Chaplain Teams Trained on Caring for Themselves

An article at Army.mil notes some religious support teams spend so much time caring for others they may neglect their own well-being:

These RST’s work hard to provide moral, ethical and spiritual leadership to their units. On a weekly basis, they care for hundreds of Soldiers from diverse backgrounds and provide counseling for issues ranging from interpersonal relationships to combat stress…

“Compassion fatigue and burnout is a very real problem,” said Capt. Justine Majeres, the brigade psychologist. “Chaplains are always caring for others, so who cares for the caregiver?”

The great quote, though, comes from one of the chaplain assistants:

“Whether a Soldier is religious or not is irrelevant,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Esposito, the brigade chaplain’s assistant. “There is a misconception that chaplains only help Soldiers of certain faiths. We’re here to take care of all of our Soldiers, no matter what they believe.”

Despite occasional cries of persecution to the contrary, the US military generally does an admirable job of providing for the spiritual needs of all of its troops, no matter what — or where — those needs may be.

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