Spiritual Care for Transgender Patients

Healthcare chaplains and clergy in hospitals are often in search of detailed guidance as to how to best provide emotional and spiritual patient-centered care to their transgender patients. This chapter is intended to provide some best practices and insights, drawn from our own center’s experience and from recent literature, on the entire gamut of spiritual care for transgender patients. Numerous specific recommendations on caring for this population in the most respectful and healing manner, as well as suggestions for training chaplains and clergy, are followed by a brief look at some of the specific concerns that arise for Muslim and Orthodox Jewish transgender patients, intended to serve as an example which may also apply to other populations. Numerous resources are also provided.