clothier has many years of experience as a college chaplain and as a guide for explorations of meaning in life and work. His approach to confidential conversations is to listen carefully for the stories that tell us who we are, and the lesser known ones that may show us who we can be. He is a licensed clinical social worker and a trained spiritual companion (director).
Benny (’15) brings a depth of knowledge of the contemporary landscape of religion and spirituality for people in significant life transitions. Alongside his role at the Multifaith Chaplaincy, he is a healthcare chaplain. Benny is committed to fostering curiosity and wonder for each person’s particular spiritual home/s, inheritances, and/or interests, which includes supporting those on a path toward spiritual or religious leadership. He holds both a Master of Arts in the Humanities and a Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago. He lives in an interfaith home in the Portland area, where he grew up. At Bates, he majored in English.
How is a Chaplain different from a counselor?
- Therapists can be vitally helpful when you have a problem impinging upon your life. Chaplains are less focused on the functioning of a problem, and more focused on the interconnection, insight, and ingenuity that make you who you are.
- Chaplains are trained to attend to and tend to spirituality. There are many definitions of spirituality, but generally, chaplains pay attention to experiences that make you come alive with wonder, awe, or transcendence. Spirituality can contribute to overall health by opening new ways of seeing and new ways of being.
- Chaplains are confidential resources which means they will not share anything they hear without permission.