CAMPaM Meaning

[Fr. Jos Tharakan +]

CAMPaM™ means Complementary Alternative Methods of Healing applied in the mystery Of Pastoral Ministry. CAMPaM™ is a study of various complementary alternative methods of healing in the context of pastoral ministry. It is a practical study of effective modalities easily applicable from a chaplain's point of view. While the focus of the study is outcome based interventions CAMPaM never leavs the basic focus of pastoral ministry which is to BE with the patient! . CAMPaM applications in a tangible way contribute to the body of knowledge as required by the administration, interdisciplinary team and various other departments.

What is PaM?

Pastoral Ministry is an art of caring which brings the theological concepts of faith into life situations that are filled with joy and sadness, sin, pain, suffering and death, sickness and problems.

In today's changing consciousness, which has awakened to the oneness of persons, Pastoral Ministry is gaining significance. This ministry, which has its branches all the way into the heavens, has its roots planted firmly in the community. It is sought after and offered in many kinds of settings, such as; hospitals and health care facilities; including private, university, military, and veterans facilities; prisons and correctional institutions; parishes and congregations; hospices and other places that care for the dying; psychiatric facilities and community care; business, industry and other workplace settings; retirement homes and geriatric centers; rehabilitation centers, such as those for physical illness and injury, as well as those working with the addicted; and in communities, both urban and rural.

Through spiritual assessment and theological reflection, proper intervention and clear care planning in specific human situations, a minister will be able to suggest ways to cope and support the members of his or her community by bringing lasting emotional, psychological and, above all, spiritual healing.

Pastoral Ministry is a:

• Vehicle of transformation

• Ministry with a mystery

• Enlivened theology

• Unique developmental-spiritual process

• A method of introspection

• A Way to integral healing

• Invitation for integration

• A Call to change

• A challenge to growth

  What is CAM?

  Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a non-invasive method of employing natural gifts, elements, and modalities in bringing integral healing to a person. These medical methods are administered in various ways. Four Ministers sake, they can be classified into two main categories while NIH has grouped over 350 of them into seven. The two categories we are interested in here are:

  1. Mental Methods 2. Hands-On Methods

  Various institutions across the nation and the world have conducted research on many of these methods. They have found them to be effective complements to traditional medicine.

  Though the methods used to get there are different, the end goal of CAM is the same as that of Pastoral Ministry: the integral healing of persons that brings about lasting spiritual, emotional and physical well being.

  The tools offered by CAM may be easily utilized by Pastoral Ministers. Because CAM teaches specific skills, it yields faster results. By making clients active participants in the healing process, they are thereby educated and empowered to take charge of their lives through CAM modalities. Pastoral ministry itself then benefits and would surely be in greater demand in today's changing world.