Chaplain's Log

The Chaplain’s Log is a collection of field encounters, some drawn directly from ministry and others presented as composite illustrations in the same spirit, designed to show what trauma-responsive presence looks like in practice. Each entry follows a real or realistic moment: a construction worker who says he’s fine but clearly isn’t, a family standing in the wreckage of a tornado, a teenager who grieves through silence instead of words. These aren’t polished success stories. They’re honest snapshots of what it looks like to slow down, listen well, and stay present when someone is hurting.

These introductory guides are designed to give you a snapshot of what each certification entails, the topics covered, and the practical skills you’ll develop. While they are not the complete curriculum, they offer a clear picture of the training experience and learning approach.

For our students, the purpose isn’t to hand you a script. It’s to show PRESENCE™ and ATTUNE™ at work in situations too complicated for a textbook to fully capture, where the first request isn’t the real need, where grief doesn’t follow a timeline, and where the right response is often patience rather than technique. Each case walks through the situation, the challenge, the response, and then breaks down exactly which movements of PRESENCE™ and ATTUNE™ were in play and why they mattered.

Read these not as a set of rules to memorize, but as a way of training your instincts so that when you’re the one sitting with someone in crisis, you already recognize the shape of what presence can offer.