The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy is a theologically based covenant community, dedicated to "recovery of the soul" and promoting competency in the clinical pastoral field.
Belief that one is being understood by another is indispensible to confidence-building, problem-solving, and growth—and health. The helpless baby who is picked up and soothingly hugged by parents rather than left to cry. The fearful child who lies in order to get along with threatening adults. The anxious teenager struggling with embarrassing issues of personal identity. The worrying adult out on an economic limb with nowhere to turn. The concerned and angry patient and family for whom treatment has not gone as planned.
A 77-year-old black male Baptist patient, for example, underwent assumed routine surgery, had an unexpected stroke, and was dying. His shocked sisters and nephew expressed considerable anger at a family meeting: “He just came in for this surgery,” one said. “He was all-right when he got here. Now look at him. He’s dying! He may be just a patient to you, but he's our brother and uncle.”
Sympathetic staff persons tried to reassure the family that the medical treatment of the patient was thorough, that strokes after surgery, while uncommon, do occur, and that the patient may have had an unknown medical condition that contributed to the stroke. The intellectual, rational, and probably accurate explanations of what possibly happened did not console the family. What seemed to be helpful in shedding light on their feelings of shock and anger was my reflecting how they must feel in assuming their loved one was undergoing routine surgery, then suddenly seeing him dying from a stroke. The pastoral relationship I already had established with the sisters and nephew evidently contributed to whatever degree of being understood they felt at that family meeting. A primary challenge was to hear and understand and reflect their feelings—which may be more difficult if one’s own feelings are unduly pressuring one to convince a family of one’s best medical efforts.
Continue reading "The Empowerment of Being Understood—by Rev. William E. Alberts, Ph.D. "
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 10:36 PM
The ShoreUpdate.com published an article about the the Shore Health System's CPE clinical training program. David Berg, a CPSP Diplomate, directs the program at the Memorial Hospital at Easton, Dorchester General Hospital in Cambridge and Shore Regional Cancer Center in Easton. CPE Interns provide ministry as clinical chaplains in each of these clinical settings.
The program's training structure has been designed to enable busy community clergy and seminarians to participate while get continuing their parish and divinity school responsibilities.
To read the article, click here.
Perry Miller, Editor
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Continue reading "CPSP in the News: Rev. David Berg"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:16 AM
Frank McGuire was a 51-year-old white United Methodist minister dying of pancreatic cancer, who wanted to share a message with people, but was to weak to put his thoughts on paper. So I volunteered to write down what he wanted to say. We did not meet in the hospital, but in his home in Virginia where I drove to see him. The year was 1991. A social worker as well as a minister, Frank and I were longtime close friends. We did street work together night after night during the summer of 1968, when thousands of so-called “hippies” flocked to the Boston Common. Having grown up in a tough neighborhood in St. Louis, Frank was most effective in diffusing tension, breaking up fights, and stabilizing violence-prone situations. And now he wanted to share with people the biggest fight of his life.
Frank had great difficulty communicating to me what he wanted to tell people. He had been tall and stocky, but was now extremely thin and weak, and his hair prematurely white. At times, during our conversation, his voice would grow faint and fade and his eyes would close.
“ One of the things I always feared was cancer,” Frank began. “When the doctor told me that a cat scan revealed I had pancreatic cancer in a very advanced stage and only had six months, plus or minus, to live, I was naturally scared. But there wasn’t anything I could do about it except determine my attitude.”
Frank’s attitude was one of the messages he wanted to share with people. “I could either roll over and die, and some people literally do that. Or I could acquiesce, go along with it, not do much of anything, give in. Or I could fight it, go down kicking. I was determined I wasn’t going to die just by giving up. No matter what the quality of life was toward the end,” he continued, “it was still more important than not having any life. The more you give in the less quality you have.”
Continue reading "Go Down Kicking – by Rev. William E. Alberts, Ph.D. "
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 6:17 PM
Francine Hernandez, NCTS Coordinator, announces that the fall 2010 gathering of the CPSP National Clinical Training Seminar will occur October 11 and 12th, 2010. IMPORTANT: The event will be held in a new venue: Stella Maris Retreat Center located at 981 Ocean Avenue, Elberon, NJ 07740.
