Sacred Depths

Because I am a hospice spiritual care counselor whose patients often have Alzheimer's or Dementia, I have often asked the question of how I can best reach these patients spiritually. The previous hospice I served told us that we were not allowed to see them, because they cannot carry on a conversation. We were told it was a medicare requirement. But that always bothered me, because even in my limited experience, I had discovered the possibility of reaching these patients if I was able to listen to the emotion underneath what they were saying. In doing this, I had accomplished having some pretty profound encounters with patients, who were said to be speaking only indiscernible babble. Being somewhat rebellious, I tried to find ways around the rules, by meeting the family members at the facilities, and that way I could talk to the patient, but chart on what the family members said. That way everyone was happy. Yes, I thought it was a pretty creative solution as well, thank you!

Well now, in my current hospice, the rule of not seeing the alzheimer's and dementia doesn't exist. In fact our hospice specializes in alzheimer's and dementia treatment, that treats the residents with dignity and has all kinds of ways of treating them in ways, such as redirecting, and a new spiritual discipline called Sacred Depths, that is a process of communicating with patients and getting to their spiritual being, below the neurological traits that we see with our eyes.

Today, I spoke with the daughter of one of our new patients, who is also a spiritual care counselor, in a different state. She relayed this conversation she had with her mom, where she wrote down all these things that her mom shared with her, about wanting to be free, of acknowledging to her daughter that she had the kind of compassion and skill to help her, speaking about the women who have struggled in her family, and much, much more. It was so exciting to hear this. Her daughter had written down the statements of content, and emotion, that her mom spoke, intermingled with strings of nonsensical speech. But when you put all of the emotionally related statements, you get a very clear picture of where this woman is spiritually. It gave me goosebumps.

It has long been my belief that until a person takes their last breath, their spirit is alive, and it is just a matter of our trying to find the key to reach them.

This gives me such hope as my own mother is in the beginning stages of dementia, and I now have the possible keys to reaching her as well, when that time comes. Hallelujah!

Susan