Background & Approach

This page provides a brief professional context for those who would like to know more about the author's background behind this work.

Stephen Richards, MA, is a community educator, writer, and former hospice chaplain with extensive experience supporting individuals and families through complex life transitions. He teaches adult education courses on topics including end-of-life planning, dementia, and navigating difficult conversations.

With a background in education, healthcare, and trauma-informed communication — supported by a master’s degree, Clinical Pastoral Education completed in healthcare settings, and prior experience as a high school teacher — Stephen is particularly interested in how people make meaning during times of change, and in creating learning environments that offer practical insight, compassion, and respect for diverse experiences and beliefs.

The work shared on this site is shaped by listening, reflection, and lived experience rather than certainty or instruction. It is offered as an invitation, not a conclusion.

The work itself remains the primary invitation.