UCLA Health Chaplain Keith Wakefield Announces Upcoming Release of Stay with Me, I Want to Be Alone

A powerful memoir exploring presence, meaning, and humanity in life’s most difficult moments

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Keith Wakefield, ACPE Certified Educator and Manager of CPE Programs at UCLA Health, will release his debut book, Stay with Me, I Want to Be Alone: A Chaplain’s Search for Meaning, on October 3, 2025. The book blends memoir, teaching, and personal reflection to answer a question often posed to chaplains: “So, what do you do as a chaplain?”

Early praise underscores the book’s depth and impact:

“Wakefield has written a deep, textured description of the role of the hospital chaplain… This impassioned, culturally astute story mosaic made me laugh and cry. The book made me want to become a chaplain!”
— Neil Wenger, MD, MPH, Chair, Ronald Reagan UCLA Ethics Committee

“Readable, relatable, and rich with wisdom… both a compelling reflection and a practical tool.”
— Rev. Gina Harvey, ACPE CE, BCC, Sanford Health

Drawing on his experience at Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Loma Linda, and UCLA, Wakefield takes readers behind the scenes of hospital chaplaincy. Through honest stories of patients, families, and his own struggles, he explores how presence, silence, humor, and compassion can transform life at the bedside of the dying and in everyday relationships.

“Chaplains learn from the dying how to live,” Wakefield says. “This book isn’t only about what I do in hospitals. It’s about what any of us can do when faced with suffering: to stay present, to listen, to choose connection over isolation.”

Following the book’s release, Wakefield will be announcing speaking engagements in the U.S. and abroad. Including the European Council for Pastoral Care and Counselling in The Netherlands next week. He is also available for podcast interviews, media appearances, and conversations with communities interested in grief, chaplaincy, and spiritual care. Wakefield is also developing companion journals and a docuseries on chaplaincy, underscoring his long-term mission to help people live more purposefully and authentically.

Book Details
• Title: Stay with Me, I Want to Be Alone: A Chaplain’s Search for Meaning
• Author: Keith Wakefield
• Formats: Paperback ($15.99), eBook ($4.99); Audiobook (Nov 2025)
• ISBN: 978-1955051514
• Available: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookBub, and other retailers

About the Author
Keith Wakefield is an ACPE Certified Educator and Manager of CPE Programs at UCLA Health. He holds Ecclesiastical Endorsement as a Hospital Chaplain and is an Ordained Pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He has trained chaplains at Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and UCLA, and speaks internationally on empathic conversations, existential chaplaincy, and the role of humor and humanity in healthcare.

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