Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford recently gave a talk at UWest, for the Buddhist Chaplaincy Department, about her new book, Kalyāṇamitra: A Model for Buddhist Spiritual Care, Vol. 1.
What makes this book, and Dr. Sanford's work, so important is that it presents a theoretical framework for Buddhist Chaplaincy while offering a practical model for spiritual care that is grounded in the Dharma. The framework invoked by Dr. Sanford is inspired by Kalyāṇa-mittatā, a Buddhist concept of "admirable friendship."
Buddhist Chaplaincy is a young but burgeoning profession. Dr. Sanford's book is only one of a few devoted to the field and the first to frame Buddhist spiritual care with theoretical scholarship.
The video for Dr. Sanford's talk is worth watching in its entirety here:
Dr. Sanford is a visiting professor at University of West for Spring 2021, teaching DBMin 607 Research Methods. She is currently the Assistant Director of Spirituality & Religious Life at Rochester Institute of Technology. Visit her website here.