these  categories.  Be  prepared  to  devote  a  considerable amount of your time and attention to making sure these files  are  complete  and  up  to  date.  Remember,  the percentage of retired and elderly persons in our society is steadily increasing. The retired and elderly may constitute  a  significant  percentage  of  the  clientele seeking  help  at  your  religious  ministries  facility  (RMF). In your career, you will encounter many different types of people. Some of these people will be trying to cope with tragic and traumatic circumstances. The information in the following paragraphs should help you understand your role of assisting your chaplain in these events. PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO DISTRAUGHT PERSONS People  spend  their  time,  energy,  and  means  setting up their lives in a certain way. When a crisis takes place, many  plans  and  hopes  are  disrupted  and  altered,  perhaps forever. Change is dreadfully trying for some people. When change occurs, people will often turn to a Navy chaplain for help. The reactions people will have to changes,  certainly  to  unanticipated  and  sudden  ones, will vary widely. As an RP, you will inevitably be in a situation in which you must deal with distraught or overwrought persons.   Types   of   RMF   encounters—routine, ceremonial, and dramatic-are outlined in figure 2-8. You should be able to recognize these situations by their descriptive   terms. Routine and ceremonial encounters will seldom require any radical decision-making responses on your part. Dramatic encounters, however, are another story. In dramatic encounters, you will deal with people in extreme crises. In general, these people will be reacting to a condition that has deprived them, or is threatening ENCOUNTER TYPES DESCRIPTIVE   TERMS EXAMPLES ROUTINE Simple Straightforward  visit Easy Readily available solutions Just  another  client Personal  spiritual  renewal Our  bread  and  butter Reassurance Habitual performance of an ordinary,  established  procedure CEREMONIAL TRANSITION By  the  way... Surprise!... Schedule  busters Brief visit, unplanned—by the Hidden time bombs chaplain Chain  reaction  to  events Seeks  hope... A transitional ceremony occurs when a new drama emerged in a brief visit providing an opportunity  to  lessen  anxiety MAINTENANCE Follow-up  visit Seeks new advice, but does take Always the same previous  advice Friendly A  maintenance  ceremony  occurs Hopeless after a drama ends and reasoning has  returned DRAMATIC Complicated Crisis  time Difficult Bad  news Trouble Family  discord Along-playing record Suicidal Those  encounters  occurring  over time  and  involving  conflict(s)  or intense emotion(s) or both Figure  2-8.—Types  of  RMF  encounters. 2-13