> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://psychedelicmentalhealth.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Spotlight: Ketamine Integration Chaplaincy: A Novel Spiritual Care Approach to Psychedelic Integration (2025) - URL: https://psychedelicmentalhealth.net/spotlight-ketamine-integration-chaplaincy-a-novel-spiritual-care-approach-to-psychedelic-integration-2025/ - Published: 2026-08-29T16:09:47.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-29T16:20:28.000Z - Description: "More and more patients are receiving ketamine as part of treatment for depression. Many describe these experiences as deeply spiritual, but hospitals rarely extend chaplaincy services to them." (Breau, 2026) - Author: Michael DeMarco, PhD [Loved this work by Jeffrey Breau and colleagues on Ketamine Integration Chaplaincy. Such a timely exploration of the role of chaplaincy in psychedelic therapy. My own recent article approaches this… | Ayeh KashaniLoved this work by Jeffrey Breau and colleagues on Ketamine Integration Chaplaincy. Such a timely exploration of the role of chaplaincy in psychedelic therapy. My own recent article approaches this same movement from another angle — exploring how psychedelic practice is also giving rise to new forms of ministry that reach beyond the clinic, reuniting philosophy, spirituality, and psychology within a living framework. I’d love to see more conversations between psychedelic chaplaincy, psychedelic ministry, and the deeper metaphysical frameworks that underlie both. Exciting to see spiritual care re-claiming its place in the psychedelic ecosystem.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/al2o9zrvru7aqj8e1x2rzsrca-aad88b54-a461-4de5-b564-65662bde35c6)LinkedInAyeh Kashani![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/1758117611812-c2bcde89-f103-4a41-aed0-fdc9f07a84a9)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ayeh-kashani-31357575%5Floved-this-work-by-jeffrey-breau-and-colleagues-activity-7392705252749139968-osMd) Read the paper: Chaplains are one of the many care providers which may be psychedelic practitioners. Chaplains are widely accepted as care providers around the world, and require no state or government licensure, although various chaplaincy board certifications exist. Psychedelic chaplains may work in person or virtually, and may also fulfill the 2 person psychedelic therapist dyad model being proposed by the FDA and SAMSHA in the US recently, although this program was built around ketamine integration sessions in the days following treatment offered virtually. Project Uruguay: 2026– While some hospitals in Uruguay do offer chaplains of particular religions, the public hospital in Montevideo just beginning to roll out iv ketamine for pain and mental health indications, has no such offering, due to the government being completely separate from religion. In hopes of offering ketamine preparation and integration support education to local psychedelic practitioners including clinicians and chaplains, Michael DeMarco, PhD has begun the certificate in Psychedelic Chaplaincy with Starr King School of Ministry, affiliated with the [Unitarian Universalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian%5FUniversalism). Psychedelic chaplaincy can be offered in a non-religious context while supporting the patient being treated with medicines that elicit psychedelic experiences or altered states of consciousness. [Psychedelic Justice & Companioning CertificateDiscover healing through psychedelic justice and companioning. Starr King’s certificate program trains students to support spiritual transformation and justice.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/fav-icon-32a385b2-3855-46d4-871d-92a031879e6f.png)Starr King School for the Ministry![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/PBM-Cert-News-Image-697326b4-8f06-4524-935e-be7114101bd7.jpg)](https://www.sksm.edu/academics/certificates/psychedelicchaplaincy) [Psychedelic Mental Health (@PsychedelicInstitute@mastodon.social)Attached: 1 image Ketamine Integration Chaplaincy: A Novel Spiritual Care Approach to Psychedelic Integration (2025) https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anoc.70012 #ketamine #chaplain #deathdoula #psychedelic #telehealth #esketamine #psychedelics![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/favicon-48x48-DMnduFKh-59d95cbe-6ebb-4de6-bce9-4b15aba5fe74.png)MastodonPsychedelic Mental Health![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/5c76a62c79712a3d-d809b3cb-597c-44d1-ab7b-8e3095671e4b.png)](https://mastodon.social/@PsychedelicInstitute/117169233012180276) [Unaffiliated Chaplaincy - Chaplaincy Innovation LabUnaffiliated chaplaincy is a growing aspect of the profession that recognizes ongoing demographic shifts.