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Clinical pastoral education program comes to Community’s Indianapolis hospitals

On June 4, 2007, Community Health Network welcomed its first group of student chaplains when the organization became a satellite site for Clarian Health’s clinical pastoral education (CPE) program. The program at Community is part of a two-year agreement with Clarian. After that time, if Community is successful in becoming accredited through the international Association of Clinical Pastoral Education, the network will become an independent CPE site.

Clinical pastoral education is available for clergy, seminary students and others who have the credentials and endorsement by their faith groups. According to Rev. Connie Coy, chaplain at Community Hospital North and director of pastoral relations, beginning this specialized education program within the network has been a goal for a long time. "The timing seemed right to present it to the President’s Council because of the North expansion project," Coy says. "With the way our hospitals have grown, it’s also great to have a bigger chaplaincy presence among our patients."

The first education unit ran from June 4 to August 17 and was taught by Rev. Barbara Means, clinical pastoral education supervisor. The maximum of six students were accepted into the summer intensive CPE unit. The unit covered pastoral formation, pastoral reflection, pastoral identity and pastoral competency.

"CPE is very challenging," Means explains. "Some of it can be very direct. The students have to learn active listening and come to realize that they are not there to try to 'fix' people. A basic tenet of this training is 'meeting a patient where they are.' It isn’t about imposing your faith. You may be a chaplain who happens to be Episcopal, but now there is more of a call for diversity. Multicultural competencies, faith traditions and substance abuse in families are some of the many areas in which chaplains are educated. Learning how to provide pastoral care isn’t just about theology, but also the integration of interdisciplinary learning in the behavioral sciences, such as psychology, sociology and the dynamics of family systems."

As part of their chaplaincy education, the students will provide spiritual care to hospital patients and staff in the Indianapolis hospitals, but they won’t take the place of the eight staff chaplains. Community staff chaplains are Coy, Means and Jim Gaynor at North, Rodney Craggs at South, George Ignacio and Emmarex Okhakhu at East, Dick True at Anderson and Susan Weicum at TIHH.

During each unit, the students are required to have a minimum of 100 structured educational hours and a minimum of 300 clinical hours. In order to become a board-certified chaplain, pastoral education students must have a minimum of four units, which is equal to 1,600 hours. "It's basically like a one-year residency," says Means.

All of the current network chaplains have had some pastoral education training in the past, some extensively. For instance, Means has taken 23 units and Coy has taken 13. "I enjoyed it," Coy says. "It can be life-changing because you learn more about yourself and how you provide care. That’s important in pastoral care because self-awareness is a big part of it."

"CPE is always positive," True adds. He hopes the program is eventually marketed to Anderson University theology students who need one unit of CPE to graduate. One of the long-term goals of having a network clinical pastoral education program is to expand it to include resident chaplains. But Coy says the chaplains are trying not to get ahead of themselves. Instead, they are just excited to see what skills the students can bring to Community.