The featured presenter will be Joseph M. Kramp, a doctoral candidate in psychology of religion at Drew University. He holds the M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and has completed the Clinical Pastoral Education internship and residency at
BroMenn Hospital (Bloomington, IL) and Sequoia Hospital (Redwood City, CA). His dissertation topic is a psychological biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
As always, central to the mission of the NCTS is clinical case presentation and consultation within the context of psychodynamic small group process. All participants are to prepare and bring clinical cases for reflection and review.
Additional NCTS information, including the NCTS Registration Form will be will be posted on the PR in the near future.
Mark your calendar and make you plans to attend the NCTS this fall.
Continue reading "FALL 2010 NATIONAL CLINICAL TRAINING SEMINAR"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 5:31 PM
The Rev. Doctor John Edgerton, CPSP President, will be attending the Annual Meeting of the Association of Pastoral Supervisors and Educators (APSE) held in Nottingham, England on June 24, 2010. He will be representing CPSP and will bring greetings from our community.
The Reverend Robin Shohet will deliver the Keynote Address, Passionate & Spirited Supervision.
The APSE is a recently formed pastoral organization committed to the mission of advancing Clinical Pastoral Education in the UK. The history and story of the APSE seems reflective of CPSP's meager beginnings where only a handful gather to launch a movement.
We of the CPSP Community wish our friends and colleagues in the UK well as they gatherer to consider significant and practical issues in the field of clinical pastoral supervision.
Perry Miller, Editor
Continue reading "John Edgerton, CPSP President, Attends Nottingham, England Conference "
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 4:24 PM
I am sitting on the edge of a hospital bed. The bed across from me is made with the obligatory quilt and stuffed animal on the pillow. The space is cluttered with the remains of a life forced to give up belongings, independence and the hopes of a long healthy life. The bed next to it is surrounded by padding on the floor to protect one from a fall, a symbol of both the fragility of the body and of life.
I sit with my mother now in the middle stage of Alzheimer’s. She too, is surrounded by what remains of her life: a silk flower arrangement to brighten up the room, a crucifix, a picture frame, a radio. Her bed is close to the ground to lessen the likelihood of a fall. Her closet, once filled with designer clothes and more than a hundred pairs of shoes is now two feet wide and filled with elastic waist pants and shirts that have become stained and beaten by the commercial laundry machines. Her shoe collection is now an array of slip-ons and Velcro strap shoes designed for ease and stability and definitely not for looks.
My mother’s disease has progressed rapidly over the last 18 months. She has gone from living in her own apartment, to assisted living and now a nursing home. She is relaying to me her boredom, depression and lack of meaning in her life. She struggles with word retrieval making it hard for her to communicate what she is thinking and feeling. Sometimes I can’t make sense of what she is saying. I sit quietly. She says to me “You’re not saying anything.” She’s right. I don’t know what to say. This is what brought me to Clinical Pastoral Education Training.
What started as a desire for skills, training, and knowledge turned into a unit of self-discovery, education, challenges and camaraderie peppered with moments of ultimate joy and appreciation to utter heart break. When I chose my site placement, a mother’s and children’s homeless shelter, I wanted something outside of my comfort zone to challenge me professionally, educationally and spiritually. Despite our obvious differences, our similarities as mothers created a space for trust and security which led to, not only moments of connection between us, but opened up a portal into my own struggles with transition and uncertainty, and magnified my frustration with injustice, inequality and bureaucracies. I learned about the world of domestic violence, sexual abuse and living in recovery. I recognized the effects of trauma in both the women and the children they were caring for. I was pushed to the limit of my emotions, and into the depths of my soul.
Continue reading "A CPE Reflection & Personal Journey By Lisa Mollusky"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 9:37 PM
Planning has begun for the 2011 CPSP Plenary at Virginia Beach on March 27 - 30, 2011. This year we will again precede the Plenary with workshops offered to all members and guests.
We invite persons interested in offering such a workshop to write a summary with name and subject of workshop to Al Henager, 2011 CPSP Plenary Workshop Coordinator. Please be sure to put Plenary Workshop in the subject area when sending Al Henager your email.
