My Story
Lynda Elaine Carré (she/her)

As a mature elder, never-ending transformation through life experiences and expanded states of consciousness in the process of becoming has given me perspective, patience, greater understanding, trust in the process of creation, wisdom of the inner healer, and sublime awe. Born with the Sun in Virgo/ Scorpio rising and informed by the archetypes The Creatrix, The Wounded Healer, and The Deathwalker, I have been called to serve others seeking guidance and support as they navigate their life’s journey.

Credentials

• Holistic Clinical Chaplain for Palliative and Hospice Spiritual Care, UCLA Hospital, St Peter's Health Partners, The Community Hospice of Columbia/Greene in New York State
• Ordained Interfaith Minister, The Chaplaincy Institute
• C-IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, International Association of Yoga Therapists
• HTP-A Healing Touch Practitioner Apprentice Level 4
• IFS-Informed Practitioner, Internal Family Systems
• Certified End of Life Doula, Sacred Crossings, National End of Life Doula Association
• Certified Home Funeral Guide and Celebrant, National Home Funeral Alliance
• Certification: Psychedelic Integration Therapist, Vital Psychedelic Education Institute
• Certified Aromatherapist, Floracopeia with David Crowe and Jade Schute

My Journey

My personal journey to Holistic Clinical and PsycheSpiritual Ministry as an educator and guide has been an immersion in the Mystery of Becoming – the most alluring of all mysteries. It has been creative process of transformation, exquisitely guided by Spirit. Along the way a unique and personal relationship with the life-affirming, generative aspect of my deepest self has emerged and deepened. I am filled with gratitude for all in life that has led me to this place of service. It takes a long time to learn to be real. It takes even longer to be attuned to what is struggling to be real in others who are lost, wounded, in despair, and disconnected from their emotions and Divine Love.

Through many compounded life events and losses, over time I learned how essential it was to honor the full spectrum of my emotions, accept my defenses, and bring light to my shadows. This has prepared me to accompany and support others who are walking through the darker valleys of life.

From early in life I was identified as sensitive, empathic, creative, and intelligent. I have had mystical experiences throughout my life that provided me with lucidity, direction, guidance, and greater calling to explore the big questions related to the mystery.

“Who am I?”
“Why am I here?”
“Who made all this?”
“How does life work?”
“What really matters?”
“Where do I belong?”
“What happens when we die?”

 Although terrified of dying and death throughout my childhood and well into adulthood, my curiosity, creativity, and courage became stronger than my fear. I grew attracted to learn from the many perspectives on expanded consciousness, dying and death. Through hundreds of direct personal and clinical experiences I learned to befriend the transformational challenges in spiritual growth and integration.

My artistic personality and creativity enabled me to enjoy a fulfilling executive-level career in communications and strategic creative arts services for many years––professionally specializing in the multi-cultural healthcare delivery industry, spirituality, education, and our environment. My art training in graphic design, symbology, archetypes, and metaphor through fine art, architecture, film, and literature from many cultural traditions gives me a vocabulary from which to translate the language of the dying when linear narrative becomes inadequate for them to share their experiences. I have sensitivity to feel the truth of what is being said and question what is not given voice. Familiarity with different communication and cultural approaches enables me to forge alliances and build bridges through respect, trust, and understanding.

Throughout my life curiosity about spirituality and the views of religious teachings around loss, dying, death, and other big mystery questions, led me into years of academic and experiential studies with great teachers in world religious and non-religious wisdom traditions and practices, psychedelic-assisted integration therapy, spiritual psychology, sacred and integrated healing energy arts, shamanic journeys, interfaith seminary, clinical pastoral education (CPE), palliative and hospice spiritual care, ethics, end-of-life death midwifery, conventional and home funerals, and rite of passage life rituals.

The quest prepared me well by developing the courage and trust I needed to go through the personal depth-work essential for discernment and the cultivation of safe, effective spiritual care, my empathic and healing energy abilities, and self-care. I offer this openness and clarity to each person, trusting in their own innate wisdom to return to a new wholeness regardless of the situation.

In addition to my private practice, WELLSPRING PASSAGES, established in 2015, I also work as a holistic interfaith chaplain supporting the dying and their families in their private homes, residential facilities, nursing homes, and hospitals as a member of the interdisciplinary team for THE COMMUNITY HOSPICE of COLUMBIA/GREENE counties, a part of St. Peter's Health Partners under the national umbrella of Trinity Health.

I am a community educator and activist for personal choice in end-of life decision making, I am a former Board member, and now advisor, with Circle of Friends for the Dying, a 501c3 in Kingston, New York.

I draw from ancient to modern wisdom gleaned from years of experience through sacred energy arts, non-ordinary states, and the integrative healing modalities I have learned along my life’s path. I am certified as a Psychedelic-Assisted Integration Therapist by the Psychedelic Education Center's VITAL program, with an emphasis on embodiment and emotional integration.

