“What about Pastoral Supervision of the Field of Clinical Pastoral Chaplaincy?”

– Comments Honoring the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Holt Pohly –

delivered in Pittsburgh, PA, on 28 March 2012 at the Plenary of
the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy

Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD

– on the 110th anniversary of Helen Flanders Dunbar’s birth.

– on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dunbar’s &
the movement’s patroness, Ethel Phelps Stokes Hoyt (1877-1952)
– on the 135th anniversary of the birth of Anton Theophilus Boisen’s &
the movement’s conceptual forebearer, Elwood Worcester (1862-1940).
– on the 70th anniversary of Religion in Illness and Health,
written by Dunbar’s student & Boisen’s understudy, Chaplain Carroll A. Wise.
– on the 65th anniversary of Dunbar’s best-seller,
Mind and Body: Psychosomatic Medicine.
– on the 65th anniversary of The Journal of Pastoral Care &
The Journal of Clinical Pastoral Work
[these into the eventual Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling].
– on the 35th anniversary of Pastoral Supervision: Inquiries into Pastoral Care,”
written by Kenneth Holt Pohly.
– on the 25th anniversary of the infamous “Underground Report” –
that was circulated among all North American clinical pastoral supervisors &
that lead directly to the founding of the CPSP.
– on the 20th anniversary of the 1st CPSP Plenary
(& the 22nd anniversary of the founding of CPSP).
– on the 10th anniversary of organization by Chaplain Foy Richey (1943-2011) of the
1st joint meeting of the CPSP & The American Association of Pastoral Counselors.
– on the 10th anniversary of the reaffirmation by the CPSP Governing Council that,
when war is a consideration, vision must precede action [cf, Proverbs 29:18]

The primary task of pastoral supervision is …
to help its participants be clear
about who they are,
so they can
become more [consciously] competent,
confront crises more constructively, and
do ministry more effectively.

Having been active in [the clinical pastoral field] …, and feeling the
estrangement of spiritual depth …, I was introduced to the College of
Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, which asserts … that… it is
a theologically based certifying and accrediting community … dedicated to ‘recovery of soul’.

I believe that the condition of the soul is the priority concern of each of us
and every one of the organizations of which we are a part.

Greetings! May Grace and Peace be with you! …

I have been aware of the Dunbar name and tradition since my seminary days. I ran across her name in my readings, but at the time I did not pursue her work. It was years later, after twenty years of pastoring in a local church and on a college campus, that I “discovered” Helen Flanders Dunbar. …

I was only in my first year of teaching when my teaching colleague, Dr. Harry DeWire, invited me to attend an evening social event of the area chaplains and clinical teachers. I was fresh off my doctoral studies, a significant part of which had taken place at Vanderbilt University Hospital. I had also recently completed the writing of my doctoral dissertation on “The Clinical Method in Theological Education”. The contents of the dissertation were designed to become the basis for the newly conceived curriculum at United Theological Seminary [“UTS”, in Dayton, Ohio]. … In the same period of time, the early ‘70’s, I attended my first biennial meeting of what is now known at the Association of Theological Field Education (ATFE). …

April 17, 2012

The dream of a CPSP community where each person’s voice and dreams are heard and valued is becoming a reality. The dream is becoming realized of a moment when we would embrace each other with a spirit of unity in the primary things, such as serving others with justice, compassion and humility. The dream is coming to fruition of a day when we would value and celebrate liberty in the secondary things, such as diverse ways of providing competent care of the soul. The dream is among us of a time when we would deliver pastoral care and counseling moved solely by love and with an unwavering commitment to excellence. We are indeed seeing and sensing the waves of that dream as our diverse and beloved community, making use of its creativity, ingenuity and spontaneity to open new doors and routes to serve humankind. Through our accredited centers we are offering clinical pastoral training; and through our certified pastoral caregivers we are providing chaplaincies and counseling services in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, assisted living, clinics, industries, schools, prisons and churches. Moreover, our clinically trained caregivers and pastoral educators are also providing services under bridges, on farms and even in many unimaginable places around the world. We celebrate who we are as a community of both dreamers and doers.

Jürgen Moltmann (2000) suggests that a life lived in community is a reflection of the divine social existence. This kind of communion reaches beyond merely recognizing each other as living image of God. It also entails the promotion of wellbeing for each member of the community. This way of being together is possible as we embrace values such as respect, solidarity, mutuality, freedom, harmony and benevolence. As we continue this level of social connection we can survive and thrive as persons and as a community.

 
The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy (CPSP) will now offer a clinical fellow in hospice and palliative care. This will be a subspecialty credential for those already credentialed as Board Certified Clinical Chaplains / Board Certified Pastoral Counselors.

Procedure:
Chapters will receive requests from candidates for this certification, and will review the request within the purview of the Chapter’s expertise. Some Chapters will have no specific expertise in this field. The Chapter will of course attest to the clinical expertise generally of the candidate. No approved consultant need be present for this review.
 