Continue reading "2011 CPSP PLENARY WORKSHOP SOLICITATION"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 11:23 AM
CPSP Delegation members, Annari Griesel, John deVelder, and Rabbi Dr. Einat Ramon, who helped initiate CPE in Israel
More than five years ago, the Executive Director of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, Cecille Asekoff had a dream of starting CPE in Israel. Rabbi Zahara Davidowitz has fulfilled that dream by supervising CPE for the past four summers through the Schechter Seminary in Jerusalem. Zahara is a Diplomate of CPSP in the New York/New Jersey Chapter.
Since Zahara began the first CPE programs in 2006 interest in CPE and professional chaplaincy is growing in Israel. This May, the NAJC invited a delegation of about fifteen ACPE and CPSP leaders to attend the Fourth National Conference on spiritual care in Jerusalem. There were about 140 Israelis from 20 organizations all doing creative things in spiritual care. Our CPSP delegation included Rev. Dr. Annari Griesel, Rabbi David Glicksman, and Rev. Dr. John deVelder. The plan was for leaders of both organizations to consult with leaders in Israel about Standards and ways of developing CPE programs that fit the Israeli context.
John deVelder with Devorah Corn of Tishkofet (Life's Door) one of 20 organizations at the Conference, Cecille Asekof, Executive Director of NAJC and Teresa Snorton, Executive Director of ACPE
Many of the ACPE delegation are members of the ACPE Board. They saw the effect of four years of CPSP work and they remarked that cooperating with CPSP made sense. Some said that we should do more projects together. Out of these cordial and enthusiastic conversations about the exciting things happening in Israel several ACPE leaders offered to speak up in the ACPE Board to work toward mutual understanding and cooperation. What an outcome of a trip to Israel that ACPE and CPSP might begin a peace process.
John deVelder explaining the Chapter model of CPSP to spiritual care Leaders in Israel
We in the CPSP delegation are hopeful that both organizations will enter into a process to develop ways of dealing with conflicts and find more ways to work together in the important work of Clinical Pastoral Education not only in Israel but also in the USA and all over the world.
Continue reading "CPSP and ACPE Working Together In Israel by John DeVelder"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 7:14 PM
John Edgerton, CPSP President
Presidential Address
CPSP Plenary
Columbus, Ohio
April 10, 2010
Twenty years ago, at a place called Phoebe Needles’ Conference Center in Calloway, Virginia a small group of people gathered to define the type of community they wanted in the pastoral care movement. While they were at Phoebe Needles’ Conference Center they began to put together the ingredients of an alternative pastoral care community whereby the members of that community would see themselves as spiritual pilgrims seeking a collegial and professional relationship with each other. They thought this community first and last would be theological. They imagined that this community would deal with such things as accreditation, certification, and ethics complaints through what they were to call “chapters”. The chapters were made up of small groups of people that would share life together, but would also challenge each other. This new organization, as they envisioned it, would be for the purposes of recovering soul. It would value personal authority and creativity. It would live by grace. And it would value persons more than institutions. After the people at this particular meeting spelled out these ingredients they were put in the format which would become known as the CPSP Covenant that was written by Raymond Lawrence.
Now whether consciously or unconsciously when this group of people decided to form an alternative community they aligned themselves with the prophetic tradition arising out of such sections of the Old Testament as Jeremiah and Second Isaiah. Walter Brueggeman said in his book, Hopeful Imagination, “The central task of ministry is the formation of a community with an alternative liberated imagination that has the courage and freedom to act on a different vision and a different perception of reality”.
Twenty years ago when the original founders of CPSP put their vision of a new pastoral care community in to words through the CPSP Covenant. An alternative community with a liberated imagination was formed. We may not have known that, but that is what we were doing. It is certainly what has transpired. We defined ourselves. We were not defined by someone else and we left ourselves free to act on a different vision and a different perception of reality. We were not captives to any Babylonian interpretation of what reality is and therefore we were able to set up a community that would travel light, be liberated and have the capacity for creative imagination.
Continue reading "2010 CPSP PLENARY PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS---JOHN EDGERTON"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 11:02 AM
“Be Strong! Take Courage! All Ye Who Hope in the Lord” 1– Comments Honoring the Rev. Dr. John Edwin Harris –
delivered in Columbus, OH, on 11 April 2010 at the Plenary of
the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy
– on the 85th anniversary of the movement for a specifically clinical chaplaincy
– on the 75th anniversary of H[elen] Flanders Dunbar’s article:
“The Clinical Training of Theological Students”– on the 60th anniversary of the final edition of Anton Theophilus Boisen’s hymnal:
Hymns of Hope and Courage 2Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD
Each year the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy presents “The Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902-1959) Award for Significant Contributions to the Field of Clinical Pastoral Training.” Many of those new to this world of clinical pastoral training, education, and transformation may not know who this mysterious Helen Flanders Dunbar was – so let me make several prefatory comments.
