When physicians open their souls. Regular group sessions help doctors improve holistic quality of their work and spiritual wellness of their lives.

he basic definition of the word "catholic" as "universal" suggests, in the context of Catholic health care, a sincere effort to care for all people, certainly those within one's sphere of influence. Clearly, it follows that the mission of Catholic health care includes finding ways to care not only for patients within our institutions, but also for the souls of those who function as the basis of all health care: the medical practitioners themselves. For the most part, however, institutional relationships with physicians have revolved around negotiations related to their need for medical equipment, practice space and other professional amenities, with support for physicians focused mostly on meeting those material needs. The jostling for power between medical practitioners and administrators that inevitably ensues has traditionally contributed to distance between the two groups. Meanwhile, even in Catholic health care systems, physicians' emotional and spiritual needs often go unmet in the workplace. As Catholic institutions seek to develop formation programs aimed at bringing physicians' values into alignment with the existing health care culture, they may find that physician self-care and personal integration first need to be addressed. When formation is initiated by others, from without, it can easily feel subtly coercive. True personal integration, on the other hand, happens from within, through engaging with others in a process of mutually exploring and experiencing personal vulnerability as well as personal power. If Catholic health care systems are to live up to their mission of caring for whole persons, it will be important to find ways to nurture physicians' souls — or perhaps better, to help physicians nurture one another, for the benefit of their emotional and spiritual needs.