Resiliency: Chaplains can help with spiritual fitness Published June 6, 2014 By Air Force Staff Sgt. William Banton JBER Public Affairs JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Editor's note: Resiliency is the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens. This three-part series looks at different options available to service members and their families seeking help during difficult situations. This third installment focuses on spiritual and holistic health. The members of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson chaplaincy are here to provide perspective, resiliency and someone members can trust. "For most people, whether they are a spiritual or religious person or not, they know is probably a person they can trust," said Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Kaiser, JBER deputy installation chaplain. The chapel staff supports the spiritual growth and resiliency of each person by offering ministries for singles, couples, children and young adults, as well as religious education, worship and counseling. "We don't pass ourselves off as being quasi-psychiatrists or psychologists," Kaiser said. "We are very clear that pastoral care and counseling is what chaplains provide, and that is 100-percent confidential." Chaplains provide counseling centered on spiritual or religious issues. Their job is not to psychoanalyze service members; however, chaplains are trained to do spiritual assessments, so they know where people are in their beliefs. This is to see where they are at, not to convert them, Kaiser said. The goal is to go alongside them on their spiritual journey. "We meet them where they are at and pastoral counseling helps guide them through difficult and trying situations," Kaiser said. According to spiritfit.army.mil, the Army's Virtual Spiritual Fitness Center web page, the predominant goal of spiritual resiliency programs is to provide service members with resources so they can remain active - while leading to spiritual and comprehensive fitness for service members, family members and civilian Department of Defense employees. According to a research project by Kaiser, "Health & healing for the whole person: Holistic Health in the U.S. Army," studies have shown that active spirituality helps people stay healthy. People who pray and attend religious worship services tend to live longer and healthier lives. Some of the benefits of spirituality, regarding a whole person health concept, include increased happiness, life satisfaction and hope and optimism, as well as greater social support, less loneliness, lower rates of domestic violence and greater marital stability and satisfaction, to name a few. "Dr. Harold Koeing, in 'Handbook of religion and Health,' says the overwhelming majority of more than 1,600 clinical research studies have shown that integrating spirituality into health care will benefit a person's overall health and healing," Kaiser said in his research project. "For me it comes down to three words: meaning, purpose and hope," said Air Force Chaplain (Maj.) Steven Richardson, JBER's senior Protestant chaplain. "Can a person truly find meaning in the world, in their life and in what they are doing?" The individual with a clear professional identity will be strong of spirit and more resilient in challenging circumstances, Kaiser said. "In a rationalistic society where everyone has to have a rationalized purpose, and where we don't really have a sense of right or wrong anymore, a lot of our reasons for staying alive and going on are because of our sense of meaning and what we are really about and who we are," Richardson said. "One of the saddest things that I've ever seen is somebody in the hospital who is dying, who has no family, who has no friends and basically has no belief," Kaiser said. "The flip side of that is I've seen people before their time dying surrounded by family, by friends, with a strong faith and without anxiety as they die. "It's very important for those who would not necessarily consider themselves religious. "When something traumatic happens in their lives and they are encouraged by the presence of a chaplain, or somebody there who has a spiritual perspective, it can help them through that trauma," he said. If our purpose is only found in relationships without a sense of spirituality or without a sense of greater connection, whether it be with God, the world or something greater than ourselves, our since of purpose could falter, Richardson said. "I just got a retirement letter from a chaplain who finished his 44th year of active duty service," Richardson said. "If his purpose was the Air Force, then he's going to have problems because he's retiring this year." It's important to have some sort of belief that tomorrow can be, or will be, better than today and that there is something to look forward to, Richardson said. "When talking to a chaplain, we want to elicit the idea of hope and we want to encourage the idea of hope. We want to help paint the picture of hope," Richardson said. For more information on spiritual resiliency, visit spiritfit.army.mil or call the JBER Religious Operations Center at 552-5762.