Conversation Circles and the Needs of Historically Marginalized Chaplains
This webinar reports on our work sponsored by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, supporting chaplains from historically marginalized communities.
We’ll discuss the conversation circle model with one of our facilitators, as well as explore questions like “What is marginalization? And what do marginalized chaplains need today?”
ACPE Category A: Spiritual Formation and Integration – Outcome 1: Narrative History – Level IA – IA.1 – Identify formative and transformative experiences in one’s narrative history and their significance to one’s spiritual journey.
ACPE Category A: Spiritual Formation and Integration – Outcome 2: Socio-Cultural Identity – Level IB – IB.3 – Articulate how one’s social identity informs one’s approach to spiritual care.
ACPECategory B: Awareness of Self and Others – Outcome 1: Self-Care – Level IIB – IIB.4 – Evaluate how one uses self-care practices, including trauma-informed approaches for support of wellbeing, including when providing spiritual care.
APC/BCCI Section II: Professional Identity and Conduct (PIC): PIC2 – Articulate ways in which one’s feelings, values, assumptions, culture, and social location affect professional practice.
APC/BCCI Section II: Professional Identity and Conduct (PIC): PIC3 –Attend to one’s own physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
We thank the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation for their support of this webinar. Learn more about this project here.
Chaplain Ylisse C. Bess (she/they) serves as College Chaplain and Christian Life Coordinator at Wellesley College. Ylisse’s ecumenical background includes roots in the Church of God in Christ, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and American Baptist Churches. They continued their spiritual growth through their Methodist seminary education and have served as an Associate Minister in a UCC congregation. They earned their bachelor’s degree in sociology and religious studies from Gonzaga University, their M.Div. from Boston University School of Theology, and became a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains.
Ylisse joined the Wellesley College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life staff after serving as Program Director for the Trauma Responsive Congregations Grant at Boston University School of Theology and adjunct faculty at BU School of Theology where they took a trauma-responsive approach to team teaching seminary students, and continuing education for clergy through courses such as “Sustaining Spirits While Empires Crumble,” and “Spiritual Care for the Nonreligious.” Ylisse has 5 five years of experience as an Intensive Care Unit chaplain at level 1 trauma centers in Boston, including multifaith pastoral care and counseling, as well as crisis response.
