Program graduates Patty Wudel, Director, Joseph's House, Washington DC; Mark Gardner, Chaplain, Hospice of Santa Barbara; Kathy McGreggor parish nurse, Memphis, TN

End-of-Life Care Practitioner Program

PRIMARY LEARNING MODALITIES

• Dialogue: Heart-to-heart conversation, encouragement of diversity, peer-to-peer learning, counseling skills, case study, group projects, council practice, and group process. Through dialog we develop deep listening, communication skills, and awareness of self and others.
• Contemplative Practices: Regular practice of silent insight meditation, mindful walking, yoga, concentration techniques, reflection, and contemplative prayer. These practices cultivate awareness, presence, wisdom, and compassion.

"My expectations were exceeded. This was the most meaningful, applicable formal training I've received since I learned to read and write."
Patty Wudel, program graduate,
Executive Director, Joseph's House,
Washington DC

• Listening to the Voice of the Unconscious: Dreamwork, journaling, intuitive development, silence, use of ritual, creative projects, story, poetry, music, cross-cultural practices, immersion in nature, and experiential exercises. These practice develop a deeper appreciation of the inner life and the transpersonal.

Ram Dass and program graduate Tracy Peng, MD, psychiatrist, UCSF Medical Center

• Inquiry: Intellectual, psychological, emotional, spiritual reflection, and study. With these techniques we enhance self-knowledge, empathize with others, learn open-mindedness in relationship, embrace paradox, and increase our sense of discovery and meaning.
• Didactic Learning: Informational presentations by core faculty, guest teachers, fellow students, and individuals confronting life-threatening illness. Use of video, web resources, on-line exchanges, reading assignments, and field visits to broaden practical skills and develop working knowledge of appropriate methodologies in offering end-of-life care.
• Mentoring: Regular mentoring sessions by telephone with the co-leaders focus on psychological and spiritual development and integrating learning. Small group calls with program graduates assist in community-building, navigating the course, and applying the material in participants' local communities and organizations. Supervision and support is provided for participants' personal and professional development.
• Creative Processes: Creative art modalities are incorporated in the training, as art can move one beyond the purely cognitive, evoking the unconscious, challenging our beliefs, inspiring creativity and pushing us to our edges. Our focus is on inner exploration and expression, and how to use these processes with those who are dying, rather than on producing "perfect" works of art.
• Self-Directed Learning: Pragmatic application of the training through 200 hours of individual supervised volunteer or professional work with the dying in a hospice or related palliative care program in the participant's local community.

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