Christine Longaker is the former director of the
Hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...
of
Santa Cruz County (California) and is considered a pioneer in the hospice movement. She has provided trainings in caring for the dying around the world since 1978. She co-designed
Naropa University
Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...
’s accredited training in ‘Contemplative End-of-Life Care’, and is the author of ''Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying'', which has been translated into nine languages, and is used in palliative and hospice care centers around the world. Longaker is currently writing a book and creating a curriculum on Self-Compassion.
Biography
Christine was born and raised in southern
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Soon after her first husband Lyttle died in 1977, she helped to found a home-care hospice in
Santa Cruz, and served as Staff Trainer and Director.
She taught courses on 'Death and Dying' at
Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 9,700 students per term.
Facilities
Classes are of ...
, Santa Cruz, CA, and has a lifetime teaching credential for California Private Post Secondary Educational Institutions in Asian Studies and Death and Dying. In 1980 she met
Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche (; 1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and form ...
in California and became his student, and founded Rigpa Fellowship in America, serving as its director for eight years. . In 1993 she helped establish the international Spiritual Care program, offering professional trainings in spiritual care and compassionate care for the dying. Serving as International Education Director for twenty years, Christine taught teams of trainers in nine countries, who together brought the vision of compassionate care for the dying and bereaved to over 30,000 people. Longaker's trainings have inspired the development of four hospice programs in Germany, France, and Switzerland, and two spiritual care centers: The Care Center at
Dzogchen Beara Meditation Centre in Ireland, and Sukhavathi in Germany.
She co-authored and was core faculty for a pioneering nine-month training, with residential and online modules, titled 'Contemplative End of Life Care', initially hosted and accredited by Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. With German palliative care expert Dr. Gian Domenico Borasio, Christine Longaker co-authored research on the
Effects of spiritual care training for palliative care professionals, published in The Journal of Palliative Medicine in 2005, which described sustained benefits six months after the medical professionals received a training in self-care and spiritual care.
Since 1978, Christine Longaker gave in-service trainings, grand rounds talks for doctors, and keynote addresses at conferences related to compassion and hospice and palliative care, in the US, Australia, and Europe. In April 2009 she gave the opening address at the International Spiritual Care Conference "Compassion and Presence: Spiritual Care for the Living and Dying" in Killarney, Ireland.
Conference report
She made keynote presentations at the following conferences:
2013, France, Compassion in Medicine Forum : 'Cultivating Compassionate presence for oneself'.
2012, London, Empathy and Compassion in Society, 'The Benefits of Integrating Compassion and Presence in Health Care'.
2005, Boulder, Colorado, Contemplative End of Life Care, keynote talk: 'Wisdom and Compassion in Caregiving'.
2002, National Palliative Care Congress, Munich, Germany.
1998, Seattle, “Parting Visions Conference”.
1997 & 1995, New York, “The Art of Dying” conference, Open Center and Tibet House.
1994, Chicago, “New Dimensions of Death and Dying” Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Christine is currently developing online courses and trainings on the theme of Self-Compassion, and a book titled Self-Compassion: A Heroic Journey.
Bibliography
Books
*''Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying'', Arrow Books, 1998,
Articles and chapters
*Maria Wasner, Christine Longaker, Martin Johannes Fegg and Gian Domenico Borasio, "Effects of spiritual care training for palliative care professionals" in ''Palliative Medicine'' 2005 19, pages 99–104
*"Listening with Presence, Awareness, and Love" in "The Wisdom of Listening," Mark Brady (ed.).
*"Transforming Suffering Through Compassion" in "Losing the Clouds, Gaining the Sky", Doris Wolter (ed.) Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007.
* “Sparking the Inner Flame”, in "Devotion: Following Tibetan Masters," Sherry Marshall (ed.), Sydney: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
* Documentary "Zorg et Compassie" (Care and Compassion) by Jurgen Gudde for BOS, the Netherlands.
References
External links
christinelongaker.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longaker, Christine
Hospice
Tibetan Buddhists
Naropa University faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)