I began meditating through Self-Realization Fellowship in 1987, and studied Raja, Hatha, Tantra, and Bhakti yoga as well as vipassana(insight/mindfulness) and soto zen meditation. I have taught hatha, yin, and restorative yoga and meditation classes, privates and retreats since 2001. I am also a certified practitioner in Aromatherapy, completed studies in the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy approach to pain and symptom management, and am completing certification as a Healing Touch Practitioner, the worldwide leaders in energy medicine and is accredited by the American Holistic Nurses Association. for several years I volunteered in the Healing Arts Department of Albany Medical Center Hospital, providing in-patients and medical staff with Healing Touch and Aromatherapy.

In my service, as appropriate,  I incorporate meditation, breathwork, healing touch, aromatherapy, sound, movement, creative arts expression, yoga, bedside singing, and psychedelic integration. Benefits of such interventions can be moments of insight; refreshed cognizance; a relaxation response; relief from symptoms of pain, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, constipation, and exhaustion; or a fulfilling sense of connection and unity. Please see Integrative Healing Arts.

Interfaith Clinical Chaplain

I am an ordained interfaith minister who dedicates my services as a clinical chaplain. A chaplain serves from within community settings rather than from a designated place of worship, and may be an ordained minister, rabbi, imam, Buddhist, or priest. I am a clinical healthcare chaplain specialist who provides Spiritual Care in community disaster situations and in healthcare settings. I serve people in need throughout the Hudson Valley area: in private homes, group residences, hospitals. Medical professionals, social workers, and hospice organizations call me to serve on their team, or refer people to me. Others contact me directly for themselves or a family member. See Services.

Interfaith is both a vision and theology that embraces the universal truths in all the world’s spiritual traditions. Spiritual traditions include recognized world religions and philosophies in all forms as well as belief systems that include Alcoholics Anonymous, Refuge Recovery, and more.

An interfaith, or inter-spiritual, approach honors the beautiful diversity in human experience along with our essential unity. It appreciates the wisdom and traditions of belief systems––ancient to modern––that support spiritual and emotional well-being and personal growth, especially through the transforming alchemy of illness, dying, and death.

A seminary education dedicated to Interfaith Studies and Spiritual Direction equipped me with knowledge to provide meaningful relationship-based spiritual care to a diverse and multi-faceted population––many whom increasingly identify as “spiritual, not religious,” or who may have been wounded by their tradition, or who identify as a cultural group but not as a practitioner.

“…every sacred religious tradition is a wellspring in fact, a bubbling up of the river into the human experience of life-enhancing spirituality; that we best serve the needs of all humanity when we not only respect other religious paths, but collaborate with them in our shared work of healing creation. No one tradition contains all the answers, but every tradition can be (in the Buddha's words) "a finger pointing at the moon," directing our hearts toward the Source." (Rev. Tim Thorstenson, Creation Spirituality)

I graduated from The Chaplaincy Institute: An Interfaith Seminary and Community, Berkeley, California. I received ordination as Interfaith Chaplain from the CHI Community, recognized by the nationally-recognized Association of Professional Chaplains.

My Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Year Residency was completed at UCLA hospital in Los Angeles as the Palliative Care Team Chaplain in the ICU, Oncology, Gerontology, Medical/Surgery, and Emergency. There I also participated on ethics committees and presented spiritual care perspectives at Palliative Care Grand Rounds and hospital-based and community education events. I earned a Palliative Care Chaplaincy Specialty certificate through the CSU Institute of Palliative Care and the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network. Please see Palliative Spiritual Care.

Sacred Deathcare Doula, Home Funeral Guide, Ritualist/Celebrant

I am an ordained interfaith chaplain, end-of-life navigator, and post-death consultant/officiant. My hospital residency clinical training and hospice team work have given me in-depth understanding of processes, systems, and professional specialities that goes far beyond  training of most death doulas. I am uniquely prepared to contribute my wisdom and advocacy as a collaborative member of any end-of-life preparedness and support team a patient/family already has in place or needs to assemble.

Through my private practice, Wellspring Passages, I serve those living––with advanced illness, the dying, and their families––throughout the Hudson Valley in person and across the nation via video conference. With knowledge and compassion I companion people through their journey of living with advanced illness or consequences of aging and their eventual dying. We identify their value-based goals, plan, document, and prepare like one would prepare for a planned birth or a wedding. It is empowering and creative work.

I provide spiritual care and healing arts expertise as a patient advocate, death midwife, home funeral guide, celebrant, and ritualist. I offer experiential “Wisdom Arts for Dying” presentations and workshops that educate and inspire death preparedness. I have been active in the community with Circle of Friends for the Dying (501c3), CFD Death Cafés, and Nightingale Medical. I currently work as a holistic clinical chaplain providing spiritual healthcare for patients and their families through The Community Hospice of Columbia/Greene.