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-270x270-0e9796fc-bf72-4bd5-bc5f-303517832201.png)Chaplaincy Innovation Lab![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/silhouette-of-people-by-the-seashore-1387037-scaled-8586a525-388b-4880-89a1-84baa562f0cd.jpg)](https://chaplaincyinnovation.org/resources/faith-tradition/unaffiliated-chaplaincy) [Humanist Chaplain – The Humanist SocietyServing Humanist Professionals Since 1939![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/cropped-THS-Circle-Icon-270x270-b95fdd77-5b16-4bca-b522-ee653bd02d01.png)THS Logo Horizontal Clearspace Transparent![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/THS-Logo-Horizontal-Clearspace-Transparent-f6e0421d-c656-476c-9e3e-5afa7cc4b26b.png)](https://thehumanistsociety.org/our-endorsements/humanist-chaplain/) Chaplains are distinguished from Celebrants by their responsibility and authority to work with both non-humanists **and* humanists. This position is characterized by a professional chaplain’s covenant to serve all and exploit none. [chaplaincy – The Existential Buddhist![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/favicon-2487c70c-4d2a-45d1-beb9-f4d6f4486931.ico)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/18319067_752721041556446_6542207566079266600_o-48ebe2ac-9c1e-40ec-9b70-490e67c82e32.jpg)](https://www.existentialbuddhist.com/tag/chaplaincy/) [Chaplains in Mental Health Hospitals: What They Do | NYSCG![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/icon/69d93d5870304527616860d9_optimized-47cec191-b88d-4aa6-b990-dbe7b422cfc7)The United States Chaplain Group Inc - In partnership with The New York State, The Chaplain Group of America & The Institute Of Clinical Pastoral Education is a tax deductible organization with a federal tax Id number 92-383-4921![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/a8/61a8484e-df24-47fb-903c-d012ff10c983/content/images/thumbnail/69dbfcdba11091faa8d5431e-73fba646-1f7b-4d36-98ec-18578b925cc1)](https://nyscg.org/blog/chaplains-in-mental-health-hospitals-what-they-do) In mental health hospitals, chaplains are key members of the healthcare team. They provide spiritual, emotional, and holistic support to patients, families, and staff, helping ensure that care goes beyond just the physical and psychological aspects of treatment. ### [Atheist chaplains are forging a new path in a changing world](https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/07/us/atheist-chaplains-humanist-cec/) ### > In this article, we use birth as an entry point for exploring spiritual care from secular perspectives. More specifically, we will study the concept of natality in the context of humanist chaplaincy. Natality refers to the condition of being born and chaplains are experts in providing spiritual care and have been working in the “spiritual domain” for many decades. Traditionally, the care they provided was grounded in Christian faith ([Cadge 2019](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B10-religions-13-00271)). Nowadays, chaplaincy is developing into a diverse profession, both in terms of the various contexts in which chaplains work, such as health care, prisons, the military or after collective disaster, and in terms of worldviews, including chaplains with Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and humanist affiliations or unaffiliated chaplains ([Liefbroer and Olsman 2020](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B34-religions-13-00271); [Liefbroer et al. 2019](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B35-religions-13-00271); [Nolan and MacLaren 2021](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B36-religions-13-00271); [Savage 2019](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B43-religions-13-00271); [Schuhmann et al. 2020](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B48-religions-13-00271)). The common denominator in the work that all these chaplains do is usually understood in terms of spirituality: all chaplains, irrespective of their worldview background and the context in which they work, provide spiritual care. The presupposition here is that spirituality is not necessarily associated with religion but rather refers to a universal human experience ([De Jager Meezenbroek et al. 2012](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B15-religions-13-00271)). At the same time, as secular types of chaplaincies, such as humanist chaplaincy, are gaining ground in secularizing societies, the question has been raised whether secular chaplaincy can be understood as a spiritual profession or rather should be seen as just another form of therapy ([Nolan and MacLaren 2021](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B36-religions-13-00271)). In this article, we respond to this question by exploring the spiritual dimension of humanist chaplaincy—a specific and relatively well-established form of secular chaplaincy, for instance in the Netherlands ([Schuhmann et al. 2020](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271#B48-religions-13-00271)). [Natality and Relational Transcendence in Humanist Chaplaincy](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/271)