Recovering Wholeness Conference Speakers’ Profile

Rev. Dr. Maria Theresita “Tootsie” Escandor is the Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Vanderpol Center for Leadership and Pastoral Formation, Inc. She is Vanderpol Center’s resident Psychotherapist and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Supervisor. Dr. Tootsie is an ordained minister with her vocation in pastoral and spiritual care spanning almost 30 years. She received her Masters of Divinity degree in Pastoral Care from the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (PBTS) and her Doctor of Psychology degree through the combined program of the Institute of Psychodynamic Pastoral Supervision (IPPS) in Durham, North Carolina and the Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) in Mishawaka, Indiana. She is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Spiritual Care Practitioner with the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF) in the US and the Philippine affiliate and member of the Spiritual Care Association (SCA), an international professional membership association for spiritual care providers that promotes the establishment of evidence-based spiritual care in various ministry settings.

Aside from her private practice and work with Vanderpol Center, Dr. Tootsie is an HR Consultant and an Industrial Chaplain, a faculty member of the SCA University of Theology & Spirituality, and a speaker/trainer on topics under Transformative Leadership, Pastoral Care and Counselling, Grief and Trauma Management, Crisis Care and Management, and Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Her recent work is on education and advocacy for the integration of spiritual care and clinical chaplaincy in Palliative Care in the Philippines, application of Developmental Frameworks, Attachment Models and Neuro-Affective Relational Models in the psychotherapeutic intervention for children and young adults with multiple traumas, and the use of CPE-based approaches to develop a new model for supervisory training and mentorship in corporate settings. As a CPE Supervisor, Dr. Tootsie has been working with interns coming from various backgrounds: hospital-based chaplaincy, jail management, police and military chaplaincy, corporate, social work and community development, church-based and missionary organizations from different faith denominations, and volunteer civilian first responders.

Rev. Dr. William “Bill” Greaver III is one of the Founders of the SCA University of Theology & Spirituality and serves as one of its Chancellors and Professors. He teaches courses in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy, Spiritual Direction, First Response, and Critical Incident Stress Management. Dr. Bill received his Masters of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). He has also been conferred with a Doctor of Psychology degree by the Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Dr. Bill is an ordained minister and currently serves as the Executive Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Tacoma. He is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Spiritual Care Practitioner with the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF) in the US. He is also a member and Board Certified Chaplain with the Spiritual Care Association (SCA) and a CPE Supervisor for the Institute of Clinical Pastoral Training (ICPT). He is a Certified Chaplain with the National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains, a Commander for the SCA First Response Chaplain Division for the West Coast, and a Certified Crisis Chaplain with the National Center for Crisis Management. Dr. Bill has supervised CPE units under ACPE and CPSP. He is currently a CPE Supervisor under CSCPF and is offering both online and on-site CPE programs through his Learning Center based in Tacoma, Washington.

Dr. Bill’s vocation in social work, pastoral care, and chaplaincy spans almost 30 years and in various settings: hospital, industrial, prison, jail, police, first response, nursing home, palliative care, mental health centers, and at homeless shelters in 5 different states in the US. He also served for many years as a Civil Air Patrol and US Air Force – Reserves Chaplain with the rank of Captain.

Matt Owen is a chaplain and spiritual counselor serving in the addiction treatment environment at Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, PA. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Leadership Studies with an emphasis in Community Ministry from Meadville Lombard Theological School, and is currently in pursuit of a Doctor of Theology Degree in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy through the University of Theology and Spirituality. Matt has been trained as a mindfulness meditation teacher by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach through their Awareness Training Institute and the University of California at Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Matt is in process towards accreditation as a mindfulness teacher by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and board certification as a clinical chaplain by the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation.

