Meet SCA’s Faculty
SCA’s Learning Center Courses have been created by content experts, each specializing in their own area of study.
Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D.
Director of Professional and Community Education HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University and founder of the MISS Foundation, an international NGO that aids parents whose children have died or are dying. She also directs the Graduate Certificate in Trauma and Bereavement at ASU. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked exclusively with patients and families from around the world suffering traumatic grief. Her research has been published in top tier, peer reviewed journals such as the Lancet, Birth, Social Work, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and more. Her work has been featured in major media venues such as the New York Times, Boston Globe, BBC, Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek. Dr. Cacciatore’s most recent book, Bearing the Unbearable, Wisdom Publications, will be published in late 2016.
Courses Available from this Author:
Kenneth J. Doka, Ph.D.
Kenneth J. Doka, Ph.D. is a Professor of Gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America. A prolific author, Dr. Doka has published over 30 books on grief and loss as well as over 100 articles and book chapters. Dr. Doka is editor of both Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying and Journeys: A Newsletter to Help in Bereavement.
Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999. The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998 and Significant Contributions to the Field of Thanatology in 2014. He is a recipient of the Caring Hands Award as well as the Dr. Robert Fulton CDEB Founder’s Award. In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under NY State’s first licensure of counselors.
Dr. Doka has keynoted conferences throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline. In addition he has served as a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister.
Courses Available from this Author:
The Rev. William R. Greaver, III, PsyD., CSCPF-BCCC, SCA-BCC, BSW
CPE Supervisor, CSCPF & ICPT
The Rev. William R. Greaver, III, PsyD., CSCPF-BCCC, SCA-BCC, BSW He has a Doctor of Psychology, Masters of Divinity, and Bachelors in both Psychology, and Social Work. He also holds a Doctorate of Chaplaincy. He is the Founder and Chancellor for the Spiritual Care Association University of Theology & Spirituality. He is a Commander for Spiritual Care Association First Response Chaplain Division on the west coast. He also serves as the senior pastor of First Congregational Church and was ordained ELCA Lutheran. He is a Certified Chaplain with the National Institute of Business & Industrial Chaplains and is their representative at the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling. He is a Certified Crisis Chaplain with the national Center for Crisis Management and a Certified Chaplain with the International Alliance of Chaplain Corps. He was honorably discharged from the USAF-Reserves where he served as a chaplain. He has worked in the field of hospital, industrial, prison, palliative care, first response, crisis, trauma, nursing home, Civil Air Patrol, Barnabas, mental health, and homeless chaplaincy. He teaches courses in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy, Spiritual Direction, First Response, and Critical Incident Stress Management. He has also taught CPE units with ACPE and CPSP. He has experience as a chaplain that goes back 29 years and has been teaching Pastoral Care in some form for 23 years. Bill is married to Sharon, enjoys playing bass guitar, and ocean side spiritual retreats at the Quileute Reservation watching bald eagles and reading. He is the proud father of 2 adult children, 1 studying to be an English teacher/writer, and the other studying to be a pastor.
The Rev. George Handzo, BCC, CSSBBC
Director of Health Services Research and Quality HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
The Rev. George F. Handzo, BCC, CSSBB, Director of Health Services Research and Quality, oversees projects devoted to the strategic assessment, planning and management of chaplaincy services and to developing the evidence for the efficacy of chaplaincy care. Widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on the deployment and practice of professional healthcare chaplaincy, Rev. Handzo has authored or co-authored over fifty chapters and articles on the practice of spiritual care and chaplaincy care and was the co-principal investigator on a major grant from the John Templeton Foundation investigating the contribution of spiritual care to health care. He is a past president of the Association of Professional Chaplains which in 2011 awarded him the Anton Boisen Professional Service award, its highest honor. He serves on the leadership team of the Global Network for Spirituality and Health and on the Distress Guidelines Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The Rev. Handzo is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale University Divinity School. He is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Courses Available from this Author:
Denise Hess, M.Div., BCC-HPCC, LMFT
Palliative Care Chaplain and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center
Denise Hess, M.Div., BCC-HPCC, LMFT has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, a master’s degree in divinity, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has worked with in and outpatient palliative care teams for over 10 years and presented nationally and internationally on healthcare team wellness, mindfulness, and ethical issues at the end of life. Her work on topics such as miracles and team health has been published in peer-reviewed journals. She is employed by Providence Health & Services as the Executive Director of the Supportive Care Coalition. She is married, has two grown children, enjoys yoga, mindfulness, and hiking.
Courses Available from this Author:
Rev. Brian P. Hughes, M.Div., M.S., BCC
Professional Chaplaincy Advocate HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
Rev. Brian P. Hughes, M.Div., M.S., BCC works with the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network Programs and Services team and as an Assistant Professor for the Fundamentals of Spiritual Care in Palliative Care certificate course. His Master of Divinity degree is from Princeton Theological Seminary, and he has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Communication. Brian is a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains. His wife is a breast cancer surgeon. He has walked with her through all her medical training – medical school, residency, fellowship, and now professional practice. Throughout he has had a professional emphasis of providing care for caregivers and has a unique experience and vantage point from which to do so. Together with his wife, they have two elementary school-aged children.
Brian has worked as a chaplain in Phoenix, Irving, TX, and Philadelphia, Temple, Texas, and New York City. He has worked on the Palliative Care team in each place of employment. He has presented at numerous conferences, on topics ranging from integrating chaplaincy care into the Intensive Care Unit, professional competencies for chaplains, spiritual care for persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, providing spiritual care to staff, self-care for chaplains, spiritual care at the end of life, and he annually presents the best chaplaincy-related research published from the previous calendar year. He also authored the Handbook on Best Practices for the Provision of Spiritual Care to Persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury for the U.S. Navy (free PDF available), as well as the “Spiritual Care at the End of Life” chapter in Stephen Roberts’ excellent textbook, Professional Spiritual and Pastoral Care: A Practical Clergy and Chaplain’s Handbook.
