James Ellor

Education

PhD, Chicago Theological Seminary
DMin, Chicago Theological Seminary
Post MSW Certificate in Group Psychotherapy, Smith College School of Social Work
AM (MSW), University of Chicago
MDiv, McCormick Theological Seminary
BA, Kent State University

Professional Credentials

The Dorothy Barfield Kronzer Endowed Professor in Family Studies, ACSW, LCSW, Board Certified Diplomat (BCD) in Clinical Social Work, Certified Diplomat in Clinical Social Work (DCSW), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), CSW-G

Research Interests

• Grief and Loss Among Alzheimers Patients
• Spiritual Assessment Among the Elderly
• Knowledge and Attitudes of Aging
• Hunger among Older Adults
• Mental Health for Older Adults
• Training Needs for Paraprofessionals and Professionals
• Stress, Trauma and PTSD
• The Role of the Church as Service Provider
• Military Family Coping
• Meaning Oriented (Logo) therapy

Selected Publications

Ellor, J. W. (1999-Present) Senior Editor, Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, Taylor and Francis Press.

Ellor, J.W. (2009). Methods in Religion, Spirituality and Aging. London: Routledge

Ellor, J.W. (2005). Spiritual and Religious Growth. In L.W. Kaye (Ed.), Perspectives on Productive Aging: Social Work with the New Aged. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

Ellor. J.W. (2003). The Role of Spiritual Assessment in Counseling Older Adults. In S. McFadden & M. Kimble (Eds.), A Practical Handbook for Aging, Religion and Spirituality. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Crow, J. R., Myers, D. R., Ellor, J. W., Dolan, S. L., Whitacre, J., & Morissette, S.  (2017). Family-of-Origin and Service-Member Resilience. Journal of Family Social Work. Vol. 20, Iss. 1.

Harris, H, Ellor, J., and Yancey G. (2017) DSM-5: The intersectionality of spirituality, culture, and aging, Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, 29:1 pp.3-17.

Oxhandler, H., Ellor, J. (2017) Christian Social Workers’ Views and Integration of Client’s Religion and Spirituality in Practice., Social Work and Christianity Vol 44, #3 pp. 3-24.

Stanford, M. S., Oxhandler, H. K., Ellor, J. W. (2019). Assessing the Usefulness of the God Questionnaire. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85073116441

Ellor, J. W., Koepke, D., Oberle, J., Dubose, N. P., Sudano, S. (2019). Forum on Religion, Spirituality and Aging Announce: Best of the Aging and Spirituality. Journal of Religion, Spirituality And Aging, 31(1), 1-150.

Background

Dr. Jim Ellor previously served as Professor of Human Services and Gerontology at National - Louis University in Wheaton, Ill., for 21 years. In this capacity, he also was the director of the Center for Positive Aging. Concurrent to this position, he served part-time as an on-call chaplain at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill. Previously, he was a research associate at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Dr. Ellor works with older adults around issues of mental and spiritual health. He has served on the executive committee of the Midwestern Geriatric Education Center and provided education, counseling, and planning for individuals and groups who work with seniors. His research includes work in entrostomal therapy, hunger, the church as a service provider, spiritual assessment, and intervention techniques with cognitively impaired older adults. He is married to Janet R. Ellor; they are parents of Lisa Ellor-Smith, MA, and Margaret Mayo, M.Div, MSW. They are grandparents to Mia, Lucas and Kaden Smith and Fiona Mayo.