PROFESSIONAL CHAPLAINCY

Open publication - Free publishing - More hospital Being There The Art of Clinical Pastoral Care By Jon Parham Staff Chaplain Susan McDougal says she wants patients to know that she cares and she will be there as long as they need her. A Code Blue alert for a patient in cardiac distress at UAMS Medical Center quickly brings medical help – and a chaplain. While health professionals tend to the patient’s medical needs, the chaplain offers pastoral support for family members, friends, other patients or employees. In this sometimes emotional situation, a UAMS chaplain may serve as a liaison for the patient and family with physicians, nurses and other caregivers. Perhaps more importantly, they are simply there. “I want to let them know – whether it’s a patient or a family member – that I care and that I am there for them,” said Susan McDougal, UAMS Medical Center staff chaplain. “I will stay with them as long as they need me.” This personal connectio...

At this Thanksgiving season we in CPSP have much to be thankful for. We are prospering as a community both in this country and overseas. We have come into our own as a significant community among the many communities that promote clinical pastoral work. We are also approaching November 30, the first anniversary of the Mediation Agreement signed by the ACPE and CPSP, signed appropriately enough in Philadelphia. This agreement put an end to two decades of animosity that was subverting the high goals of both communities. We are grateful especially to leaders of the Religious Endorsing Bodies without whom this agreement might ever have come to fruition. We are grateful, and we look forward to a deepening sense of collegiality between the two communities. The members of the CPSP Mediation Team who, with our ACPE colleagues brought this agreement to pass, are Jim Gebhart, Perry Miller, George Hankins-Hull, and me. In February a subcommittee was appointed to undertake the detailed ...

Self-awareness as a pastoral care giver is essential to good pastoral care. Issues of transference and counter-transference loom large in pastoral encounters. Consequently , it’s of importance for the pastoral care giver to understand the use of the Self in the pastoral role. In her book, When Helping You is Hurting Me , Carmen Berry addresses the detrimental aspects of a lack of self-awareness in the person of the care giver in what she calls the “Messiah trap.” The “Messiah trap”, is defined as continued circumstances in which individuals are persistently putting their own needs aside in order to help others. Berry offers an important caution to all in the helping professions against becoming addicted to helping and then, like an addict, seeking out supplies for their fix. Further complicating the issue is what Berry calls the double-sided trap of helping: ‘If I don’t do it, it won’t get done’ and ‘Every one else’s needs come before mine’. In addition, she demon...

Francine Hernandez, National Clinical Seminar-East Coordinator, announces the theme for the Fall 2011 National Clinical Seminar : Compassion Fatigue: "Caring for Ourselves, Caring for Others". National Clinical Training Seminar-East will be held November 7 – 8, 2011 at the Stella Maris Retreat Center – Elberon, New Jersey. Francine Hernandez expands on her thoughts about the theme she selected: This presentation is reflective of a central CPSP theme: “Recovery of Soul”. The workshop presentations will focus ways for us as caregivers to understand the nature of our call to help others, and be present with and for them in the context of their individual needs and their individual stories. We, however, need to understand the importance of taking care of ourselves before we can take care of others. This seminar also explores ways for caregivers to nourish themselves in order to be more effective in their professional roles and in their personal journey. We will...

CPSP continues to be in conversation with the ACPE as both sides continue to work together to implement the Joint Mediation agreement reached on November 30th, 2010. The mediation agreement stipulates that each organization will refrain from misrepresentations or disparagements of the other. The CPSP Mediation Committee consists of Perry Miller, George Hull, Jim Gebhart, and Raymond Lawrence. Jim Gebhart was appointed chair of a mediation team to meet on a continuing basis with its ACPE counterparts in an effort to implement the Mediation Agreement. Annari Griesel and John deVelder are members of that team. The implementation team has been in dialogue with its ACPE correspondents during the past several months. They have processed six complaints about violations of the agreement by ACPE persons. The complaints have been processed or are in process currently. There have been no identified complaints about CPSP behavior. We urge all members of the CPSP community to continue to abid...

The 2012 CPSP Plenary March 25th-March 28th 2012 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The 2012 CPSP Plenary gathering will take place at Doubletree Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh City Center. The hotel is situated in a prime location, which is right in the middle of Pittsburgh’s vibrant downtown. A block of rooms have been reserved March 24, 2012-March 28, 2012. The special room rate, $119.00, will be available until March 4th or until the room block is sold out. You can reserve your room by clicking on the following link: Doubletree Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh City Center We look forward to seeing you in Pittsburg March 25th-March 28th 2012. Visit the Pastoral Report for more information about CPSP: Pastoral Report CPSP is committed to making Clinical Pastoral Training affordable George Hankins Hull CPSP Plenary Secretary

UAMS Clinical Pastoral Education Residency Program The Clinical Pastoral Education training program focuses on the development of self-awareness, formation of pastoral identity, professional functioning, and the ability to address issues from a competent clinical and pastoral perspective. The CPE residency program is designed for the ordained person with a seminary degree and at least one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education. On occasion, a lay person may qualify for admission. CPE residents and interns serve as ecumenical chaplains, under supervision, to assigned areas throughout the UAMS Medical Center and clinics. The setting provides a rich base for clinical experience and opportunities for continued personal, professional and pastoral development. The UAMS Clinical Pastoral Training programs follow the standards set by the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy (CPSP), the accrediting organization. A typical unit of CPE requires a minimum of 400 hours of supervised min...

