FOUNDATIONS IN CONTEMPLATIVE CARE
A training program in spiritual caregiving
Now more than ever, we are committed to train and support caregivers in a contemplative approach to care.
Since 2007, the Foundations in Contemplative Care training has transformed the lives of individuals from across the country and around the world by supporting the integration of spiritual practice and care.
We continue to find ourselves in unprecedented times when the entire world is in crisis. In the midst of impermanence and isolation, what is being asked of us? How can we be resilient in new ways to serve others? We are each being called upon to respond to the suffering in the world. How can we answer this call? These are the questions around which Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei and Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei will orient the 2023/24 training.
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
We are pleased to offer a limited number of partial-tuition scholarships to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students and for those with financial need. Please email us at info@zencare.org to inquire about these opportunities.
COMPREHENSIVE COURSE OF STUDY
The mission of New York Zen Center is to transform the nature of care through contemplative practice by creating awareness and skill to meet vulnerability, illness, aging and death with dignity and compassion. We approach this mission through the three interconnected aspects of our center’s work: training, care, and contemplative practice.
In the many years that NYZC has provided care and trained contemplative caregivers, the demand for a compassionate approach to life transitions has become ever more urgent. How do we ensure that as a society, we are aware of the changing needs and are taking action to care for the most vulnerable among us?
Program components include two class days a month, 50 clinical hours in a hospital, hospice or residential community, one-on-one mentoring, and self-directed reading and writing exercises. This training is ideal for professional caregivers such as nurses, social workers, and hospice workers as well as those interested in becoming caregivers.
Physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants are encouraged to learn more and apply to the Contemplative Medicine Fellowship.
Program details
Program Components
- Classes take place one weekend (Friday from 3pm to 6pm ET, and Saturday from 10am to 4pm ET) of each month September 2023 – May 2024.
The required in-person, graduation retreat will be held at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, in May. Virtual participation is not possible.
- Participants are required to complete 50 clinical hours of volunteer contemplative care work (in-person or online) at a hospital, hospice, residence, or community center during the nine-month program. Students are strongly encouraged to complete 100 clinical hours if the placement site allows.
- Non-local students complete clinical hours where geographically convenient and are responsible for securing their own clinical placements (these can be in-person or online). NYZC will give you a letter of introduction that you can provide to potential placements.
- Participants are also required to participate in monthly (eight in total) one-on-one supervision sessions with a mentor who will be assigned upon acceptance. Supervision is provided as an integral layer of support for your contemplative care work.
- In between each weekend class, students continue their learning through video teachings, readings, and writing assignments.
- Participants have monthly meetings with peers outside of class, virtually or in-person.
- There are mid-term and final evaluations, evaluating both your own participation as well as providing feedback for the training program.
- All assignments and evaluations are required and serve participants’ learning processes; they are not formally graded unless you are taking the course for graduate-level credit.
- During the final weekend, each student presents a final project of their own interest related to Contemplative Care and their clinical work.
Areas of study, to include
- Practicing greater intimacy in interpersonal relationships, active listening, spiritual support, verbal and nonverbal communication, and moment-by-moment awareness.
- Learning how contemplative practice can support caring for those who are experiencing critical life transitions, including illness, dying, grief and loss.
- Exploring healthy boundaries and the ethics of conduct and personal safety in care work.
- Practicing creating and facilitating rituals and memorials as a contemplative care partner.
- Learning how to support others who do care work—including healthcare staff and family caregivers—in their own resiliency.
Location
Throughout the nine months, we will come together as a world-wide virtual community, using online learning platforms for lectures, dharma talks and group discussion, and in small intimate groups for mentor meetings and experiential learning.
Monthly classes may be attended virtually via Zoom or in-person at our New York City location. The in-person seats are first-come, first-served and must be reserved during registration for all classes.
The required in-person, graduation retreat will be held at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, in May. Virtual participation is not possible.
Please note that in person retreat costs are not included in the Foundations tuition.
23/24 Training Dates:
Classes meet Fridays from 3 pm to 6 pm ET and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm ET, with the exception of the required in person Foundations Closing Retreat in May 2024. Please see the full training schedule below.
Training Weekend 1: Sept 8-9
Training Weekend 2: October 6-7
In-Person Contemplative Care Retreat: October 18-22 (strongly suggested)
Training Weekend 3: November 3-4
Training Weekend 4: December 1-2
Training Weekend 5: January 5-6, 2024
Sesshin / Silent Retreat (strongly suggested): January 10-14, 2024
Training Weekend 6: February 2-3
Training Weekend 7: March 1-2
Training Weekend 8: April 5-6
Required In-Person Foundations Closing Retreat at Garrison Institute: May 1-5 (Wed-Sun)
Enrollment Requirements
The training program is designed for people who have a Buddhist or contemplative practice and is appropriate for both lay and professional/clinical caregivers wishing to integrate spiritual practice and care.
NOTE: Physicians (MD and DO), advanced practice registered nurses (nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives), and physician assistants interested in the contemplative approach to care may wish to apply for our Contemplative Medicine Fellowship program.
With this in mind, the requirements for entering the program are the following:
- Regular and committed Buddhist or other contemplative/spiritual practice and study for at least six months
- Silent retreat experience
Application Components
- Completed reference form from a Buddhist teacher or someone who knows your contemplative/spiritual practice
- An interview via Skype or Zoom.
- Background check conducted by NYZC
- Your current resume
Graduate Credits
This is a graduate-level training that includes several self-directed and peer group learning components. It does not certify you to become a chaplain. However, successful completion of the Foundations Program does make you eligible to apply for our Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training program. Also, once you are accepted to the Foundations Program, you have the option to register through our partner institution, New York Theological Seminary, to receive eight graduate credits for this program. There is an additional charge paid to NYTS for these credits. To learn more about NYTS and our relationship with them, please click here.
