Episode 15: Kathy O’Donoghue, Petra Van De Water and Claire Gray On the Art of Presence, Self-Care and Holistic Practices.
Due to the pandemic, the Hospice Chaplaincy Show hosts Joe Newton and Saul Ebema remotely interview our guests, Rev. Kathy O’Donoghue who works as the chaplain at Norwell VNA and Hospice in Massachusetts, Rev. Petra Van De Water who works as the Spiritual care counselor at Pathways Home Health and Hospice in California and Dr. Claire Gray who works as the Spiritual Care Manager at Pathways Home Health and Hospice in California.
Chaplains spend thousands of hours perfecting skills that many people assume come naturally: sitting and listening. They become masters of the ministry of presence, bringing the same professionalism to spiritual care that doctors bring to surgery. In today’s episode, we talk to our guests about Presence, Self-care, and Holistic practices in chaplaincy. On the job, Hospice chaplains have no scripts to follow or party tricks to employ. They learn to meet tragedy with humility and an open mind.