Stories

Training learners in compassion: St. Joseph’s Health System welcomes back spiritual care residency program

Oct 20, 2025

St. Joseph’s Health System is proud to celebrate the return of its spiritual care residency program — a longstanding initiative that reflects St. Joe’s deep commitment to compassionate care. One of only two programs of its kind in Canada (alongside University Health Network), this year’s cohort includes nine post-graduate learners, the largest group in the program’s history.

For decades, spiritual care has been a shared service across St. Joe’s Health System that honours the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph and their mission to serve with compassion and presence. After a brief hiatus during the pandemic and a successful recruitment process, the program was reinstated this fall, marking both a renewal and a celebration of that legacy. In recognition of Spiritual Health Awareness Week (October 19-25, 2025), spiritual care leaders and learners are reflecting on what it means to walk with people during difficult moments inside hospitals and long-term care homes.

“Spiritual care is about being present — about sitting with people in their pain and not making it your own,” says Keith Metcalfe, Director of Mission and Spiritual Care Community of Practice at St. Joe’s Health System. “It’s about cultivating compassion by being comfortable in the uncomfortable and helping our learners develop the emotional and spiritual resilience to walk alongside others in their suffering.”

A unique learning experience

The spiritual care residency program offers clinical post-graduate education that combines hands-on patient and resident care with deep personal reflection. Learners work across St. Joe’s Health System and currently are assigned to specific units at St. Joe’s Hamilton and St. Joe’s Villa campuses, spending their days visiting and supporting patients, residents and families. They also meet with clinical educators to process their experiences and explore their emotional responses with their peers.

The program integrates three key modalities:

1. Interpersonal relationships (IPR): Facilitated group conversations where learners practice spiritual care with one another, fostering vulnerability, empathy and self-awareness.
2. Didactics: Classroom-based learning sessions with guest speakers — from occupational therapists to social workers — that explore how spiritual care fits into the broader interprofessional care team.
3. Clinical supervision: One-on-one guidance with educators to identify “blind spots,” reflect on countertransference and refine their approach to compassionate care.

“People express fear, anger and grief, among many emotions. Our role is to hear that and be present,” says Metcalfe. “Spiritual care clinical educators train our learners in compassion, helping them to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, and to help people find meaning in their experiences.”

Learning to “be with,” not “do for”

For Asal Bagherian, a resident supporting patients and families on the birthing unit and mood disorders unit at St. Joe’s Hamilton, the program is both intellectually and personally transformative. With a background in psychology, sociology, and mindfulness-based therapy from the University of Toronto, Bagherian says the experience has deepened her understanding of what it means to care.

“We need to step out of the mindset that ‘I’m here to help you,’ and into the mindset, ‘I’m here to walk with you,’” says Bagherian. “Compassion means doing with, not doing for. We join patients and families in their fear and help them feel seen and heard.”

In practice, that means offering what she calls a “compassionate presence”—grounding patients in the present moment when anxiety takes over, watching for body language and giving them space to express whatever they need.

“Our job is to be the anchor,” she says. “It’s really inspiring work. Every day I grow and change a little more. It’s moving to witness people’s stories and the trust they place in us.”

Rediscovering purpose through legacy

Another learner, Seong Cho, brings decades of pastoral experience to the spiritual care intensive program. An ordained minister with 30 years of experience, Cho is exploring clinical spiritual care as a new career path after being encouraged by his daughter who’s a hospital chaplain in the United States.

“Hamilton’s hospitals are unique,” says Cho. “Spiritual care is so well-received among the interprofessional team. There’s a deep sense of collegiality and mutual respect—it’s refreshing.”

For Cho, the program has illuminated how the Sisters of St. Joseph’s mission and legacy still shape St. Joe’s culture today.

“The Sisters’ mission gives me grounding — it reminds me why this work matters,” he explains. “Institutions can strip dignity. For example, the food people used to eat, the friends they had, are no longer there. So how do we bring value and meaning back? I help residents tell their story in a different context. Spiritual care restores that sense of worth.”

Through the IPR sessions, Cho says he’s also learning to bring greater self-awareness to his relationships — with patients, residents and peers alike.

“You can’t bring your own agenda,” he explains. “Compassion means listening without baggage. When someone lands in a hospital or long-term care bed for the first time, life stops, and they’re forced to reassess what matters. That’s sacred ground — we get to walk with them as they find new meaning.”

Living the mission

For St. Joe’s Health System, the return of the spiritual care residency program is more than a milestone — it’s a reaffirmation of our foundational values. The program not only prepares future chaplains and spiritual care providers but also keeps alive a legacy of compassion and hope that has defined St. Joe’s for generations.

“This is how we live the mission,” says Metcalfe. “By training compassionate caregivers who can sit with others in their suffering and remind them they’re not alone.”

As Spiritual Care Week is celebrated across St. Joe’s Health System, the message is clear: compassion is not a concept—it’s a practice. And at St. Joe’s, that practice continues to grow, one learner, one patient, one resident and one shared moment at a time.