Continuing Education Credits
Social Workers
New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, Inc., SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0192. The Foundations program is approved for 120 contact hours.
Learning Objectives:
Using the Buddhist precepts as a springboard for discussion and activity, students of The Foundations in Contemplative Care Program will learn:
- to perceive the suffering around them,
- bring interpretative rigor to what they perceive,
- see events from multiple points of view and be moved to compassionate action through the principles of bearing witness and not knowing.
Speaker Disclosure Statement:
New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care’s staff and teaching faculty have no conflict of interest relative to the Foundations Program.
For more information regarding contact hours, please contact us at info@zencare.org.
- Space is limited. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. The deadline for applications is August 7, 2023.
- Tuition for the nine-month program is $3,475 (payable by check or credit card). This does not include the cost of the required in-person retreat.
- A limited number of partial tuition scholarships are available for participants who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color (BIPOC). For more information, please contact us at info@zencare.org.
- Financial aid is available each year. We are committed to working with you for our shared learning and can make financial arrangements through partial scholarship or payment plans. Scholarships are awarded upon acceptance to the program. Please write to us at info@zencare.org for more information.
- A 50% deposit is due 2 weeks after students are accepted to the program.
- The balance payment of 50% is due on Friday, August 18th, 2023 (three weeks before class begins).
- Payments are nonrefundable.
- The non-refundable application fee is $125 and covers administrative oversight.
The following teachers and mentors led the Foundations in Contemplative Care 2021-2022 program. Click on any name to be taken to their bio.
Our 2023-2024 faculty list will be available soon.
The following faculty is actively engaged with the curriculum for the Foundations in Contemplative Care 2022-2023 program. Faculty for the 2023-2024 program are to be announced. Click on any name to be taken to their bio.
2022-2023 CORE FACULTY
Sensei Chodo Robert Campbell GC-C
Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN
VISITING ZEN TEACHERS
Ben Connelly
Cristina Moon
Gyokei Yokoyama
MENTORS
Barbara Doshin Ende
VISITING TEACHERS
Leslye Noyes, PsyD, MDiv, LP, LMHC
And others
pROGRAM FAQS
You can access the application form here.
Applications are now being accepted on a rolling basis as space permits. The deadline to apply for the 2023 – 2024 cohort is August 7, 2023.
Please return a completed application, application fee, and completed reference form to the Center. We will review your materials and if appropriate, contact you about setting up an interview via Skype or Zoom.) After the interview, you will be notified regarding your acceptance.
You can access the reference form here.
In addition to practitioners from all streams of Buddhism, the Center welcomes applications from individuals of various faiths who have an ongoing personal contemplative practice (e.g., meditation, centering prayer, etc.) and who share our commitment of exploring the intersection of contemplative practice, caregiving, and social action.
For most months, training days are one weekend a month Friday 3:00–6:00 p.m. ET and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET. The retreat weekend is Wednesday–Sunday. For a detailed schedule please click on the “Dates” tab above.
Throughout the 9 months, we will come together as a world-wide virtual community, using online learning platforms for lectures, dharma talks and group discussion, and in small intimate groups for mentor meetings and experiential learning.
Monthly classes may be attended virtually via Zoom or in-person—pending circumstances associated with COVID-19. The in-person seats are first-come, first-served and must be reserved during registration for all classes.
At this point, we are also planning a required in-person retreat at the Garrison Institute in Garrison NY, in May 2024. In the event of an on site retreat, virtual participation is not possible. Whether or not we are able to gather for this retreat will depend on the circumstances and safety related to COVID, which we are monitoring closely. As we move toward the retreat we will make a decision based on the safety. If it’s not safe to have an in-person retreat, we will instead have a virtual retreat via Zoom. Please note that this retreat is not included in the Foundations tuition.
If our required in-person retreat is not possible due to Covid, we will instead have a regular training weekend via Zoom.
The tuition for the course is $3,475. (This does not include the cost of the required in-person retreat.) We are committed to working with you to make financial arrangements as possible through scholarship or payment plans. Scholarships are awarded upon acceptance to the program. Please write to us for further information at info@zencare.org
Participants commit to attending eight training weekends and one in-person retreat, completing all reading and written assignments, and meeting with a mentor one-on-one eight times during the training. There is also a required monthly peer group meeting (led by your mentor). In addition, participants commit to completing 50 hours of volunteer caregiving work (in-person or online; 100 hours strongly suggested) by the time of the last class in May.
Participants may serve as a volunteer caregiver at hospitals, hospices, and other health centers, as well as community centers and senior centers. Placements may be in-person or online. Students who live outside of the New York City metropolitan area are responsible for finding a clinical site for volunteering near to where they live.
No. This is an introductory training program. Each of us has the capacity to embrace the suffering of another person and the ability to provide compassionate care to another.
This is a graduate-level training that includes several self-directed learning components. It does not certify you to become a chaplain. However, successful completion of the Foundations Program does make you eligible to apply for our Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training program. Also, once you are accepted to the Foundations Program, you have the option to register through our partner institution, New York Theological Seminary, to receive eight graduate seminary credits for this program. In addition to the tuition paid to NYZC for the program, there is an additional charge, paid to NYTS if you want to receive credit.
“Have good trust in yourself, not in the One that you think you should be, but in the One that you are.” – Taizan Maezumi Roshi
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UPCOMING EVENT
Foundations in Contemplative Care Information Session