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Spiritual Screening, Spiritual Assessment, and “Solving the Moment”

Practical Clinical Tools for Chaplains

CH (CPT) Chris Lane

3TMC / 131^st FH (FWD) Chaplain Clinician

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Typical Chaplain Counseling Relationships

What type of counseling relationships do most chaplains establish?

Most operational ministry is “solving the moment.” Examples: Post-mission processing, Crisis counseling, Walk-in conversations, Check-ins, Pre/post combat discussions

These encounters are often:

Short
Emotionally intense
One-time visits

The chaplain’s task:

Identify the spiritual need in the moment and respond appropriately.

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Clinical Care Process

Clinical chaplaincy follows a simple progression:

1️⃣ Screen�Is there a potential spiritual concern?
2️⃣ Assess�What spiritual need is present?
3️⃣ Intervene�Apply a targeted pastoral response.
4️⃣ Follow Up�Did the intervention address the need?

Without assessment, interventions become generic encouragement rather than targeted spiritual care.

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Screening ≠ Assessment

Spiritual Screen

Purpose: Identify whether spiritual issues may be present.

Characteristics:

Quick
1–3 questions
Often used by any provider

Screening identifies possible spiritual concern or the role of spirituality in the moment, not the need itself.

Spiritual Assessment

Purpose: Identify the specific spiritual need driving distress.

Characteristics:

More time
Usually discerned from hearing the client’s story, not direct questions
Conducted by chaplains (best practice would suggest chaplain clinicians).

Assessment guides targeted pastoral intervention.

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Common Models

Screens

FICA:

Faith or beliefs
Importance of Spirituality
Community of Support
Address in Care

HOPE:

Hope sources
Organized Religion
Personal spirituality/practices
Effects on Care

Assessments

7x7 Spiritual Assessment Model (Fitchett)

A comprehensive framework exploring multiple dimensions of spiritual life, including beliefs, practices, community, emotional experience, and sources of meaning.
Best suited for ongoing pastoral care or inpatient settings where multiple visits allow deeper exploration.

Spiritual AIM

A focused model that identifies three core spiritual needs:

Meaning & Direction
Self-Worth & Belonging
Love & Reconciliation

Designed to help chaplains identify the dominant spiritual need in a single encounter and apply a targeted pastoral intervention.

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Start with their Story

Before identifying spiritual needs, we start with the person’s story.

Story Clarification Questions

You feel ___?
You feel ___ when ____
You feel ___ when ____ because ___?
You feel ___ when ___ because ___ and you wanted ___?

This sequence moves the conversation from:

Emotion → Interpretation → Underlying Desire

These questions come from Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

REBT moves people from Activating Event (What happened?) to B – Belief / Interpretation (What did it mean to you?) and then C – Consequence (What did you feel or how did you react?)

This often reveals their underlying desire and unpacks the real “need” in this moment

Examples:

“I feel confused about everything that happened… because the mission doesn’t make sense to me anymore… because I wanted to believe what we were doing mattered.” (Meaning)

“I feel ashamed about how things played out… because I think I failed my guys… because I wanted to be the kind of leader they could trust.” (Worth)

“I’m angry about how everything turned out… because it’s their fault this whole situation happened… because if they had done their job none of this would have happened.” (Love and Reconciliation)

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Our Role: Solving the Moment

1. Listen for distress

A Soldier says: “I keep replaying that mission.”

2. Identify the spiritual need

Is the struggle about:

Meaning?
Worth?
Forgiveness?

3. Apply targeted intervention

Example:

If the issue is guilt → reconciliation intervention.
If the issue is purpose → meaning-making.
If the issue is shame → belonging.

Clinical ministry means responding to the need actually present, not the one we assume.

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Putting it Together

A Soldier says:

“I should have done something different that day. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Discussion questions:

What spiritual need is likely present?
Which Spiritual AIM category does it fit?
What intervention might address that need?

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Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Screening identifies possible spiritual concerns.

2️⃣ Assessment identifies the specific spiritual need.

3️⃣ Spiritual AIM provides a simple framework for single encounters.

4️⃣ Effective chaplaincy means matching intervention to the need present in the moment.

That is how chaplains “solve the moment”