Spotlight: Jill Greenbaum

guest post by Jill Greenbaum, Ed.D., www.jillgreenbaum.com

I am a visual storyteller and storycatcher with a special interest in end-of-life arrangements. After a career in education and then directing programs for survivors of sexual violence, I have devoted the last dozen years to graphic facilitation, teaching visual thinking skills, and more recently, capturing people’s wishes, hopes, and dreams for their final days and death. I am in my first year of chaplaincy training at the Upaya Zen Center. 

In stepping into my first Clinical Pastoral Education internship experience, I discovered that people of all ages, denominations, races, genders, and, classes had little idea of what chaplains are and do. There were hilarious, sweet, and challenging instances of confusion. 

These experiences led me to talk with my preceptor about the kinds of information that patients and their families received about chaplains and chaplaincy when admitted to the hospital. I began to wonder how accessible the information was and how realistic it is to assume that people will see it and use it. 

In response to my experiences, I decided to create a visual to help people understand the roles of chaplains. My goal became enabling patients and their families to access all the resources that might aid in their healing, recovery, difficult decision-making, and more.

I hope that you will visit my site, www.jillgreenbaum.com, to learn about my work in visualization and storycatching for those thinking through their last days and death, and my interactive workshop on creating visual obituaries. My work and teaching of the Zentangle method (a meditative art form) may also be of interest. (Several years ago, I was part of an art grant that enabled me to visit and teach the Zentangle method to patients in the infusion center of a local hospital.)

If you have feedback, ideas, connections or leads that will enable me to get this piece out into the world, please contact me, jill@jillgreenbaum.com. Of course, I am happy to send a copy of the zine to all who are interested.