https://www.chaplaincyinnovation.org How can chaplains help healthcare institutions respond best in moments of crisis? One chaplain proposes Go Teams for healthcare. Following a series of traumatic incidents and losses, including on-site suicide, colleague deaths, and assaultive patients that deeply shook the staff community, Chaplain Alyssa Adreani created and launched a crisis response program called the Newton-Wellesley Hospital GO Team. Inspired by Critical Incident Stress Management, the GO Team is comprised of professional colleagues from Spiritual Care, EAP, Behavioral Health, Peer Support and other trained and experienced professionals. The team are activated and deployed by executive leadership following crisis events at the hospital. Supportive responders debrief after every incident. This webinar will discuss the history of the GO Team, the path taken to create and launch it, and how other chaplains can create similar resources in their own healthcare institutions. We’re joined by Alyssa Adreani, Director, Spiritual Care Department, Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

We thank Religious Naturalist Association for their support of this webinar. With the roots of professional spiritual care as we know it today in religious traditions, the credentialing process — from classroom education to CPE and endorsement and board certification — long has been associated with religious organizations. But what does this mean for chaplains who either do not wish to pursue credentialing through those organizations, or who do not identify with a religious or spiritual tradition? This webinar will offer practical guidance for such chaplains and provide the elements to consider when pursing chaplaincy credentialing as a humanist chaplain.

www.chaplaincyinnovation.org We thank Chaplain Distance Learning for their support of this webinar on psycho-spiritual first aid. Learn more at https://www.chaplaindl.org. Join Chaplain Deb Wacker, M.Div, MBA, BCCC, FHPC for an introduction to psycho-spiritual first aid, a key intervention in disaster and crisis response. Participants will learn the principles of psycho-spiritual first aid, how it differs from other interventions (such as critical incident stress management), where to learn more about psycho-spiritual first aid, and how they might implement it in their own practice of spiritual care.

Join four chaplains of color and panelist-authors who have contributed to a special issue of the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy on the history, experiences, and future of chaplains of color. You can find the full issue here. We’re joined by: Rev. Marilyn Barnes is Rev. Robert B. Lantz Chair of Patient Counseling at VCU College of Health Professions and Director of Pastoral Care at VCU Medical Center. Calvin Bradley, Jr is Assistant Professor of Patient Counseling at VCU College of Health Professions. Rev. Lex Cade-White is Ethics and Mission and Spiritual Care Health Equity Manager at Advocate Aurora Health. Dr. Jaclyn Williams is Assistant Professor of the Practice of Preaching and Chaplaincy at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Join contributors to Workplace Wellness: From Resiliency to Suicide Prevention and Grief Management: A Practical Guide to Supporting Healthcare Professionals (Springer International, 2023) for a discussion of this recent, vital publication. The Lab community can order at a 20% discount using the code found in this PDF. Participants will learn about the particular workplace needs of healthcare professionals as well as current research on how spiritual care providers can support those professionals. From the publisher: This book uniquely provides actionable strategies along the wellness continuum in multiple dimensions: personal, institutional and professional; while applicable across disciplines: nursing and allied health, advanced practice providers and physicians. Further, the content is presented in a manner that can be taught to those entering the workforce, or serve as a primer for Wellness Officers. Most mental health texts focus on the needs of patients and ignore the mental health needs of clinicians. This book fills that gap embracing wellness initiatives as a matter of mental health. Wellness strategies for Inclusion Diversity and Equity are presented. The often ignored subject of suicide is approached head-on with evidence-based strategies for prevention. At the far end of the continuum of wellness, grief management after losing a colleague to death and/or suicide will be addressed. Each chapter includes learning objectives, a brief presentation of the science, application of principles into wellness practice, opportunities for future research and discussion questions. Artwork created by healthcare workers are included to augment transfer of knowledge through art as a way of knowing. Videos are offered to demonstrate through simulation lessons taught through the book. We’re joined by: Allison Kestenbaum is Supervisor of Spiritual Care and CPE at UC San Diego Health. Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk is Vice President for Health Promotion and Chief Wellness Officer at The Ohio State University. Maggie Mortali is Vice President of Programs and Workplace Initiatives at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Amanda Choflet is Interim Dean of the School of Nursing and Associate Clinical Professor at Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Clare Dickens MBE is Academic Lead, Mental Health and Well-being, University of Wolverhampton.

Join Rev. Sarah Bowen, Animal Chaplain and Program Director of Compassion Consortium’s Animal Chaplaincy Training Program, as well as Rev. Ginny Mikita and Susan Shannon for a conversation on how chaplains can help individuals and communities experience and process the animal and habitat loss.   We’ll discuss practical methods of supporting those experiencing anticipatory grief, animal death, humans moving into settings that do not accommodate animals, and more. We thank Compassion Consortium for their support of this webinar. We are joined by: Reverend Sarah Bowen, MA, Alt Div is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister, animal chaplain, and program director of Compassion Consortium’s Animal Chaplaincy Training Program. Rev. Ginny K. Mikita, JD is a certified Animal-Friendly Attorney and ordained interfaith minister/animal chaplain. Susan Shannon, MDiv, BCC is a seeker, teacher, earth and animal steward, devotee of the heart. We thank Compassion Consortium for their support of this webinar. Learn more at CompassionConsortium.org. Animal Chaplaincy Training from Compassion Consortium:  For curriculum and enrollment information about our 9-month ordination program, please see https://www.compassionconsortium.org/act For info on Interspecies/Animal CPE, please email [email protected] More tips on meaningful rituals for animal and habitat loss, we suggest: Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing The Planet by Sarah A. Bowen. Available wherever you get your books, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Also available on audiobook at: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Sendoffs-Chaplains-Surviving-Meaningful/dp/1948626594/ Animal Chaplain Sarah Bowen’s website: https://www.sacredsendoffs.com/ Animal Chaplain Ginny Mikita’s website: https://www.animalblessings.love/resources Animal Chaplain Susan Shannon’s website: https://www.chaplainoftheheart.com/ Compassion Consortium is a non-sectarian center. We offer well-being resources, spiritual guidance, support, and community fellowship to all humans who care about and advocate for animals and the planet. Learn more at compassionconsortium.org

