Clinical Pastoral Education Program

Tuition is $950 per unit, the balance payable during the first week of the program unless otherwise arranged with the educator. A non-refundable deposit of $250 is required at the time of acceptance and is credited toward tuition cost.

Catholic Health's CPE program uses a rolling admissions format. As such there are no set deadlines. We fill the openings based on qualified applicants in the time in which they apply. We do maintain a wait list should an accepted student decide to withdraw before the beginning of the session. Normally students would not be accepted within the last month prior to the beginning of a session. Employee Health and background check must be completed before interns will be able to visit patients.

The goals of the Catholic Health CPE program are to assist student learning in the area of personal awareness and self-discovery so that pastoral care is enhanced by knowledge of one's strengths and weaknesses as he/she participates in ministry. The seminars are intended to address the following areas.

• Review pastoral care work
• Focus upon theological reflections, growth and challenge
• Focus on interpersonal relationships and issues
• Focus upon building care giving and pastoral skills.
• Foster pastoral and professional identity growth

During a seminar, reports of visits are presented, worship services are reviewed for feedback and discussion, and theological reflection is shared. Meetings of the peer group are a valuable resource to students. These groups are defined by the covenant that develops over time between peers. The agenda for peer groups is the development of professional accountability, pastoral identity, and pastoral authority.

At the beginning of each CPE unit, the students identify goals and develop a statement of a) personal, b) professional, and c) theological goals to be addressed during the unit. These goals become the basis of the learning contract/covenant that is established between the student, the educator and the peer group. In our philosophy of education it is understood that adults are responsible for their learning based on the learning covenant. Students design a group covenant to express their commitment to the group and what each could expect from the other members.

In designing a curriculum of clinical pastoral education, the goal is to provide an environment that is safe and challenging, structured and flexible in order to foster creativity and learning in an action / reflection / integration / action learning process. Students learn best when they are able to make choices and when they can contain their anxiety within manageable levels. The basic curriculum rests on the premise that the unique quality of pastoral care is its theological foundation and seeks to utilize theological resources in responding to pastoral care needs. The CPE program focuses on the development of pastoral authority and identity. Repetition is a key educational element to attain ownership of those areas of growth that the student desires to achieve.

In accordance with the adult model of learning, students set their own goals for personal, professional, and theological growth in regards to pastoral ministry. This will be facilitated by the educator according to standards of ACPE.

Goal setting responds to the following: What do you want to learn personally and professionally? How will you learn it? How will you and someone else know you have learned it? The student discusses and revises goals with the educator and the peer group; they are a core element of the learning covenant and establish the relational aspect of the learning experience. The goals are frequently highlighted in educatory sessions and are reviewed and revised at mid-term.

A one-on-one with an individual educator. During this time, learning goals, patient care and personal growth are focused upon.

The essential component of the clinical pastoral education experience is the actual ministry with people. Students are assigned as chaplains to placements within Catholic Health where they have responsibility to provide pastoral care with patients, families, and staff. The experience of being a chaplain gives them the chance to learn by action, to have the experience to reflect on and to try new pastoral responses. The client/patient is the “living human document” and provides the encounters that are formative for the student. The student participates in choosing his/her placement for ministry and spends 15 (extended) or 20 (summer) hours weekly in that ministry.

The student is a member of a group of at least three and not more than seven peers. At least one hundred hours of the required 400 hours total are spent with the group and/or educator in reflecting on ministry and topics relevant to ministry. The peer group participates in verbatim seminars, pastoral consultation, Interpersonal Relationships Seminar (IPR), didactics, reading discussions and educatory conferences. Sessions included in the curriculum rest on the needs of the group.

One of the elements that distinguishes the Catholic Health CPE summer unit is the role play seminar held the first day back from the weekend immediately after staff check-in. Placing the role-play at the beginning of the week gets the student reinvigorated and reconnected to the program after having been away from group for the weekend. The role-play seminar provides an opportunity to experiment and practice ways that the intern would handle similar situations in their eventual full-time ministry placement.

These seminars review clinical work utilizing pastoral call reports and verbatims to analyze the dynamics of a visit. They focus on learning pastoral care by direct experience and the reflection of the group's experience and insight. Many students are surprised to learn that verbatim seminars are not really about the patient but rather about the student. There are important reasons for this. Ministry happens out of who we are as persons - our beliefs, our feelings, our fears, our strengths, and our weaknesses. CPE is designed to help participants learn about themselves in ministry so they might minister with more self awareness, deeper understanding of human nature, a more complete picture of God and an appropriate set of boundaries. Understanding how to minister to people in crisis is only a fraction of what a student learns.

