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Rev. Naatan Haamer
Hospital Chaplain Tartu University Hospital
TTA Head of Department of Pastoral Care
Pastoral care has been practiced in Estonia since 1992. The first training
of professional pastoral caregivers was organised as a joint project by
Estonian and Finnish Lutheran churches ten years ago in Tartu (Estonia).
The educators leading this project were all professionals from Finland.
During this training the students also started to practice pastoral care
in several hospitals in Estonia.
1993-1995 three graduates of the first training program continued their
studies in Finland where they passed more complex training of pastoral
care and counselling. 1996-1998 two of them attended the program of
pastoral care supervisors there. My journey of becoming a pastoral
counsellor has depended upon the phases noted before. Because of that I am
very grateful to the colleagues in Finland for the support.
The field of Pastoral Care has two main focuses. First the provision of
training courses in pastoral care and counselling to educate professional
caregivers and to ensure the continuity of the pastoral care tradition in
Estonia. The second aim is to develop and regulate the practice of
pastoral care and counselling in hospitals, communities and welfare
institutions. One of the important purposes is to introduce the field of
the pastoral care outside of the church community by cooperating with
public institutions. I have been working for several years for these
goals, but as the priority I have kept in my mind the task to retain the
field of pastoral care alive in the area of supportive duties in Estonia.
Today I have joy in recognising that the work of pastoral care in Estonia
has developed and moved forward by several increments. At the beginning of
this year governmentally acknowledged occupational standard for Chaplains
have been established and hopefully in May the occupational standard for
Pastoral Counsellors. As a result we can recognise that the work of
pastoral counselling that has been done in Estonia for many years has
found the approbation and its role in the society of Estonia.
[May 2008] |
