Clinical Pastoral Education
What is CPE: The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program allows ministers, seminarians, and other religiously oriented persons to develop counseling skills, and familiarity with a particular pastoral setting (usually within a hospital, hospice, retirement home., etc..) and self-awareness as pastoral caregivers. In this context, attention is given to enhancing the dignity of patients, family members, parishioners, staff, and CPE students.
The educational approach may be described as "action-reflection-action," with students providing pastoral care in assigned areas using their experiences for 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 experience does not provide the same level of intensity of direct supervision, peer interaction, or accountability for one's professional functioning as does CPE.
Objectives of CPE: The objectives of CPE are the development of personal and pastoral identity and the growth of professional competencies as a minister or chaplain. Specific objectives are:
To become aware of one's self as a minister and of the ways one's ministry affects people.
To become a competent pastor of people and groups in various life situations and crisis circumstances, and to develop the maturity to provide intensive and extensive pastoral care and counseling.
To utilize the clinical method of learning
To utilize the support, confrontation, and clarification of the peer group for the integration of personal attributes and pastoral functioning.
To become competent in self-evaluation and in utilizing supervision and consultation to evaluate one's pastoral practice.
To develop the ability to make optimum use of one's religious heritage, theological understanding, and knowledge of behavioral science in pastoral ministry to persons and groups.
To acquire self-knowledge to a degree that permits pastoral care to be offered within the strengths and limitations of one's person.
To develop the ability to work as a pastoral member of an interdisciplinary team.
To develop the capacity to utilize one's pastoral perspective and competence in a variety of functions such as preaching, teaching, and administration as well as pastoral care and counseling.
To become aware of how one's attitudes values, and assumptions affect one's ministry.
To understand the theological issues arising from experience, and to utilize theology and behavioral science to understand the human condition.