In a nutshell, she was the one who translated Anton Boisen’s thought-provoking ponderings about an intimate relationship between religion and medicine into a movement – a now world-wide movement – that has forever changed the definition of “chaplaincy” and of what constitutes “pastoral care,” “pastoral counseling,” and “pastoral psychotherapy”.
Dunbar was brilliant – and sincere.
To some extent just noting that she finished her first magnum opus in April 1927, graduated cum laude from seminary in May 1927, and finished her first year of medical school in June 1927 says it all.
Seventy-five years ago, in 1935, her second magnum opus was published
and she added a third doctorate to those bestowed in 1929 and 1930.
Seventy-five years ago, in 1935, having solidified during the previous decade the foundations of the clinical pastoral movement, she launched the psychosomatic movement – viewing these as broad parallel programs for “healing and wholeness”. 3
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 12:24 AM
Francine Hernandez, National Clinical Training Seminar Coordinator, informed the PR that Rev. William E. Alberts, Ph.D will be the guest presenter for the NCTS held May 3-4, 2010 at the Carmel Retreat located in Mahwah, New Jersey. As the NCTS presenter, Dr. Alberts will explore the subject, The Humanology of Pastoral Care
Pastoral and Prophetic Dimensions. Below you can download a file containing several of his article. Participants are encouraged to read the articles as preparation for the NCTS.
In addition, one can download the file containing the NCTS Schedule.
FILES FOR DOWNLOAD:
Download file: William Albert's Articles
Download 2010 NCTS Spring Schedule file
-Perry Miler, Editor
Continue reading "UPDATE: National Clinical Training Seminar"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 12:53 PM
The deed is everything, the glory naught.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
CPSP has taken a small step toward a genuine beginning to honor our covenant – that we become mutually responsible to one another by creating a scholarship fund.
To this end, we created this fund for the following purposes:
- That money raised and/or donated to this fund be utilized in sponsoring our members, here and overseas, to attend our Annual Plenary Gathering.
- That each chapter be encouraged, in accordance to their means, to consider assisting in building this fund and to maintain it on an ongoing basis. Requests will be posted yearly for donations.
Barbara A. McGuire & Cesar Espineda have taken responsibility to oversee and manage the fund in close collaboration with the CPSP Treasurer, General Secretary and current President.
We will respond and acknowledge any and all donations by individuals and groups, if they wish to be known. In addition, we will provide the community a regular update to all Chapters and an annual report to the Governing Council.
- Currently, $1,000 has been pledged to this fund.
- Partial and full scholarships will be granted.
- We invite you as individuals and chapters to consider; according to your means to assist us with this fund.
As a tither you automatically become solution-oriented
rather than problem-oriented. ~ Mark Victor Hansen
Continue reading "ANNOUNCING…THE CPSP SCHOLARSHIP FUND"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 3:02 PM
In Myron Madden's absence he sent the following message to the gathering of the 2010 CPSP Plenary held in Columbus, Ohio:
A Blessing be upon you, my brothers and sisters. As you gather together, in this meeting of CPSP, keep in your minds and hearts all those of us absent in body, but present in the Spirit along with those who have vacated this earthly tabernacle.
Allow this meeting to be a blessed time of sharing your stories, both of victories as well as defeats, of winnings and losses, of good health and bad.
Let it be a time of exploring and renewing your mind about what God had in mind in bringing you into the creation. Also find a way to share that with others.
Be open to share your struggles with others, and be open to listen to those whose struggles are more than they can bear alone. And remember that when you are heard, you are blessed.
God, we believe that you stand ready to bless us and to forgive us and protect us from all evil.
Let his blessed name hold you close in a love that never fails. Amen.