IPR seminar is a time when peers gather as a group with no prepared content or agenda. This time allows students a forum within which to explore personal issues, interpersonal communications and group process and dynamics. They may offer feedback to others. They may receive feedback unsolicited from others. They learn to address issues in relationships and to deal with conflict. It is a time of learning communication skills that can support them in clarification, support and challenging themselves and others. This may be seen as a lab for trying new behaviors one may have avoided heretofore. Part of the group experience is to create an agreement or covenant for the group through which members share a commitment and responsibility for the life of the group. This is where much of the relational learning of CPE comes to focus for the students.

Special speakers and special teaching situations are scheduled throughout the CPE unit to enhance learning in areas of growing interests and ministry challenges. Lectures and seminars are offered to students on topics related to the pastoral care within a hospital setting, to health care, and other medical and pastoral topics. Many are selected in consultation with students or chosen as a result of the expressed needs of the students. One of the key didactics involved a visit to a local funeral home since many of the students were of the age that they had not seen the inside of a funeral home.

Worship involves the peer group gathering together to worship, pray and experience fellowship together. They learn means to design a worship that is interfaith in nature. The responsibility for worship is shared among the students. Each student has responsibility to conduct worship individually and one time with a person from a different faith tradition as a means to develop communication with a person of another tradition and to experience further interfaith worship.

In addition students are encouraged to participate in their placement’s rounds. Within the Hospital and medical community, lectures and seminars are offered and CPE students are welcomed. Interdisciplinary resource persons from other disciplines are available and many have active roles in the Chaplaincy programs and in the CPE unit. Interaction with the staff of the placement to which the students are assigned and encouragement to communicate with the various members of the treatment team - nurses, physicians, social workers, clinical specialists, and other staff- are examples of the involvement of persons from other disciplines. Students are encouraged to attend staff meetings and case interdisciplinary rounds and to avail themselves of educational opportunities, lectures, grand rounds, offered in their clinical setting. There is a wealth of resources from which to draw and staff who are eager to be involved in educating others about their areas of specialty and expertise. As part of the team ministering to the patients the students learn and share from a wide perspective about the concerns and issues surrounding the patient and his/her family.

We encourage students who feel they have completed the Outcomes of Level I or Level II to request an appropriate consultation. Preparation of papers and meeting a committee of professionals to defend various levels of competency, help the student prepare for certification.

At the midpoint and end of a CPE unit, students are evaluated. The midterm evaluation is written by the student and submitted to the educator. At the end of the program, both student and educator write a final evaluation which are companion pieces for future use. In these evaluations, information is presented as objectively and helpfully as possible to encourage the growth accomplished during the unit and the growth that is yet to come. Since these often become documents given to ordination or ministry committees, great care is given to being constructive and honest.

On the last day of the program the students meet as a group and individually with members of the Professional Advisory Group (PAG). This is a time for the students without the educator present to voice their concerns and affirmations of the program and/or educator. The PAG member who chaired the meeting writes up a report that is presented to the Clinical Pastoral Educator This report gives the educator areas to enhance or to reform. The Educator also can see areas that are needed for change or affirmation within the CPE program

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education


Association for Clinical Pastoral Education  

1 Concourse Pkwy
Suite 800

Atlanta, GA 30328
404-320-1472
Fax: 404-320-0849
www.acpe.edu
acpe@acpe.edu
 

Violations of these protocols may be reported to the Chair of the Accreditation Commission at:  

ACPE 
1 Concourse Pkwy
Suite 800

Atlanta, GA 30328

To ensure that this Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) CPE center/program guarantees to its students the rights to inspect and review education records, to seek to amend them, to specified control over release of record information, and to file a complaint against the program for alleged violations of these Family Education and Privacy Act (FERPA) rights.

Catholic Health shall maintain records in a manner consistent with the Guidelines for Student Records as they appear in Appendix 7B of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Accreditation Manual.

A Student Record is (1) any record (paper, electronic, video, audio, biometric etc.) directly related to the student from which the student’s identity can be recognized; and (2) maintained by the education program/institution or a person acting for the institution. Catholic Health recognizes that the student owns the information about them and is permitted to know what is being collected and how it is being used. Student records will not be released without the written consent of the student. A release form is included in the Student Records Guidelines in the student handbook.

