Chair for the Department of Patient Counseling
College of Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University

Director of the Spiritual Care Department
VCU Health

Marilyn J. D. Barnes MS, MA, MPH, BCC is the Chair for the Department of Patient Counseling in the College of Health Professions at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Director of the Spiritual Care Department at VCU Health System. She has presented at numerous conferences and her publications include the seminal chaplaincy research, “What do I do? Developing a taxonomy of chaplaincy activities and interventions for spiritual care in intensive care unit palliative care,” (BMC Palliative Care, 2015) which developed a normative language for chaplains and is currently being incorporated into chaplaincy practice in a variety of settings in the US and around the world, “Symbols of Comfort for a Journey of Grief,” (Illness Crisis and Loss, 2014) an article focused on the use of ritual during the initial grieving process, and “Spiritual Care Encounter – Journeying with a Grief Stricken Family” (Simulation in Health: Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 2017). In 2022 she was a guest editor for the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy’s special issue which focused on the experiences and impact of chaplains of color. She is a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains.

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