Episode 17: Interview with Dr. Kenneth Doka
In Today's episode, the hosts of "The Hospice Chaplaincy Show" talk remotely with Dr. Kenneth Doka. Dr. Doka is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America. He is the author of Grief is a Journey: Finding Your Path through Loss, as well as 33 other books, and over 100 articles and book chapters. He is also the editor of Omega: Journal of Death and Dying and Journeys: A Newsletter to Help in Bereavement, and past president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and chair of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG).
Episode talking points
Dr. Doka’s childhood, family, and faith backgrounds
CPE experience in the early 70s
His master’s degree thesis on “Pastoral counseling to the dying child and his family” and the reason behind that title.
Changes in grief theories and understanding of grief in the last 50 years
The story behind his first book “disenfranchised grief” in 1989
The role of rituals in facilitating grief
The background behind his book, “Death and spirituality”
Christina Puchalski’s role in the development of spiritual care in the healthcare setting
His assumption that following this pandemic we are going to have a pandemic of complicated grief.
The need for chaplains to have good counseling referral sources.
His potential fiction book
The story behind his book “Grieving beyond gender.”