{"id":244,"date":"2011-06-02T17:55:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-02T17:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/chaplaincy\/?page_id=244"},"modified":"2026-08-25T08:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:19:20","slug":"pastoral","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/pastoral\/","title":{"rendered":"Confidential Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-900x507.webp\" alt=\"Fern unfurling with sunlight in the background\" class=\"wp-image-8645\" style=\"width:304px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-900x507.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-400x225.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-1116x628.jpg 1116w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized-1536x864.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/files\/2025\/10\/Unfurling-fern-sized.webp 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">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\u2019ve been given and others that you\u2019ve found. We are confidential resources which means we will not share anything we hear without permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>It may be helpful to have a confidential conversation with a chaplain if:<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You need someone to listen to your full&nbsp; range of emotions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You feel lonely or overwhelmed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You feel tensions between familiar and emerging identities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You&#8217;d like to find time for spirituality and self-care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are processing a relational change like divorce, marriage, or parenting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are grieving the loss of a loved one<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How is a Chaplain different from a counselor?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chaplains are confidential resources which means they will not share anything they hear without permission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-63375db1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-75 large-button large-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-blue-background-color has-background has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/staff\/\">View Professional Profiles and Make an Appointment<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life unfolds on many levels. Beneath the static of day to day&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1549,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"bates_author_byline_override":"","_hide_page_title":false,"_header_override":"","_template_width_override":"","_dimp_site_id":"","_dimp_override_contact":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"_sidebarChoice":"","footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-244","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8948,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244\/revisions\/8948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/multifaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}