Category: The Hospice Chaplaincy Show

In Today’s episode, Saul talks to Janelle Benuska on her work as a death and grief doula. Janelle Benuska is a death + grief doula, licensed massage therapist, energy worker, hospice volunteer, Death Café facilitator, mother, wife, and deathcare advocate. Her services focus on active listening, facilitating and holding space, and her practice is rooted in community and love, deep, authentic connection and devotion to attentive, intentional care. For more information, please visit https://www.ourdyingday.com/.

In Today’s episode, Saul talks to Chaplain Anthony Balistreri on his life’s journey and chaplaincy in the jail system. Chaplain Anthony is currently in his ongoing assignment as Chaplain in the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, which he has held since he established their Chaplaincy Counsel in 2016. In this position, he has established healthy, constructive relationships within the office as well as with other government offices in Racine County amongst elected officials and laymen. 

Anthony holds both an undergraduate degree in Physics and an MBA from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Giving to the Nations, a worldwide nonprofit organization.

He is also an ordained non-denominational pastor, he serves as the senior pastor of an international ministry headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin and has served on the boards of other Southeastern Wisconsin ministries and Christian schools.

In today’s episode, Saul talks to E. Jane Wyatt on memory and elder care. E. Jane Wyatt is a Licensed Professional Counselor, with M.A. in Health Education and a M.S. in Guidance and Counseling. Becoming the primary caregiver for her mother and dealing with her progressive dementia gave Jane deeper insight into issues regarding caregivers and the lack of easily accessible resources for them. Her education and personal experiences have given her the knowledge to create those resources and the motivation to help others now traveling the path she has already walked.

Here is the link to her books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/E-Jane-Wyatt/author/B08Y97VKDP?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

In today’s episode, Saul talks to Adam McHugh on his book “Blood from a stone: A memoir of how wine brought me back from the dead.” Adam McHugh is a wine tour guide, sommelier, and Certified Specialist of Wine. He is a regular contributor to Edible Santa Barbara & Wine Country and a happy resident of the Santa Ynez Valley. 

Adam is the author of the memoir Blood from a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back from the Dead, which tells the story of how he stumbled his way from hospice chaplain and grief counselor in Los Angeles to wine tour guide and sommelier in the Santa Ynez Valley.

A former hospice chaplain and Presbyterian minister, he wrote two books while in professional ministry: The Listening Life and Introverts in the Church. He was featured in Susan Cain’s bestselling book Quiet, and wrote articles on introversion and listening for Psychology Today, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and Quiet Revolution.

Adam is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and the Princeton School of Theology. 

In today’s episode, Saul talks to Dr. Wendy Cadge about her new book, “The Everyday Work of Chaplains”. She is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Brandeis University. She founded and co-directed the Transforming Chaplaincy Project from 2015-19, and in 2018 launched the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab. An award-winning teacher, she has published more than 75 articles and raised more than $6.5 million in support of her own research and teaching and that of colleagues.

Tom is also a well-known speaker, having offered conference programs across the United States, Canada, and Japan and in England, Australia, Israel, and Germany as well as innumerable talks and workshops for nurses, physicians, funeral directors, clinical psychologists, social service providers, gerontologists, hospice workers, bereavement coordinators, clergy, educators, civic organizations and the general public.

He taught philosophy at Bowling Green State University for nearly twenty-five years, serving as Department Chair for eleven years and leading efforts to establish the first Ph.D. in Applied Philosophy in the world in 1987. Tom left as Professor Emeritus in Philosophy in 1995 to become an independent applied philosopher. A Past President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, he also served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement.

Dr. David Clark is Professor emeritus of Medical Sociology at the University of Glasgow’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies in Dumfries, Scotland and has wide-ranging interests in end-of-life issues in the global context.

He founded and led the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group.

He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, and a Visiting Researcher at the University of Navarra, Spain.

Saul Ebema talks with Dr. Cathy Siebold- a legendary social worker, psychotherapist and social movement theorist.

Cathy Siebold is also the author of “The Hospice Movement: Easing death pains.” In this interview, she talks about her recollection of the earlier years of the hospice movement.

In this interview, Cathy Siebold who has witnessed firsthand the evolution of hospice care since its modern incarnation in the 1960s, presents a balanced and objective analysis of the movement’s accomplishments and failings.

You can also read more about that in her book “The Hospice Movement: Easing Death’s Pains.” 

Having participated in Camp Kangaroo two weeks ago, Saul is taken back to his conversation last year with one of the founders of camp kangaroo Russell Hilliard. Dr. Hilliard is the Senior VP, Patient Experience & Staff Development at AccentCare Hospice and also the Founder of the Center for Music Therapy in End of Life Care.

In today’s episode, Saul talks to Wes Moldogo on holding space for veterans. Wes is a Chaplain for a small community hospice in Central Oregon.  He also currently serves as a Chaplain in the Army National Guard. In this episode Wes talks about Veterans: specifically the connection between their EOL care, and how deeper upstream palliative care could more likely lead to good, robust outcomes. He also explores spiritual distress/pain and disharmony that he encounters; both with current soldiers and with the veterans at EOL … which show parallel trends.