Josh Turner on being Switzerland and the unlikely cross-over with improvisation

Josh talks us through his journey from acting into chaplaincy, qualifying in the MA is Pastoral and Existential Practice he appreciates the colleagues who took a punt on him and gave him the chance to join in chaplaincy with a non-religious worldview. Josh combines his mental health chaplaincy work with teaching acting and voice-overs and draws parallels with the skills he teaches actors in being in the 'now', being open, holding a safe space and suspending judgement. Improvisation calls for a 'wait and see' approach where 'the scene is in the other person' and our reactions are in response to their actions. At times this calls for a flight of fancy and a suspension of logic to join in and Josh talks inspiringly of his pastoral care approach and how he complements the therapists and consultants in attending to people's mental ill health. The longer term care of people in the Mental Health Trust means that he sees people regularly and develops incremental and longer term conversations, in ward and community settings. We reflect on the complexity of the journey that people may make through their mental ill-health and how grief and intrusive voices can be part of what they are dealing with. Josh shares that he is neuro-divergant and how this insight helps him in his work. This leads us to comment on how chaplaincy teams are only as rich as the people in them and how the experience of being a minority has such value in how we understand and behave towards others. We wonder about the value of humour in our work and how for Josh, finding out what makes someone laugh can be a way into learning more about them and how they look at life. Josh leaves us with the observation that the recent NHS chaplaincy guidelines fail to address role of chaplaincy in the mental health context - it differs in important ways for acute and end of life chaplaincy and this needs to be addressed.