From the CPSP Covenant: "We believe we should make a space for one another and stand ready to midwife one another in our respective spiritual journeys.” “We commit to being mutually responsible to one another for our professional work and direction.” Tolerance and Encouragement: Among the Roots of the Clinical Pastoral Tradition by Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD 23 May 1911 - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle [NY] PRESBYTERY ARGUES LONG OVER SEVEN CANDIDATES: Four of the Applicants for Ordination Had Agnostic Views. ALL WERE FINALLY PASSED. It was one of the longest drawn-out meetings of the Presbytery ever held, and two hours of it or more were in executive session, it being nearly midnight when the ministers and elders decided to ordain and license seven young men, four of whom came from … [one] Seminary. It is known that there was decidedly divided opinion in the matter of making ministers of these four men, for a number of the ministers found it convenient to leave the room before it ...

Dr. Cesar Espineda with several CPE trainees at May 14 Symposium in Baguio City, Philippines In April and May of 2011 Dr. Raymond Lawrence, General Secretary of the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, and CPSP Diplomate and chair of the Accreditation Committee Dr. Cesar G. Espineda visited the Philippines to provide training and assessment for the clinical pastoral training being done. On April 20, 2011, in a ceremony in Asin, Benguet, Philippines, Dr. Raymond Lawrence formally inaugurated the first CPSP Philippine Chapter, Baguio City. At the same event, Bukal Life Care & Counseling Center and the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary were designated as training centers of the CPSP in the Philippines. Dr. Ryan Clark, professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Seminary, and Ms. Celia Munson, the training coordinator for Bukal, represented these institutions at the event. This new Chapter, the second Chapter in Asia after Hong Kong, is the culmination of work ...

Francine Hernandez, National Clinical Training Seminar Coordinator, encourages all members of the CPSP community to mark your calendar for the Fall 2011 NCTS Seminar. The event will be held at the Stella Maris Retreat Center, Elberon, NJ on Monday, Oct. 24-25, 2011. For more information visit the Pastoral Report the online journal of the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy

At a Glance one can see that for CPSP diversity is a fact of life. CPSP creates community through relationships of accountability and ongoing professional development. The CPSP covenant is the bond that holds the CPSP community together in a way that promotes clinical pastoral competency through ongoing face to face relationships of accountability. The CPSP Covenant: We, the CPSP members see ourselves as spiritual pilgrims seeking a truly collegial professional community. Our calling and commitments are, therefore, first and last theological. We covenant to address one another and to be addressed by one another in a profound theological sense. We commit to being mutually responsible to one another for our professional work and direction. Matters that are typically dealt with in other certifying bodies by centralized governance will be dealt with primarily in Chapters. Thus, we organize ourselves in such a way that we each participate in a relatively small group called a Chapter consist...

The uniqueness of the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy is that CPSP is a covenant community. One of the most significant aspects of the CPSP covenant is the commitment to travel light. Traveling light means among other things that CPSP is committed to owning no buildings and having no paid professional staff. This means that the CPSP community is not burdened by high due structures needed to maintain corporate headquarters and to pay high salaried executives. Thus, the very way in which CPSP organizes its common life together provides a significant alternative to corporate models of governance that truly flourishes and prospers. Owning no buildings means that CPSP has the least carbon footprint of any organization in the clinical pastoral care and training movement. Consequently, CPSP is an environmentally responsible organization by virtue of the CPSP covenant. The CPSP covenant really makes CPSP a different kind of professional community and making a difference is ...

On behalf of the CPSP Plenary organizing committee, we warmly invite you to join us for the 21st gathering of the CPSP community . We meet at the Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel Virginia Beach, Virginia March 27th -30th. We are delighted to have the Rev. Dr. John Patton as our plenary speaker. Dr. Patton served as the Director of the Georgia Association of Pastoral Care & Counselling. He is Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia and a retired ACPE Supervisor. He is a pastoral counsellor and marriage therapist. Dr. Patton is a prolific writer in the clinical pastoral field. Some of his writings include: Is Human Forgiveness Possible , Pastoral Care in Context , Pastoral Care : An Essential Guide and From Ministry to Theology: Pastoral action & Reflection. He is also an associate Editor of Abington’s Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling and a retired Methodist minister. The CPSP plenary gathering is unique in many ways and on...