Continue reading "A Blessing from Myron Madden Sent to the 2010 CPSP Plenary"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:56 AM
The Jehovah’s Witness patient was not trying to get me to subscribe to his denomination’s magazine, The Watchtower. Nor trying to convert me to his religion. He was like other Jehovah’s Witness patients, whose humanness shows up once their religion is affirmed with, “May the blessings of Jehovah be upon you.” This Jehovah’s Witness patient told me his story, sharing a message that has implications for any religion.
An 83-year-old black man, in an intensive care unit, suffering a stroke, the patient engaged me as soon as I introduced myself and answered his questions about my chaplaincy and the kinds of patients I visit. “I was a Methodist until 30 years ago,” he began. “I listened to ministers preach from the Bible, and believed what they said. I didn’t know anything different. I was uneducated. I couldn’t even read or write.”
He continued, “Then this Jehovah’s Witness came to my door. He taught me how to read and write. He came to my home every week,” the patient went on. “And he used the Bible, giving me passages to read, which we would go over. It took a long while, but in time I began to read and understand the Bible for myself.”
The patient ended, “You could have written my name on a blackboard, and I wouldn’t have known it. But I know it now. And the man who taught me couldn’t read or write at one time himself.”
Religion is about teaching people how to read and write their own name—and learn for themselves. It is also about the messenger becoming the message.
Chaplaincy is about helping people tell the story of their name.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 6:35 PM
We are heartened by this public expression of concern by the Religious Endorsing Body representatives (REBS) meeting in Nashville last fall. They have the interest in the wider religious and therapeutic community at heart in this call to reconciliation.
There is plenty of work to be done in the field of clinical pastoral supervision, chaplaincy, pastoral counseling and psychotherapy. No one organization can respond to the current public needs. The expenditure of time and money in efforts to undermine each other is wasteful and disgraceful.
We in CPSP hope that this letter from the REBS signals the end of hostility between the various clinical pastoral organizations, and the end of triumphalism on the part of any one organization or group of organizations.
Raymond J. Lawrence, CPSP General Secretary
Continue reading "A MESSAGE TO THE CPSP COMMUNITY FROM RAYMOND J. LAWRENCE"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:32 AM
Association of Religious Endorsing Bodies
P.O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN 37203-007
January 11, 2010
To: CPSP and ACPE
From: Association of Religious Endorsing Bodies (AREBS)
Dear Colleagues in Pastoral Care Ministry,
We have been fortunate to be in conversation with all of the cognate groups in Nashville.
These meetings have helped us to clarify our identity as endorsers. That search for identity continues to drive us to more clarity and to deepen our relationships with all the cognate groups. We thank you for your patience with us as we have learned about your organizations, your organizational requirements, and also, your help in clarifying our understanding of your identity.
What we have discovered is that we share one thing in common and that is our dedication to the goal of providing the best in pastoral care. We all strive for excellence in that process and we understand your dedication in training and certifying our constituents. We have ironed out some of the difficulties and removed some of the obstacles to provide excellence in pastoral care.
One of the public issues that deeply concerns us is the chasm between CPSP and ACPE. We are working to understand the history of each of your organizations so that we can understand some of the identity issues that you face. As Miroslov Volf says in his early work, “Exclusion and Embrace”, the establishment of identity gives a kind of confidence that allows us to look at otherness and at others without the fear of losing our own identity. Volf says that an exploration of identity issues and otherness issues are prerequisite of reconciliation. We have prayed that reconciliation might happen between your two organizations because we feel that some of our constituents are suffering due to the rift between your organizations. We are troubled when our people become vulnerable to this rift. We are also concerned about the face of pastoral care that is presented to our institutions and endorsees.
We confess to being somewhat protective of our constituents, but our major concern is that we remove barriers to a pursuit of our shared goal of excellence in pastoral care. It is important that we find ways to be transparent and to seek each others’ healing. In the meanwhile, we, as endorsers have covenanted to be in prayer for reconciliation.
Prayerfully Yours,
Susan Galasso
AREB Chairperson
Continue reading "AN OPEN LETTER to CPSP and ACPE"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 2:16 PM
With the selection of the 2010 Plenary theme as “The Recovery of Soul,” the Governing Council drew inspiration from CPSP’s foundational document we call the Covenant.
The CPSP Covenant boldly states that among our chief tasks as a community of pilgrims is the recovery of soul. We are on a journey together.
