VA Chaplaincy and Clinical Pastoral Education Requirements
by George Hankins-Hull
It is important to clear up some confusion that many have had concerning employment requirements as a VA chaplain.
In order to qualify for employment as a VA Chaplain, an individual must have completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education, or demonstrate equivalent training.
Units of CPE completed and certified by the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy, National Association of Catholic Chaplains and The Association of Clinical Pastoral Education all count toward this requirement.
Equivalent training is not less than 800 hours of supervised ministry in a health care setting, such as a hospital or nursing home, which incorporated both ministry formation and pastoral care skills development.
To be considered equivalent to CPE, training must include the following components:
1. It must be a formal educational program, with curriculum, theological reflection, and evaluation components, which includes a component of performing health care ministry.
2. The program must include 400 hours of supervised education, training and ministry for equivalency to one unit of CPE.
3. The educational supervisor(s), preceptor(s), teacher(s), or coach/mentor(s), responsible for the program must be qualified to provide the supervision.
4. The educational model must include an action/reflection component (that may vary from one program to another) that may have included but not be limited to: verbatims, case conferences, worship seminars, spiritual assessments, theological reflection, and group process.
In describing supervised ministry that you would like to be considered as "equivalent training" please include the following information for each period of training.
•The beginning and ending dates of training
•The name and location of the institution(s) in which the supervised ministry was performed
•The name(s) and title(s) of the educational supervisor(s)/instructor(s)
• The total number of hours of performance of ministry, classroom or didactics, and individual meetings with the supervisor/instructor
CPSP Objectives of Clinical Pastoral Education:
230. Objectives of CPE:
CPE is designed to provide theological and professional education utilizing the clinical method of learning in diverse contexts of ministry. There are professional benchmarks of expected outcomes from CPE which formulate the competency objectives. They are as follows:
1 To develop the ability to make use of the clinical process and theclinical method of learning. This includes the formulation of clinical data, the ability to receive and utilize feedback and consultation, and to make creative use of supervision.
2 To develop the self as a work in progress and to cultivate theunderstanding of the self as the principal tool in pastoral care andcounseling. This includes the ability to reflect and interpret one’s own life story both psychologically and theologically. (Accreditation Manual, p.14).
3 To demonstrate the ability to establish a pastoral bond with personsand groups in various life situations and crisis circumstances.
4 To demonstrate basic care and counseling skills including listening,empathy, reflection, analysis of problems, conflict resolution, theological reflection and the demonstration of a critical eye so as to examine and evaluate human behavior and religious symbols for their meaning and significance.
5 To demonstrate the ability to make a pastoral diagnosis with specialreference to the nature and quality of religious values.(Accreditation Manual, p. 15).
6 To demonstrate the ability to provide a critical analysis of one’s own religious tradition.
7 To demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of group behaviorand the variety of group experiences, and to utilize the support,confrontation and clarification of the peer group for the integration of personal attributes and pastoral functioning.
8 To demonstrate the ability to communicate and engage in ministrywith persons across cultural boundaries (Accreditation Manual, p. 15).
9 To demonstrate the ability to utilize individual supervision forpersonal and professional growth and for developing the capacity to evaluate one’s ministry.
10 To demonstrate the ability to work as a pastoral member on aninterdisciplinary team.
11 To demonstrate the ability to make effective use of the behavioralsciences in pastoral ministry (Accreditation Manual, p. 15).
12 To demonstrate increasing leadership ability and personal authority.
13 To demonstrate familiarity with the basic literature of the field:clinical, behavioral and theological.
For More Information on VA Chaplaincy visit:
Department of Veterans Affairs National Chaplaincy Center.
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