Clinical Pastoral Education

Abstract

Abstract Clinical pastoral education (CPE) is a form of professional education for lay people, seminarians, and religious leaders that involves theological reflection on human experience, particularly on the pastoral encounter in the clinical setting. Insights from the behavior sciences are also incorporated into the learning perspective. Through the action‐reflection, learning‐by‐doing model utilized in a supervised peer group, students develop pastoral identity, achieve competence in pastoral functioning, and learn how to collaborate with peers and other professionals. The primary instructors of this “hands on experience” of ministry are “living human documents,” understood both as the persons receiving care and as the care providers (Boisen 1936: 185). Three associations in the United States that offer CPE in accredited programs are the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), founded in 1965, the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), established in 1967, and the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP), started in 1990. All three of these associations have developed Standards, objectives and outcomes for the education of chaplains and CPE supervisors. The CPSP also includes programs in Pastoral Psychotherapy and Pastoral Counseling.