Jason Hotchkiss, Ed.D.

Jason Hotchkiss, EdD, MDiv, BCC, is a Canadian-born psychologist, educator, chaplain, and researcher with more than three decades of experience across higher education, clinical assessment, spiritual care, and applied well-being research. His scholarship and teaching focus on resilience, mindful self-care, professional quality of life, sustainable helping practices, and artificial intelligence in education and healthcare.

In August 2026, Dr. Hotchkiss joined San Francisco Bay University as a full-time Teaching Professor of General Studies and Psychology. His work at SFBU began in January 2026 with the design and teaching of The Psychology of Happiness, an experiential course translating positive psychology research into evidence-based practices for well-being. He now teaches across psychology and interdisciplinary general studies, including leadership, communication, and personal and professional development.

He earned a Doctorate of Education in Psychology in 2014, following interdisciplinary training that included a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Counseling, Clinical Pastoral Education, and pastoral ordination. His career integrates psychological science, spiritual formation, and educational leadership, including previous service as psychology faculty and researcher at Cornerstone University.
Dr. Hotchkiss's recent work explores artificial intelligence in higher education, hospice care, and healthcare quality systems. Drawing on extensive hospice and palliative care experience, he examines how AI can support service quality, clinician workflow, educational innovation, and compassionate care while addressing ethical and human-centered concerns. He has developed AI-supported university coursework and teaching models integrating large language models, experiential learning, and evidence-based pedagogy to enhance student engagement and workforce readiness.

He has published four books and more than 20 peer-reviewed articles, with recent scholarship focused on mindful self-care and burnout prevention. He led the intercultural validation of the Mindful Self-Care Scale and the development and validation of the Mindful Self-Care Scale 2.0, with multiple large-scale studies published in Mindfulness.

Outside of academic work, Dr. Hotchkiss enjoys strength-training, mindfulness practice, integrated spirituality, swimming, and resilient cinema.

Degree & Academic Institution:

• Ed.D., Counseling Psychology
  Argosy University, 2014
• CPE, Clinical Pastoral Education
  John Muir Medical Center, 2011
• M.Div., Pastoral Ministry and Counseling
  Gateway Seminary, 2006
• B.S., Water Resource Engineering; Minor in Psychology
  University of Guelph, 1995

Publications

Books

• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2026). Mindful Helping and Self-Care: Practical, Evidence-Based Guidance for Personal and Professional Resilience. Amazon Kindle Direct.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2023). Love Letters from Caregivers: Grateful Testimonies to Inspire and Empower Hospice and Palliative Care Professionals. Alive-and-Well in End-of-Life Care series (3 of 3). Amazon Kindle Direct.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2023). Vivid Depictions of Big Hospice Quality: User Insights and Recommendations for the 50 Largest Hospices in the United States. Alive-and-Well in End-of-Life Care series (2 of 3). Amazon Kindle Direct.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2023). Glassdoor into Hospice Quality in America: Caregiver Sentiments and Evidence-Based Insights for Improved CAHPS Performance. Alive-and-Well in End-of-Life Care series (1 of 3). Amazon Kindle Direct.

Research

• Cook-Cottone, C. P., Hotchkiss, J. T., Guyker, W., & Wong, M. Y. C. (2025). Development and interethnic validation of the Mindful Self-Care Scale, Version 2.0—Eight mindful self-care factors and their relationship to present moment-centeredness. Mindfulness, 16, 3043–3068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02670-0
• Wong, M. Y. C., Hotchkiss, J. T., Garcia, A. C. M., Cook-Cottone, C. P., & Guyker, W. (2024). Mindful self-care practices around the world—Score reporting and Rasch modeling of mindful self-care factors among 13 regions and across 102 countries. Mindfulness, 15, 1603–1620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02386-7
• Hotchkiss, J. T., Ridderman, E., & Hotchkiss, B. T. (2024). How enrollees feel about support in big hospices—Caregiver sentiments on psychosocial-spiritual support among large US programs. Palliative & Supportive Care. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951524000506
• Hotchkiss, J. T., Ridderman, E., & Bufkin, W. (2024). Development of a model and method for hospice quality assessment from natural language processing (NLP) analysis of online caregiver reviews. Palliative & Supportive Care, 22(1), 19–30. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951523001001
• Hotchkiss, J. T., Ridderman, E., & Hotchkiss, B. T. (2023). Caregiver and employee experience among big hospices—Ranking of the largest US hospices by three quality indicators. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care. https://doi.org/10.1177/10499091231206481
• Hotchkiss, J. T., & Wong, M. Y. C. (2022). Factorial structure of the ProQOL—Systematic meta-analysis and integration of 27 international factor analysis studies. Trends in Psychology.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2021). The relationship between sexual compulsivity, emotional and spiritual distress of religious internet pornography users. Journal of Religion and Health, 60(3), 1630.
• Hotchkiss, J. T., & Cook-Cottone, C. P. (2019). Validation of the Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS) and development of the Brief-MSCS among hospice and spiritual care professionals: A confirmatory factor analysis approach to validation. Palliative & Supportive Care. Cambridge University Press.
• Hotchkiss, J. T., & Lesher, R. (2018). Factors predicting burnout among chaplains: Compassion satisfaction, organizational factors, and the mediators of mindful self-care and secondary traumatic stress. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 72(2), 86–98.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2018). Mindful self-care and secondary traumatic stress mediate a relationship between compassion satisfaction and burnout risk among hospice care professionals. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
• Hotchkiss, J. T. (2014). The relationship between subjective well-being of adults seeking pornography addiction assessment (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3469875).