What is Clinical Pastoral Education?

Education for Professional Ministry

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Programs allow ministers, seminarians, and other religiously-oriented persons to develop counseling and pastoral care-giving skills, familiarity within a particular pastoral setting (usually within a hospital, parish, hospice, retirement home, etc.), and self-awareness as pastoral care-givers.  Attention is given to enhancing the dignity of parishioners, patients, staff and CPE students within this context.

The educational approach may be described as “action-oriented”, with students providing pastoral care on assigned units and using their experiences or reflection and learning.

While seminary courses often provide an academic basis for the theology of pastoral care, CPE emphasizes learning by doing.  Seminary field education experiences do not provide the same level of intensity of direct supervision, peer interaction, or accountability for one’s professional functioning as does CPE.

Henry Medical Center is accredited by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, Inc.  CPSP publishes Standards which details the requirements for faculty, curriculum, educational environment, and for admission into CPE programs. 

• The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, Inc. is a full member of the Coalition on Ministry in Specialized Settings (COMISS).
• Clinical Pastoral Education units are accepted for applying to the Association of Professional Chaplains.

CPSP Mission Statement

The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, Inc. offers its Clinical Pastoral Education programs and programs in pastoral psychotherapy as a unique form of ministry and education.  The respect of the student’s person and the healing change, growth, development, and unique integration of the personal and professional is central to CPSP’s mission. 

Curriculum

A typical CPE program follows the Standards set by its accrediting organization, normally providing for a minimum of 400 hours of supervised learning per unit of training.  Henry Medical Center offers an Extended Time unit which adheres to this requirement.

Each student will be assigned to several areas of pastoral responsibility for clinical pastoral work.  The pastoral placement is negotiated with each student.  Day, evening or overnight assignments may be assigned depending on the clinical requirements of each unit.

Seminars

While each program enjoys some latitude in the specific seminars which are offered, the following will be included:

Case Seminars (80 hours per unit)
The purpose of this series of meetings is to allow for reviewing and critiquing case reports of actual pastoral visits.  Each student presents in turn, thus providing a wide variety of pastoral situations for group consultation.  Prepared role plays may also be used as an educational mode during these seminars.

Interpersonal Relations (30 hours per unit)
This peer group learning experience has a dual focus. First, it provides opportunities for students to explore various personal and professional issues that may arise during their ministry. Second, it allows an experiential study of group formation and development, utilizing the group experience itself as an educational tool.

Didactic Presentations (30 hours per unit)
Lectures and presentations are provided for the group’s learning.  The CPE Supervisor and inter-disciplinary professionals present information on pastoral, ethical, and health care concerns.  A broader understanding of developmental processes, psychological growth, and interrelationships among the many elements of a system is the goal of these seminars, with an intention to strengthen pastoral functioning.

Individual Supervision (10 hours per unit)
Students meet one-on-one with the supervisor to review pastoral work, reflect on personal and professional growth, and evaluate progress toward individual learning goals which are established at the beginning of each unit.

Tuition

Tuition is paid to Henry Medical Center.  Students are also responsible for any textbooks used.

Certification of Completion of Training

Upon completion of each 400 hours of supervised learning, students receive certification of the successful completion of that Unit.  Records of completed units are kept at the CPE Center where training was completed.

Institutions typically require two to four Units of CPE for eligibility for consideration for Staff Chaplain or equivalent professional pastoral care positions, and may, at their discretion, require more.

Objectives of CPE

CPE is designed to provide theological and professional education utilizing the clinical method of learning in diverse contexts of ministry.  There are professional benchmarks of expected outcomes from CPE which formulate the competency objectives.  They are as follows:

• To develop the ability to make use of the clinical process and the clinical method of learning.  This includes the formulation of clinical data, the ability to receive and utilize feedback and consultation, and to make creative use of supervision.
• To develop the self as a work in progress and to cultivate the understanding of the self as the principal tool in pastoral care and counseling.  This includes the ability to reflect and interpret one’s own life story both psychologically and theologically.
• To demonstrate the ability to establish a pastoral bond with persons and groups in various life situations and crisis circumstances.
• To demonstrate basic care and counseling skills including listening, empathy, reflection, analysis of problems, conflict resolution, theological reflection and the demonstration of a critical eye so as to examine and evaluate human behavior and religious symbols for their meaning and significance.
• To demonstrate the ability to make a pastoral diagnosis with special reference to the nature and quality of religious values.
  To demonstrate the ability to provide a critical analysis of one’s own religious tradition.
• To demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of group behavior and the variety of group experiences, and to utilize the support, confrontation and clarification of the peer group for the integration of personal attributes and pastoral functioning.
• To demonstrate the ability to communicate and engage in ministry with persons across cultural boundaries.
• To demonstrate the ability to utilize individual supervision for personal and professional growth and for developing the capacity to evaluate one’s ministry.
• To demonstrate the ability to work as a pastoral member on an interdisciplinary team.
• To demonstrate the ability to make effective use of the behavioral sciences in pastoral ministry.
• To demonstrate increasing leadership ability and personal authority.
• To demonstrate familiarity with the basic literature of the field:  clinical, behavioral and theological.

Dr. Stephen Austin D.Min., BCC

Steve Austin is an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the Manager of Pastoral Care at Henry Medical Center in Stockbridge, Georgia.  He is a Supervisor in Training with the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, Inc.

Download CPE application