Spiritual Care at The Montreal Children’s Hospital

It’s Spiritual Care Awareness Week in Canada, and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is taking this opportunity to highlight the essential role of spiritual care at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH). Spiritual care practitioners are here to listen, to offer support, and to bring perspective—often helping patients and families make sense of what they’re going through.

Joëlle has worked in spiritual care for about 15 years. She joined the MUHC in 2019 and became part of the MCH team in 2021. Joëlle is a certified member of CASC/ACSS (the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care). She reflects on her journey:

“One topic that often comes up in conversation with colleagues is vocation,” she says. “To understand our own reasons for choosing spiritual care is essential to actually doing the work. When we’re grounded in what guides us personally, we’re better able to offer breathing room for others—to truly listen and walk alongside them.” 

What does “We are the MUHC” mean to you?

We invited Joëlle to reflect on this question, and her response speaks from the heart:

“To me, ‘We are the MUHC’ means that our differences give our service its richness. This is especially true in spiritual care at the Children’s, where we come from different cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. What connects us are the meaningful moments we’ve all had with patients and families during our years of training. These formative experiences in the hospital setting inspired our commitment to supporting individuals during pivotal moments in their lives.”

She adds:

“When questions or doubts arise, I know there’s always a colleague nearby I can turn to and count on.” 

This year marks a meaningful milestone in the field of spiritual care: the 100th anniversary of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). 

A century ago, educator Anton T. Boisen developed a learning model based on real-life experiences—an approach that still shapes spiritual care today. All members of the MUHC’s spiritual care teams, in pediatric and adult care, have received this form of training.

We take a moment to recognize the Adult team at the MUHC, which includes nine spiritual care practitioners, one coordinator and one manager. At the Children’s, the team includes six daytime care practitioners and a dedicated group of nine on-call professionals.

To learn more about spiritual care, visit the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care website.