Saturday, February 21, 2009
Contemplative Care Trainings:
Caring for the Caregiver
with Koshin Paley Ellison and Robert Chodo Campbell
Co-Founders of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care

"Do not close your eyes before suffering. Find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal contacts and visits, images and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world"—Guatama Buddha

This is the first of three daylong training retreats on Contemplative Care.

Taking care of another person through illness and death can be the most profound journey we will ever experience. It can also be the most exhausting both, physically and mentally. The purpose of this daylong retreat is to explore the ways in which caregivers (friends, family members, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and doctors) can utilize techniques from Buddhist and other spiritual and psychological backgrounds to identify and reduce the stress of caregiving for another. We will experientially explore a variety of contemplative practices and tools such as: metta practice, meditation, poetry, writing, Sandplay, and council practice in order to learn how to take care of the self on a deeper level. All are welcome.

Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. He serves as the Director of Training for the Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Programs. Koshin is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is a co-founder of the Buddhist Psychotherapy Collective. Koshin is currently a Jungian Analyst Candidate at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association. He has served as a chaplain at Cabrini Medical Center & Hospice and he is now a Chaplain Supervisor for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. Since 2002, he has led the weekly meditation practice at Beth Israel’s Continuum Center for Health & Healing. Koshin began Zen practice over twenty years ago, and he is a senior student and Soto Zen Buddhist Priest under Roshi Enkyo O’Hara, at the Village Zendo. He teaches workshops on meditation, contemplative care, and addiction and spirituality in a variety of settings from public school classrooms to corporations.

Robert Chodo Campbell, HHC, is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. He serves on the Core Faculty for the Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Programs. Chodo is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is Co-Director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. Chodo brings his life experience and his Zen and psychoanalytic study to his teachings in the areas of: anxiety and depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and contemplative approaches to care. He began formal Zen training in 1994 and currently he is a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, at Village Zendo. He gives plenary addresses, workshops and retreats in a variety of settings from corporations to national healthcare conferences.