A model of clinical pastoral participation in the process of restoring bodily identity after amputations: a theoretical and applied approach

Large-scale traumatization of the population as a result of military operations in Ukraine led to a rapid increase in the number of patients with amputations, which creates an urgent need for the formation of integrative rehabilitation strategies. The loss of a limb is a multidimensional challenge, which is accompanied not only by functional limitations, but also by a deep crisis of bodily identity, existential distress and transformation of life meanings. The aim of the article is to theoretically substantiate and conceptually develop an integrative model of clinical pastoral participation in the process of restoring bodily integrity after amputation. The work systematizes modern scientific approaches to understanding the psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms of adaptation to physical loss, including the role of empathic interaction in the regulation of the psycho-emotional state, and also presents the theological understanding of corporeality through the prism of human dignity. The author’s four-stage model of pastoral care has been developed, structurally synchronized with the clinical rehabilitation route: from crisis intervention, processing of the «bodily gap» and phantom sensations to the integration of the prosthesis as an element of a new bodily scheme and overcoming the consequences of moral trauma during social reintegration. It has been shown that the involvement of a clinical pastor in the multidisciplinary team contributes to the leveling of existential distress, the acceptance of the patient’s changed bodily identity, and increases the overall effectiveness of medical and social recovery. The proposed model is conceptual in nature and requires further clinical verification.