Values-based Reflective Practice

Abstract

Reflective practice matches ontology (those who inhabit the being of a profession) with epistemology (how they arrive at “knowing” what to do and how to act). Nowhere are ontology and epistemology more clearly wedded together in an indissoluble bond than in the life of those who minister and whose tools of the trade are nothing less than the intentional use of the self. This article outlines a reflective method developed in Scotland among healthcare chaplains to encourage congruence between professional practice and personal values. Pastoral practice is presented using the verbatim approach to which group members respond using the three levels of seeing found in the Resurrection account of John 20. The tasks and responsibilities of those who facilitate are outlined and feedback from a pilot study offered.