Explicit is that “recovery” means that something has been lost in the training of ministers
Perhaps the easy portion of this task is the training itself. The passing forward a discipline of values and depth of theological understanding concerning the human condition from supervisor to trainee. The context of our learning is often the human plight of crisis and moments of great distress and depleted personal resources of those to whom we offer pastoral care.
But “of the Soul:” Does a soul exist? What might the soul be a reference to in our Covenant? Is the soul an amorphous energy and entity invisible to the human eye? Even if you should be so inclined to believe, I am inclined to say that our clinical pastoral tradition would say no.
Continue reading "Recovery of Soul: What can it be?” by The Rev. Dr. Belen Gonzalez y Perez"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 10:40 AM
Already packing for the 2010 CPSP Plenary celebration? If so, I'm sure you are wondering about the weather and what to pack. It is one of those pesky human dilemmas knowing that once you arrive you will know what you forgot to pack while regretting you packed some items you never used.
Friendly advice: Check the weather and pack about half of what you thought you might need.
It will be good to see all of you at the party, rain or shine. -Perry Miller, Editor
Click below for up-to-date Columbus, Ohio weather.
http://www.wunderground.com/US/OH/Columbus.html
Continue reading "COLUMBUS OHO WEATHER"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 7:58 PM
PLENARY NEWS: COLUMBUS EXTENDED WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for our Plenary at Columbus is good: Mostly sunny and pleasant, Highs of 69-72, lows of 45-48.
PLENARY NEWS: AIRPORT TAXI SERVICE TO HOTEL
A volunteer will be on duty at the Columbus International Airport to facilitate sharing taxi services. This person will have a list of incoming flights from CPSP bases. After departing go downstairs to baggage claim and ground transport. Look for the desk which reads Group Information Desk. The volunteer will assist you in sharing cabs. Cab fare is $15-20, but if shared will be $3-6.
Continue reading "2010 PLENARY BULLETINS ---Jim Gebhart "
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 10:44 AM
For those of us engaged in clinical practice as a psychotherapist, counselor, clinical chaplain or CPE training supervisor, I trust can identify with a quote from Irvin Yalom. -Perry Miller, Editor
How comforting it would be to feel, just once, that I know exactly what I’m doing in my psychotherapeutic work – for example, that I am dutifully traversing, in proper sequence, the precise stages of the therapeutic process
But of course, it is all illusion. If they are helpful to patients at all, ideological schools with their complex metaphysical edifices succeed because they assuage the therapist’s, not the patient’s, anxiety (and thus permit the therapist to face the anxiety of the therapeutic process). The more the therapist is able to tolerate the anxiety of not knowing, the less need there is for the therapist to embrace orthodoxy. The creative members of an orthodoxy, any orthodoxy, ultimately outgrow their disciplines.
Though there is something reassuring about an omniscient therapist who is always in control of every situation, there can be something powerfully engaging about a fumbling therapist, a therapist willing to flounder with the patient until they, together, stumble upon an enabling discovery.
-Irvin Yalom, Love’s Exocutioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy
Continue reading "A Fumbling Therapist"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 1:46 PM
When a person’s gifts and his/her being are affirmed by a Chapter through a Chapter Certification Review, a person experiences a distinctive charge important to the his/her mission.
Like an arrow released into the space, my sense of purpose became more vivid when I received the blessings from my chapter through their certification review almost a decade ago. But this is not a simple track to tread. The journey to this new beginning as a person certified by the CPSP can be challenging. So, in the spirit of midwifing one another I offer the following:
FAQ
1. How will I get certified through CPSP? Certification matters that are typically dealt with in other certifying bodies by a centralized governance are dealt primarily in the chapter. Your chapter is responsible in assessing your level of competencies, as well as in providing the support and accountability you need to achieve your professional goal/certification. In other words, your board certification process takes place in your chapter. Each chapter is unique and employs distinct approach in its certification process. However, consistent to CPSP philosophy and standards, a consultant representing the Governing Council must be present at the Chapter certification review.
2. What is the function of the Certification Committee? The Certification Committee expedites the credentialing process of each member seeking to be certified by CPSP. The Certification Committee does not duplicate the certification review conducted by the chapter on its members. It simply revisits the process involved in each member’s certification review. It preserves the integrity of the chapter’s review process by helping the Chapter uphold the standards of CPSP. The Certification Committee is responsible for presenting the names of members seeking credentials to the Governing Council for ratification.
