CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION

Helping put the

pieces together

PRESBYTERIAN HEALTHCARE SERVICES

What Is Clinical Pastoral Education?

• CPE is hands-on professional education for ministry. • It brings theological students/clergy/lay ministers of all

faiths/denominations into a common group experience. • CPE participants have direct contact with people at a

point of need. They then receive feedback from peers and teachers to; • Increase self-awareness• Develop/sharpen active listening skills• Improve pastoral relationships• Expand critical thinking skills • Function on an inter-disciplinary team • Integrate personal history into care for others

HISTORY OF CPE• 1925 Rev. Anton Boisen, a Presbyterian minister/chaplain, begins clinical training of

theological students at Worcester State Hospital where he had been a patient on several occasions. He came to be known as the “father of CPE.”

• 1925 Dr. Richard Cabot, part of the Emmanuel Movement, writes article, ‘A Clinical Year for Theological Students.’ In the 30’s he made joint patient rounds with Rev. Russell Dicks at Mass General.

1930 Council for Clinical Training of Theological Students formed

1938 ‘Institute of Pastoral Care’ established by Cabot in Boston continues with focus on case study experiential learning process.

• ‘Council for Clinical Training’ started by Dunbar in NYC makes steady progress with similar program.

1944 First national conference held bringing together both groups

1967 Association for Clinical Pastoral Education is formed. The standards for certification of Supervisors and accreditation of Centers for training begins to take shape.

1993 CPE added to Chaplain coverage at PHS. Only program in NM

How does it work?A unit of CPE is a minimum of 400 hours, 300 clinical, 100 classroom.

Available programs often include;* P-T extended, 6-9 month program* F-T summer, 3 month program* F-T residency, 12 month – 4 units

If I apply, interview and am accepted into a program, what can I expect?

Learning Contract – This is 3-5 specific goals established by the CPE participant in consultation with her/his Supervisor. These goals facilitate progress with the primary focus areas of the CPE learning objectives.

Pastoral Formation – the focus is upon development of personal and pastoral identity/authority, with an emphasize on self-awareness. This involves relationship to people in crisis, CPE Supervisor, staff, peer group members and the institutional setting.

Pastoral Competence – the focus is upon development of pastoral function. This includes acquisition of pastoral skills along with the ability to articulate one’s integration of theology and the behavioral sciences in one’s ministry practice.

Pastoral Reflection – the focus is upon developing the capacity to self-direct and self-evaluate one’s ministry practice.

Common Curriculum Items

Other Curriculum Items Verbatim/Case Study Accounts are at the heart of the CPE method of learning.

These are written reports of actual visits with patients, families and/or staff.

Didactics provide CPE participants the opportunity to interact with informational material in a classroom format. These sessions are often led by the CPE Supervisor or by a professional with some expertise in a particular field.

Interpersonal Relationship Group (IPR) The CPE Supervisor facilitates a regular open agenda session with CPE participants to process issues that arise out of the learning experience. The group members are encouraged to seek support, clarification and engage in confrontation with one another during this time.

Feelings Journal is a weekly, one page document that facilitates the sharing of emotional high and low points of your journey.

Additional Items Theological reflection – The intentional practice of engaging CPE participants in connecting ministry encounters to foundational truths of her/his theological tradition. This often includes exploration of themes, metaphors and faith related practice. One of the ongoing tensions in pastoral care occurs between theology and psychology. Theological reflection is one attempt to integrate the two. When experience and tradition meet, theological reflection may confirm, challenge, clarify, and expand how one understands the experience and how one understands religious tradition.

Individual supervision provides a regularly scheduled time for the CPE participant and CPE supervisor to conjointly identify learning issues, psychological patterns, personal and professional development, and pastoral competence. The CPE participant is strongly encouraged to exercise initiative for personal growth.

Participant and Supervisor evaluations seek to encapsulate what learning did or did not take place for each CPE participant. The participant writes a final evaluation at the end of each unit (400 hours) as does the CPE Supervisor.

METHOD OF LEARNING IN CPE

The clinical method of learning begins with a concrete ministry experience. It moves to a place of intra/inter personal reflection to identify strength/growth areas. The Chaplain then returns to the clinical setting to apply new awareness to another concrete experience. This process helps facilitate the integration of theory and practice.

Focus Points in CPE

CPE reinforces the art of active listening. This involves the development of a sharpened ability to practice hospitality, read a room/patient, make observations, ask inviting open-ended questions, hear the expressed/unexpressed feeling contained in conversational content and to respond with appropriate empathy.

CPE encourages the cultivation of a ministry of presence. The person in the role of Chaplain represents the “non-anxious” presence of God in the room. The emphasis is on learning to practice an inter-faith coming “alongside” ministry and utilizing the productive aspects of silence.

CPE participants learn the skill of making a spiritual assessment. This includes a wide variety of variables including; psycho/social/spiritual needs, values, religious preference, age and cultural appropriate issues for the individual/group we serve.

CPE facilitates growth as a pastoral professional within an environment of a multitude of other professionals. Each participant has the opportunity to clarify the uniqueness of our discipline and strengthen individual pastoral identity/authority. An element of this focus is building an intentional tool box of pastoral intervention possibilities.

Roots of the Approach

“I have sought to begin not with the ready-made formulations contained in books but with the living human documents and with actual social conditions in all their complexity.”

Anton Boisen

Case StudyMrs. Carlson

What do we know about Mrs. Carlson/Chaplain?

What questions does this interaction raise for you?

What feelings are you aware of in this interaction?

What do you see as the primary needs of Mrs. Carlson on this day?

What are the theological/spiritual care issues for the Chaplain/Mrs. Carlson?

Where do you see the Chaplain’s strongest work?

Where do you see potential growth for the Chaplain?

What other options might the Chaplain have attempted?

How do you evaluate the results?

What future goals might the Chaplain have for a future visit?

Additional Resourceswww.acpe.edu

www.swracpe.org

www.phs.org/community/chaplain-services