He has been a stay-at-home dad since the birth of his daughter in 2009 and has stayed active in the Association of Professional Chaplains through conference planning committees, the Education Committee, and serving on certification and peer review committees. He is passionate about the professionalization of our profession of chaplaincy and look forward to sharing his experience and expertise in this module.
Courses Available from this Author:
Rev. Kevin Massey, MDiv, BCC
Vice President for Mission and Spiritual Care at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Rev. Kevin Massey, MDiv, BCC is Vice President for Mission and Spiritual Care at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in the Chicagoland area. With over 20 years as a parish pastor, health care chaplain, disaster professional, and administrator, he has worked, taught, and written extensively on the topics of health care advance directives, spiritual assessment, advance care planning, and chaplaincy training. He is board certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains.
Courses Available from this Author:
Doug McNair, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of Professional and Community Education HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
Doug McNair, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician and doctorally-trained engineer who is currently President of Cerner Math, a predictive analytics division of Cerner Corporation, a health informatics company based in Kansas City, Missouri. He has worked extensively with elderly patients and families in a variety of care settings, both as a hospitalist at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, and in hospice settings. In his role at Cerner, Dr. McNair has created decision-support tools for use in person-centered care, software tools that are used in more than 2,000 health institutions world-wide. He contributes to lay ministry programs of Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City.
Courses Available from this Author:
The Rev. Marcos A. Miranda, D.Min., BCC
Founder, President, and CEO of New York State Chaplain Task Force
The Rev. Marcos A. Miranda, D.Min., BCC is the Founder, President, and CEO of New York State Chaplain Task Force, and its national division U.S. Chaplain Task Force, both affiliates of Spiritual Care Association. He also serves as senior pastor at Action In Christ International and as assistant dean at New York Divinity School. An author, consultant, and educator, he has traveled throughout the United States delivering lectures, training and workshops on crisis, trauma, and disaster spiritual care. A board-certified chaplain, he currently serves as chaplain at Homeland Security Investigations and the New York State Fraternal Order of Police.
David Pascoe, MA, BCC
Director of Professional and Community Education HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
David Pascoe, MA, BCC is the manager of Palliative Care, Spiritual Care and Bereavement Services at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he has worked for 5 years. Prior to that, David spent another 5 years as a hospice chaplain and grief counselor while completing his Clinical Pastoral Education as an intern at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake. David is passionate about articulating the vital role a person’s spiritual or religious beliefs and practices can have on healthcare outcomes and choices. When not caring for patients and their families, he can usually be found supporting the emotional well-being of staff either through one-on-one encounters or hospital-wide programs such as Schwartz Rounds.
Courses Available from this Author:
Brent Peery, D.Min., BCC
Chaplain Director Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
Brent Peery, D.Min., BCC is the Director of Chaplaincy Services at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center in Houston. He enjoys practicing, teaching, and writing on the subject of outcome-oriented chaplaincy. He also serves as a paid consultant and subject matter expert on outcome-oriented chaplaincy for the United States Navy Bureau of Surgery and Medicine. He had 15 years’ experience as a congregational clergyperson before working the last 13 years as a hospital chaplain.
Courses Available from this Author:
Lerrill White, M.S., M.Div., BCC, ACPE Supervisor
Director of Pastoral Services & CPE McLeod Regional Medical Center, Florence, SC
Lerril is the Manager for the Center for Clinical Pastoral Education at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC. With over four decades of experience as a pastor, professional chaplain, counselor, educator and CPE Supervisor, he has worked regionally and nationally on behalf of pastoral care providers and the people & institutions they serve. He has served as the liaison between ACPE and CMS for Medicare Allied Health Education Passthrough since 1983. He has also worked with Federal Agencies around issues such as HIPAA, Clergy Housing Allowance, & Fair Pay legislation. In 2004, he was awarded the Anton Boisen Professional Service Award by APC.
Courses Available from this Author:
The Rev. Sue Wintz, M.Div. APBCC, BCC
Director of Professional and Community Education at HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and the Director of Education for the Spiritual Care Association
The Rev. Sue Wintz, M.Div. APBCC, BCC is the Director of Professional and Community Education at HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and the Director of Education for the Spiritual Care Association. She has over 35 years of clinical, administrative, writing, educational design, development, and teaching experience in the provision of professional chaplaincy and spiritual care in numerous health care, and community settings as well as an expert advisor to multidisciplinary professional organizations. Sue is a nationally recognized expert in cultural competence in health care and has taught about cultural competency in all health care settings for over two decades. She has contributed to work through both writing and teaching for organizations like the Joint Commission, the American Medical Association, the American Burn Association, and the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care as well as through numerous articles and presentations. Sue is an advance practice board certified member of the Spiritual Care Association. She is also a board-certified chaplain member and past president of the Association of Professional Chaplains who, in 2013 gave her its highest honor – the Anton Boisen Professional Service Award.
Courses Available from this Author:
- Crisis, Trauma, and First Response Certificate Course for Chaplains
- Delivery and Continuity of Care for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care
- Care for All: Cultural Competence, Inclusion, and Vulnerable Populations
- Values, Obligations, and Rights: Health Care Ethics
- When It’s Time to Say Goodbye: Introduction to Spiritual Care at the End of Life
