CULTIVATING PRESENCE: TRAINING RETREAT IN COMPASSIONATE END-OF LIFE CARE

Faculty

Lead by Frank Ostaseski and Ange Stephens, MFT, MSW; with core faculty Angeles Arrien, PhD; Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Charles Garfield, PhD, Rabbi Alan Lew, Frances Vaughan, PhD. and Ram Dass (via video conference).

Program co-leader Frank Ostaseski

Program Description

Join us for this new 6-day residential training retreat. The dynamic course features key elements of the renowned End-of-Life Care Practitioner Program. Our core faculty blend years of experience as leading teachers in contemporary psychology and contemplative wisdom practices. They offer a fresh and integrated approach to the practical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the dying experience that goes well beyond the traditional medical models.

Designed predominantly for healthcare professionals, educators, hospice workers and clergy, this training is also open to volunteers and family caregivers who cannot attend our longer program. The training is a unique opportunity for professional and personal development and to benefit from the support of like-minded peers.

Program co-leader Ange Stephens

Offered in a retreat format, mindfulness meditation forms the foundation of our work together. The training builds essential clinical competencies, strengthens individual capacity for compassionate service, and enhances spiritual development. We emphasize experiential learning and pragmatic application in the participant's life and role as a caregiver.

Our day will include several periods of silent awareness meditation, a daily practice of mindful movement silent, lectures by faculty, experiential exercises to evoke and integrate course material, journaling and heart to heart conversation.

Course Highlights

• Compassionate service as a spiritual path.
• Deepening relationship with dying persons and their families.
• Healing power of presence, empathy and authenticity.
• Grief as a path to wholeness.
• The movement from suffering to transformation.
• Staying balanced in difficult circumstances.
• Contemplative practice and the importance of the caregiver's inner life.
• Accessing the unconscious and using intuition.
• Strengthening commitment to live and work in accord with your highest values.

We encourage you to attend with friends or colleagues to support implementation of the course material after the training. Groups of three or more participants from the same institution receive a discount. A small scholarship fund is available. A short application is required and should be accompanied by a $200 deposit. For more information click on: Registration & Application Process.

Location:

The training will be held at the Santa Sabina Retreat Center located in San Rafael, CA. just 11 miles north of San Francisco. The inner courtyard, garden and rooms offer the spirit of tranquility and simplicity.

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