My interfaith seminary specialization was supporting a diverse and multi-cultural population of individuals living with advanced illness and those transitioning through the dying process. I earned certification as End-of-Life Spiritual Counselor, Death Midwife, Home Funeral Guide, and Celebrant through the renowned Rev. Olivia Barham at Sacred Crossings: Conscious Dying and Home Funeral Services and Funeral Home, Pacific Palisades, California, and through Being With Dying Professional Certification at Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I served as in-hospital hospice chaplain and collaborated in palliative-to-hospice continuum of care for patients discharged from the hospital setting to home or facility for end-of-life hospice support. Additional I trained for hospice service through the Veteran’s Administration’s Twilight Brigade, and Anam Cara Home for the Dying in Topanga, California. Separate from my private practice, I also work as a member of the hospice interdisciplinary team of St. Peter's Health Care, The Community Hospice of Columbia and Greene Counties as Coordinator of Volunteer Services.

Please see End-of-Life Care. Please see Sacred Deathcare.

Psychedelic Integration Therapist

Having my own many personal healing and spiritual growth through local and international psychedelic-assisted experiences and Grof Breathwork, I know the beauty, power, and potential of their intentional use. I have seen the transformative potential through accessing expanded states of consciousness. In healthcare, I observe that people facing challenging health issues and the specter of dying have markedly greater ease in exploring their situations of uncertainty. Rather than withdrawing in paralyzing fear or depression, if they have had some experience with expanded states of consciousness, they are more curious and interested in exploring their own heroic journey. That inspired me to further educate myself about the psychedelic renaissance with advances through research, the progress through clinical trials, and several nations and several states in the process of legalizing their use. I sought education with Fluency and VITAL and immersed myself in research articles, books, podcasts,  trainings, MAPS and HORIZONS conferences, and more. Spirituality and Psychedelics from historical and contemporary religious perspectives holds great interest. All this inspired me to engage with in-depth training through the highly-respected VITAL Psychedelic Training program. The curriculum and higher-caliber teachers who are leaders in their arts of expertise provided a comprehensive education, harm-reduction, and trauma-informed approach to safe, effective engagement with psychedelic integration as both a healing modality and a way of accessing expanded consciousness for spiritual growth and enhanced creativity. See that section Psychedelic Integration and related FAQs.

Awareness, Empowerment, Personalization, Activism

I am passionate about community education and raising awareness about growing through loss, death acceptance, preparedness, and personal choice. I frequently teach, offer presentations and workshops, and write articles on the subject of living well through advanced illness and dying. I lead classes and workshops for medical professionals, clergy, social workers, psychotherapists, psychonauts, and others pertaining to the Wisdom Arts for Dying.

I recently completed three years as Board Member and President, Board, for The Chaplaincy Institute: An Interfaith Seminary and Community. I was formerly member of the Board, and now a member of the Advisory Council,  Circle of Friends for the Dying, a 501c3 non-profit, located in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York State. I am a member of the National Home Funeral Alliance, National End of Life Doula Association (NEDA) and a supporter of the Wake-Up to Dying Project, and Compassion & Choices.

Taking Care

I enjoy life and take care of myself. That enables me to be most available to support you in tapping the wellspring within yourself during challenging times. I am passionate about chaplaincy, teaching, and counseling with a lens toward aging, illness, and death as a natural and significant part of life’s experience, with an integral relationship to Nature and natural cycles. My faith is derived through Creation Spirituality and Process Theology.

I love creativity, water, nature, art, music, film, dance, storytelling, singing, laughter, delicious/nutritious food, good design, meditation, yoga, beauty, travel, advances in energy sciences, learning about different cultures, and sharing time with my daughters Claire and Lilli, my large extended family, and amazing friends and clients around the world.

My Life’s Purpose

Quests and explorations revealed my life’s purpose. It is to live with curiosity, creativity, and equanimity, providing service as an inspirational change agent who delivers compassionate and personalized heart-sourced spiritual care, integrative healing arts, and education for the aging, ill, and dying in my community.

Organizations

The Chaplaincy Institute: An Interfaith Seminary and Community, Former President, Board of Directors, current advisor
Circle of Friends for the Dying, former Board Member, current advisory council member
Association of Professional Chaplains, Member
National Home Funeral Alliance, Member
End-of-Life Practitioner Collective, Member
National End-of-Life Doula Association, Member
Healing Touch Professional Association, Member
Healing Touch, Healing Arts Department, Albany Medical Center, Volunteer
International Association of Yoga Therapists, Member
Riverkeeper, Hudson River, Advocate Member
Compassion & Choices, Supporter
Wake Up to Dying Project, Supporter
GoDocGo, Supporter
ReConsider, Supporter
Chacruna, Supporter