CPE student records consist of the application face sheet, directory information, the CPE supervisor’s written evaluation report(s) and the student’s own written evaluation report(s), if submitted. Materials written by students, such as verbatim, case histories and electronic recording that identify the students, and or, that contain information about other persons, including other students, will be destroyed at the conclusion of each unit. The only exception is when written permission has been given by the student for the purposes of pastoral or supervisory research. A copy of the CPE supervisor’s evaluation report will be available to the student within 45 days of the end of the unit. (ACPE Standard 308.8.1)

Directory Information is student information not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. Common directory information include: name, address, email, telephone, date of birth, religious background, previous education, and photograph – and can be released without specific consent unless a student wishes to “opt out” of some or all directory information. Before releasing directory information, students must have received the Annual Notice. A student may opt out in writing, including a signature and date, in a letter to their ACPE supervisor as to what information specifically they want to opt out of for the directory. Further information regarding the handling of student information can be found in the training agreement. (ACPE Standard 304.9)

Current students can restrict directory information and/or record access at any time during attendance. Restrictions must be honored even after the student’s departure. Former students cannot initiate new restrictions after departure. Students can review their record within 45 days of student’s request (may be less). Record inspection cannot be denied based on the student’s inability to come to the site or outstanding financial obligations. In such case as outstanding financial obligation, the center can note on the copy sent, “not available for official use.” Copies of the file will be made available to the student for pick up. At that time, they will be asked to sign a release form, included in the student handbook. In the event a student cannot pick up their records, they may be mailed after consent is given in writing with their legal signature and an appropriate address for mailing is offered. Student records that contain identifiers of another student will be redacted.

Catholic Health will retain student records (either digitally or on paper, for a period of ten (10) years. ACPE requires that the CPE student record include the face sheet with directory information, the CPE supervisor’s written evaluation and the student’s written evaluation, if submitted. Identifiable information about everyone other than the student will be redacted from these written materials. After that period the file will be thinned and only a face sheet will be held. All records will be shredded except for the application face sheet.

A copy of the CPE supervisor’s evaluation report will be given to the student. The student will be informed that the center will keep this evaluation for a period of ten (10) years and it will not be available to anyone else except with written permission from the student. Exceptions: Certain exceptions concerning the release of information exist to protect the health or safety of the student or others, and/or the purpose of accreditation or complaint review, or as required for legal processes. Before releasing material in any of these circumstances, the ACPE Executive Director or Program Manager will be consulted.

Students are responsible for maintaining their own files for future use and are informed of this when the final evaluation is signed by both the supervisor and student. A copy is kept in the program’s file and the other copy is handed to the student. No evaluation reports will be released from the file without the written request/consent of the student.

Student files are maintained at Catholic Health corporate headquarters. Access to student records is restricted to the Supervisor(s) at the Center and other specified pastoral care personnel; i.e., Administrative Assistant or Assistant for Special Projects. Student information is kept in a locked filing cabinet and/or a locked office.

In the event that the Clinical Pastoral Education program closes, the center supervisor or appointed designee will secure all student records and ship the records to ACPE, c/o Accreditation. Prior to closing, Catholic Health will notify the ACPE Regional Director and the Regional Accreditation Commission Chair of the records’ location. When the 10 year limit has expired, all but the face sheet will be destroyed. In the absence of an ACPE Supervisor or Associate Supervisor, the appointed designee is the Administrator to whom the CPE program reports.

Health records (mental and physical) are kept in locked, limited access files separate from other student records. Their use and release is also subject to ADA and HIPAA. Certain safety and employment records are also subject to other federal regulations and state laws and are kept separately.

At the conclusion of a successful unit, and not later than 45 days after the published end date of the unit, the CPE Supervisor shall register/certify the unit by reviewing the information that the student entered (end date, level of CPE, and type of unit) and then assigning 0, .5, or 1 credit for the unit. Subject to notification, the student’s name, address, denomination and unit of CPE successfully completed will be sent to the ACPE office on the student unit report at the completion of each unit of CPE.

Students must give written permission to the use of their clinical material as well as recorded and/or live observation media pertinent to the supervisor’s process toward certification as an ACPE Supervisor by signing Appendix 5 Consent Form, (ACPE 2016 Certification Manual). Note: Only the Appendix 5 Consent From is acceptable for obtaining students’ written permission to use personally identifiable material. Students being accepted into a unit of CPE are to review and sign the Appendix 5 Consent Form prior to formal admission to the CPE program or a unit of CPE Level I/Level II supervised by a Supervisory Candidate or Associate Supervisor. (See ACPE 2016 Certification Manual, General Certification Policies.)

Annual Notice will be published annually on the www.chsli.org web page and in the CPE Student Handbook. It will also be made available to each student prior to admission interview. (ACPE Standard 304.4-Requirements for Student Records.)

In addition to the information stated above, Catholic Health guarantees to its students the rights to inspect and review education records, to seek to amend them, to specified control over release of record information, and to file a complaint against the program for alleged violations of these Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) rights. Students also have the right to object to record content. If not negotiable, the written objection will be kept with and released with the record. Grades are exempted from this right. (ACPE Standard 308.8.1)

Violations of these protocols may be reported to the Chair of the Accreditation Commission at: ACPE, 1 Concourse Pkwy Suite 800 Atlanta GA 30328