Angelika A. Zollfrank, MDiv, BCC, ACPE
There is very little literature that studies the outcomes of mental health chaplain interventions. Against the backdrop of a case, this presentation will summarize the findings of the literature about the impact of mental health chaplains, the expectations of patients, and the future areas of curiosity that can drive studies in this area.
Angelika A. Zollfrank, MDiv, BCC, ACPE, is an ordained clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. In her role at McLean, she provides spiritual support appropriate to the spiritual orienting systems of patients, families, and staff. Chaplain Zollfrank also leads the Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education Program at McLean Hospital. She specializes in how spirituality and religion may be useful for coping with mental health struggles.
(We apologize for missing the audience questions during the webinar. We have collected these and forwarded them to Angelika. We’ll post written responses here soon.)
Tim Usset, MDiv, MA, MPH, BCC, LMFT, ACPE
We will discuss an overview of emerging literature related to healthcare worker experiences of moral injury and the current intervention gap. Evidence-based moral injury interventions for military service members/Veterans will be summarized with emphasis on chaplain-led interventions. The process of adapting Building Spiritual Strength to Health and Strength will be a highlight of the presentation. Implications for further chaplain-led organizational and individual interventions will be discussed.
Timothy J. Usset is a Board Certified Chaplain, ACPE Certified Educator and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist/Board Approved Supervisor in the state of Minnesota. Throughout his career, Tim has worked extensively with moral injury, spiritual distress, and posttraumatic stress disorder on research projects and clinical areas within the Veterans Health Administration, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Army Medical Command, and other private health systems. Tim completed a fellowship with Transforming Chaplaincy and is a Pat Tillman Military Scholar. Currently, Tim serves as a Research Health Scientist at the VA Maine Health Care System, the Executive Director for the Physicians Wellness Collaborative, a non-profit organization supporting clinician wellness and mental health, and the Command Chaplain for United States Army Reserve Legal Command. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration in the Health Policy & Management Division of the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health with a Research Assistantship in the Minnesota Evidence-Based Practice Center.
Key references from the presentation:
Griffin, B. J., Weber, M. C., Hinkson, K. D., Jendro, A. M., Pyne, J. M., Smith, A. J., ... & Maguen, S. (2023). Toward a Dimensional Contextual Model of Moral Injury: A Scoping Review on Healthcare Workers. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 1-18.
Chamberlin, E. S., Usset, T. J., Fantus, S., Kondrath, S. R., Butler, M., Weber, M. C., & Wilson, M. A. (2023). Moral injury in healthcare: Adapting the Building Spiritual Strength (BSS) intervention to Health and Strength (HAS) for civilian and military healthcare workers. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 10(3), 234-247.