Good morning,
My name is Chris Ireland and I am writing from Tampa Bay, Florida. I currently serve as a chaplain to the first responder community in our area, in addition to serving with Florida Baptist disaster relief. My passion is in self-care and suicide prevention/intervention. I have been serving as a pastor since 2010, and in chaplaincy for the last eight years.
I became an ordained chaplain after training with the International Fellowship of Chaplains (IFOC). One of our instructors had a lived experience with suicide of a loved one. This put me on a path towards suicide intervention and understanding the grieving process, in addition to people’s reactions to suicide and loss. I work in the medical field, and saw this course available in a self-study format. After some research, I am here with you on the journey to become a certified grief counselor.
I am married and we celebrated our 30th anniversary last October. We have one daughter who is married and living in Texas. We have a two dogs who keep us quite busy. We love to travel and see new places. We have also recently taken up pickleball.
I look forward to going through this course and connecting with you.
Chris