3. I am already approved for certification by my chapter. Why do I need to be ratified by the Governing Council? Reviewing and approving members for certification based on CPSP standards is a primary responsibility of a chapter. However, CPSP Governing Council supports as well as holds chapters accountable to be true to their duty in providing certification to their members. CPSP is a community that takes responsibility for the growth and recovery of each of her members. Each Chapter is accountable to the Governing Council and must assure that its decisions are congruent with CPSP philosophy and standards.
Continue reading "From Geof Tio, Chair, Certification Committee--Certification FAQ "
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 9:10 AM
The approaching Plenary marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy is both monumental and extraordinary, especially as one considers the historical opposition marshaled against such a community developing at all by those whose vision of the world prefers the enclave, monolithic, and linear instead of a dynamic, challenging, and renewing community that values human and social capital beyond all else.
Twenty years of CPSP is something of genuine importance to reflect on. Where better to begin reflecting than to consider the impact that the CPSP community has had on my life, vocation, and ministry. My story begins in 1988 prior to the CPSP community’s founding. I had just begun my seminary education. I must admit that beginning a seminary education after having completed a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the State University of New York is similar to being asked to turn out the lights after so many years working in the clarity of sun light. A seminary education was not the liberating and life-grounding experience that working in the congregation had been for me for so many years before.
In 1994 however, I can remember applying and interviewing for my first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. I had no idea what any of what was being spoken about in CPE was about. One thing I did pick up was that this was very different from seminary. In fact, it was the first time ever in all of my theological training and process for ordination that anyone had ever asked me the question that both stumped and stopped me in my tracks, “Belen, how did that patient visit make you feel?” I had never been asked how I felt by anyone. The question itself was not even a philosophical or theological question that I was accustomed to tackling. I proceeded to answer the question with the confidence born out of my command of speaking my mind, or so I thought. But again came the question: “Belen, it is not what you think, but what did you feel?” I can remember experiencing a sense of loss and being flustered, like falling in a deep swimming pool and not being able to find the bottom to support myself from drifting beyond my control. I can recall the sensation of reaching for straw because I did not have the vocabulary to describe my feelings.
Continue reading "CPE Training and Recovery of Soul by Rev. Dr. Belen Gonzalez y Perez"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 6:14 PM
As I entered the patient’s room, the bathroom door, just inside the entranceway, was wide open, and a man was sitting on the toilet. I said, apologetically, “Oh, I’m sorry.” His nonchalant response led me to pause long enough to introduce myself as Hospital Chaplain and to ask, “Are you Jason Hopewell?” “Yes,” he replied, and added, “I want to talk to you.” “I will come back,” I responded.
A white man in his thirties, the patient greeted me with, “Your Excellency,” then sat on his bed with his legs crossed, and I took a chair. I’ve been called a lot of things in my time but never “Your Excellency.” My initial aim was to obtain his religious preference, which was unknown. Saying he was Episcopalian, he immediately stated what he wanted to talk about: “I don’t like certain of my feelings. And I want to get close to God.” (His sudden, and possibly fleeting illness—he was discharged the next day—may have helped to motivate his desire for closeness with God.)
“What feelings don’t you like?,” I asked. He replied, “I’ve been jealous of this man who is handsome. He became ill, and I found myself feeling good about his condition. I then got to know him better, and he seemed like a good person. I don’t like myself for finding pleasure in his illness.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 2:01 PM
In a March 4, 2009 article published in CountrerPunch.COM Raymond Lawrence challenges a popular held view of "sexual addiction".
Lawrence writes: Applying such a metaphor to sexual pleasure creates a misleading and ominous innuendo. Sex is not an addictive substance. It’s a human interaction on which the survival of the species is dependent. It is also possibly the most pleasurable and sought after activity known to humankind, and arguably an experience no one should be deprived of. Most normal people consider more rather than less sexual pleasure to be a major objective in life.
In the article he argues that Christianity's "posture toward sexual pleasure has been abysmal. In that respect it should be noted that Christianity, of all the major world religions, is the only one to cast sexual pleasure in such a negative light."
To read the complete article, click here.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:18 AM
