Featured News
From conference rooms to quiet moments, our impact is real
As we near the conclusion of 2025 and prepare for 2026, the Patient Counseling Department continues to flourish. This year our faculty, staff, students and alumni have celebrated numerous accomplishments, each contributing meaningfully to the field of professional chaplaincy.
VCU researcher makes the business case for spiritual care in health care
Kelsey White, Ph.D., assistant professor and chaplaincy faculty researcher at VCU’s College of Health Professions, took the stage at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress of Healthcare Leadership in March. The room in Houston, Texas, was filled with hospital CEOs, COOs and other senior executives whom White and her co-presenters challenged to consider the importance of an often overlooked part of clinical service: spiritual care.
The state of chaplaincy is strong at VCU
Few images conjure more solemnity than a room full of chaplains at an academic conference. But the 2025 Association of Professional Chaplains Annual Conference could have been mistaken for a basketball game at the Siegel Center every time VCU was mentioned.
The newest Pediatric Chaplains Network President serves patients and students with heart at VCU
When Calvin Bradley Jr. walks into a hospital room, he’s not thinking about medical charts or machinery. He’s thinking about the child in front of him — and what that child needs most in that moment. Sometimes, it’s reassurance. Sometimes, it’s a prayer. And sometimes, it’s as simple as a sweet treat.
‘Called to stand in the breach’: a VCU chaplain’s journey
When Addison Schmitt Morgan entered the Post-baccalaureate Graduate Certificate in Patient Counseling program at VCU in the summer of 2023, she wasn’t entirely sure what lay ahead. During the certificate program – offered by the VCU College of Health Professions Department of Patient Counseling – Schmitt Morgan experienced firsthand what it meant to provide spiritual care in moments of acute crisis.
How VCU helped shape Bishop Teresa Snorton’s path of ministry and healing
Bishop Teresa E. Snorton has carried her experience at VCU with her across decades, pulpits and continents. Long after she finished her postgraduate certificate in Patient Counseling – now part of the College of Health Professions – she still finds herself looking back to her time in Richmond and VCU.
Grief Awareness Day 2025
On Saturday, August 30, VCU Health honored National Grief Awareness Day. Many units lit candles during their huddles to honor grief experienced by their staff and patients. Light shone from the windows of the VCU College of Health Professions building.
Spiritual Care Week 2025
Celebrate four decades of profound community impact as Spiritual Care Week reaches its 40th anniversary!
Atheist chaplains are forging a new path in a changing world
Jason S. Callahan serves as an instructor in the Department of Patient Counseling, College of Health Professions, and as a chaplain for the Thomas Palliative Care Unit in VCU Massey Cancer Center. He provides pastoral care to patients, families and staff. Read about his approach to chaplaincy on CNN.
VCU Health hosts community walk to celebrate King's legacy
"Braving temperatures in the mid-20s and a stiff west wind — and launched by the Black Awakening Choir‘s “Faithful, Faithful is Our God” — some 150 people joined in VCU Health‘s community walk to celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
As millions deal with grief, health professionals create and share origami hearts to connect and heal
Chaplains in the Department of Patient Counseling in VCU's College of Health Professions are creating and sharing origami hearts to mark National Grief Awareness Day. (VCU Health)