Join the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab for a conversation with Timothy O. Benedict, author of Spiritual Ends: Religion and the Heart of Dying in Japan and Assistant Professor in the School of Sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan. From the publisher, University of California Press: What role does religion play at the end of life in Japan? Spiritual Ends draws on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with hospice patients, chaplains, and medical workers to provide an intimate portrayal of how spiritual care is provided to the dying in Japan. Timothy O. Benedict uses both local and cross-cultural perspectives to show how hospice caregivers in Japan are appropriating and reinterpreting global ideas about spirituality and the practice of spiritual care. Benedict relates these findings to a longer story of how Japanese religious groups have pursued vocational roles in medical institutions as a means to demonstrate a so-called “healthy” role in society. By paying attention to how care for the kokoro (heart or mind) is key to the practice of spiritual care, this book enriches conventional understandings of religious identity in Japan while offering a valuable East Asian perspective to global conversations on the ways religion, spirituality, and medicine intersect at death. This book is available as an open access eBook here. We will be joined by: Timothy Benedict is Associate Professor in the School of Sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan. His education includes a PhD in Asian Religions from Princeton University and an MA in Asian Religions from Harvard University. He was also a Foreign Research Fellow at Kyoto University.

As a result of the 21st Century Cures Act, patients in the United States have greater and more immediate access to their care notes. What are open notes, and what is the role of the chaplain in this new paradigm? As we noted in a 2021 webinar, “Healthcare systems are required to make a patient’s electronic medical record directly available via secure portal under the Cures Act. This direct access includes all documentation made by healthcare chaplains, including templates with pre-populated check boxes and narrative notes.” How should chaplain notes be included in electronic health information? Join three leading chaplain researchers for a research-informed discussion of the Cures Act, open notes, and what chaplains need to know about how they can document encounters. We are grateful to Transforming Chaplaincy for co-sponsoring this webinar. We are joined by: Jo Hirschmann, Senior Director of Education, Center for Spirituality and Health @Mount Sinai Health System Csaba Szilagyi, Director, Transforming Chaplaincy Paul Galchutt, Research Staff Chaplain, M Health Fairview

Join us for an intimate, exploratory conversation with Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei about his new book, Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion. Use code UNTANGLEDCIL for 20% off hardcover orders at geni.us/paley-cil. Untangled is a welcoming guidebook for finding expansive ease and deep compassion within oneself and through relationships with others based on the Eightfold Path, one of Buddhism’s foundational teachings. In his book, Koshin weaves together anecdotes from his own life dealing with abuse and discrimination, insights from many wise teachers, and invitations to constantly practice showing up to our lives in every moment. Together, Zen teacher and monk, Jungian psychotherapist, and the co-founder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, Koshin Paley Ellison, and educator, editor, and director of programs at the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, Dr. Michael Skaggs, will discuss how this journey of untangling intra- and interpersonal suffering relates to the core aspirations and activities of those in caregiving partnerships. How might we walk the path of freedom in our everyday lives? WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT UNTANGLED“Koshin is a visionary spiritual leader who brings together the medicine for fear – bridging the divide between our values and our actions. He gives us the soulful prescription and the companioning needed for integration of personal awareness, social healing, and global connectedness.”-VAN JONES, Founder of Dream Corps “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we believe our own thoughts! Koshin Paley Ellison shares his wisdom and passion in Untangled. Written with truth, humor, sometimes revealing pain, and always manifesting compassion, Untangled is a gem.”-SHARON SALZBERG, author of Lovingkindness and Real Change We will be joined by: Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and ACPE Certified Chaplaincy Educator. After more than a decade as a chaplain and psychotherapist, Koshin co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. The non-profit center offers contemplative approaches to care through education, carepartnering, and Zen practice. Today, New York Zen Center’s methodologies are internationally recognized—and have touched the lives of tens of thousands of individuals.

What is the relationship between congregational service and chaplaincy? No few chaplains also work in congregational service, or other settings of shared and intentional religious, spiritual, or philosophy. How can both types of work be successful? How does one inform the other? In this webinar, participants will gain a better understanding of the skills and abilities that carry over from congregational service into non-congregational spiritual care, and vice versa. We will also make explicit those aspects of non-congregational care that are unique to chaplaincy. Multiple examples of successful careers in spiritual care pursued while also providing congregational service will be provided, and participants who serve congregations will gain actionable advice on pursuing work in chaplaincy. We will be joined by: Wendy Cadge, Director of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab Tim Shapiro, President of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations