Our Patterns of Creative Spiritual Care conference is the premiere event highlighting and supporting the work of pastoral care, spiritual care and chaplaincy in Australia.

Spiritual care highly values the importance of person-centered care. Our 2024 Conference theme: “Patterns of Creative Spiritual Care – Enriching the Journey to Hope” recognises the richness of creativity when attending to the person at the heart of our care. The use of sound and music, aromas, art and imagery, drama and role, embodiment and movement, language and story are all mediums through which we seek to engage with the other.

Effective spiritual care helps people to both experience and make meaning of their hopes and fears, and the role of the creative arts supports this process as people are enabled to find their voice and find expression, when experiencing suffering, grief, loss and trauma. It’s co-creation – the spiritual care practitioner engaging with the other, inviting meaning-making through the arts.

Creativity, especially the creative arts, can be part of the expression of the compassionate, attentive presence required for effective spiritual care. It enables a connection in ways to enhance engagement with the self and others, to enable us to express our spirituality and meet spiritual needs. Our conference will explore patterns of creative spiritual care, provide experiences of creative approaches, and examine the research supporting these methods.

All these creative efforts assist in enriching the journey to hope. In addition to the creative dimension, our conference will also be detailing the latest research in spiritual care, and provide updates and engagement around developing education pathways, in relation to our SCA Capabilities Framework.