Rev. Lilliana (Lily) Godsoe is an Interfaith Minister and Chaplain living in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA.  A first generation American, of Croatian descent, she was born and raised in New York City, NY and later moved to California with her family.  After several educational and career changes she completed her undergraduate studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, CA, a university whose guiding philosophy is the holistic view of human beings, the integration of the spiritual and material values and its emphasis on East/West philosophies and world views.  Shortly after graduation, Rev. Lily trained as a hospice volunteer at Zen Hospice Project, a pioneering organization in the modern hospice movement.  It was during her service as a hospice volunteer that she first received the ‘call’ to chaplaincy.  This eventually led her to The Chaplaincy Institute, an Interfaith seminary in Berkeley, CA an organization that specializes in Interfaith leadership and ordination.  She was ordained in 2011 and has gone on to serve as a chaplain in several types of healthcare settings, including hospice and long-term rehabilitation.  Rev. Lily began her CPE training in 2012 with CPSP and completed her CPE training in 2014 with the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF).   She has been a member of CSCPF since its inception and has held several service positions within the organization.  She now serves CSCPF as President.  She also holds the position of staff chaplain at Webster House in Palo Alto, CA, a senior life-plan community, providing spiritual care and support seniors at various stages of care.  Rev. Lily lives in Half Moon Bay, CA with her husband James and dog, Tito.

Rev. Eric J. Hall, DTh, APBCC is president and CEO of HealthCare Chaplaincy NetworkTM (HCCN) and its affiliate, Spiritual Care Association. HCCN was founded in 1961 and is a global nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the integration of spiritual care in health care to increase patient satisfaction and help people faced with illness and grief find comfort and meaning—whoever they are, whatever they believe, wherever they are. HCCN is a leader in clinical pastoral education and spiritual care research, and provides professional chaplaincy services at major health care institutions in New York, including Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Lifespan, Rhode Island.

Since Rev. Hall joined the New York-based HCCN in August 2013, the organization has been making important advances in clinical pastoral education, research into the evidence of the value of chaplaincy interventions, and alliances with like-minded organizations. He has also led the organization’s expansion beyond traditional hospital bedside chaplaincy by innovating a suite a cost-effective, technology-driven programs and services to provide spiritual support to individuals and their families throughout the health care continuum—whether in hospital or outpatient settings, hospice, long-term residences, or at home. Other groundbreaking developments under his leadership include an annual global spiritual care conference, Caring for the Human Spirit®; a spiritual care magazine for chaplains and other professionals; HCCN-TVTM, spiritual-themed programming for use in hospital, clinic and residential settings; and palliative care and spiritual care telehealth modules.

Rev. Hall is the visionary behind the Spiritual Care Association; a multidisciplinary organization including First Responder Chaplaincy and Parish Nursing. Now with 18 offices in 17 countries this is the first ever membership association for spiritual care providers that establishes evidence- based quality indicators, scope of practice, and a knowledge base for spiritual care in health care. SCA’s components include an online learning center, certification and credentialing of chaplains, and advocacy.

Rev. Hall also serves as the minister of Eastchester Community Church in Eastchester, N.Y., a position he has held since 2002. He is also managing partner of ACS (Alzheimer’s Care Specialists) LLC, a New York-licensed home care services agency servicing Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Westchester Counties.

Before joining HCCN, Rev. Hall was founder, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA), a leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of care for individuals and their families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. During a decade of leadership, he united 1,600+ organizations from coast-to-coast to speak with one voice to advocate for optimal care and enhanced local support services, and created nationally- recognized education and care-related products and services.

Rev. Hall has served on the National Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s disease, working with the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and other national experts to develop and implement the nation’s first plan to address this disease. A strong believer in the power and potential of collaboration, in 2010, he co-founded LEAD (Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s Disease), the nation’s first Alzheimer’s-related coalition that now consists of 87 companies and nonprofit organizations. He is a member of the board of Project Lifesaver, a non-profit organization that provides law enforcement, fire/rescue, other first responders and caregivers, with technology and training to protect, and when necessary, quickly locate individuals with cognitive disorders who have wandered.

Prior to establishing AFA, Rev. Hall was CEO of a local grassroots Alzheimer’s organization on Long Island, N.Y. He also served as treasurer for the New Jersey branch of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars, an international religious order, where his many accomplishments included establishing and directing the creation of a multi-million dollar living facility for mature adults in the Bronx, N.Y.

He has presented at numerous national and international conferences, and has been interviewed by major print, radio and TV outlets. Rev. Hall holds a DTh from University of Theology & Spirituality, an MDiv and an MA from Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J. He is a resident of Glen Cove, N.Y.