The candidate’s application for certification will then go to the Hospice and Palliative Care Certification Committee (HPCC) for review. The HPCC Committee will establish a review for the candidate. The HPCC may also refer the request back to the Chapter for revision. Or it may deny certification for stated reasons.
 
The certifications decided by the HPCC will be forwarded to the Certification Committee, reviewed, and then be forwarded to the Governing Council for ratification.
 
A one time fee for this certification is: $100.

For further information please contact:
Barbara A. McGuire at: cpspregistrar@gmail.com

The Spring NCTS 2012 is right around the corner. (MAY 21-22) Many of us experienced growth and self-understanding during the small groups at the Plenary! At the NCTS we can continue that process and hopefully impact the growth of others in our small groups. The theme for this NCTS is: “CHAPTER BASED GOVERNANCE”. Dr. David Roth will introduce this concept on Monday and Dr. Steven Voytovich will make comments on Tuesday from a former convener‘s role and his international work.

Please read the article: THE FUTURE OF GOVERNANCE IN THE COLLEGE OF PASTORAL SUPERVISION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY by David Roth, PhD on the Pastoral Report.

As we forge into the future, this is a new paradigm of governance for our ever growing CPSP community! Plan to attend! Come prepared to present in the small groups and come with an openness of heart and mind to grasp this new the vision for CPSP! -Francine Hernandez

Once again, the NCTS through Francine Hernandez's leadership, continues to provide cutting edge opportunities for all members of the CPSP community. Do keep in mind that the focus remains clinical and all participants are expected to come prepared to present clinical material in their small groups. Equally true, all should enter into the discussion of CHAPTER BASED GOVERNANCE with an acute clinical eye.

DOWNLOAD NCTS REGISTRATION FORM

DOWNLOAD 2012 NCTS SCHEDULE

-Perry Miller, Editor

The meeting began on Sunday with considerable tension, but by Wednesday the sense of connection and general good feeling within the community was palpable. The closing Tavistock event was quite different from any previous one. Since Tavistock is a time set aside for attention to the unconscious, and usually means a time for all random negativity and devilishness to be expressed, this Tavistock was virtually a love feast. No one interrupted anyone else. Respect was shown all around. Talk was thoughtful and rational. Clearly this was not a typical Tavistock session, leaving the consultant a bit puzzled. My belated interpretation of that radical departure from the expected is that so much venom was spilled in the Sunday and Monday meetings of the Governing Council that the community frightened itself and decided to reunite in collegiality. It was if we had sailed into blue water and high sky after passing through a terrible storm. And a terrible storm it was.

The Sunday night meeting of the Governing Council was the most troubling event of the week, possibly the most troubling event in CPSP history. An attempt was made to reverse our 22-year tradition of making decisions by consensus, and to assert the use of Robert’s Rules of Order, or a variant of it. The meeting itself was populated by more than a hundred persons, most of whom were not bona fide Chapter representatives, and many of whom were not even members of CPSP. Some of the non-members seemed to do most of the talking. Furthermore, voice votes were taken on critical issues, with the loudest voices apparently from persons who did not belong to the Governing Council, or in some cases did not even belong to CPSP. This resulted in a kind of mob rule, or as Kelly Fogarty put it, “a mob mentality.” The meeting extended to almost four hours, leaving everyone drained and in shock.

At the time I had had but one summer unit of Clinical Pastoral Education and from that experience decided that I wasn’t about to switch from preparing for a teaching ministry in one of my denomination’s colleges to that of a health care ministry in a general or mental hospital. That decision was enforced when one of the first patients Jim asked me to visit was a truck driver from Tennessee who, while driving through the city of Boston, developed severe back pains, serious enough to lead to his being hospitalized.

In those days a hospital chaplain wore a grey jacket quite similar to what physicians and orderlies wore except that on the chaplain’s lapels were two silver crosses. So as I entered the truck driver’s room, he stared at me—probably hoping I was a doctor—then quickly shifted his gaze to the silver crosses, and barked, “Now what the hell do you want?”

I was reminded of that ancient memory when William E. Alberts invited me to read Hospital Chaplain at the Crossroads of Humanity, and as I read Bill’s extraordinary accounts of some of his interactions with the thousands of patients he has served in his health care ministry, I could not help but wonder what my career decision might have been had I known, and truly internalized, Chaplain Alberts’ rich notions of what hospital chapaincy is all about.

I am happy to report that we have a President-Elect. This community is blessed to have such a distinguished scholar and religious leader to accept this office.

Brian Childs is currently Director of Ethics at Shore Health System, University of Maryland Medical System, and a member of the Chesapeake Chapter, certified as a Diplomate in Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. He is a minister in the United Presbyterian Church, Presbytery of Baltimore. Earlier he held a chair as Professor of Pastoral Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is a Princeton Ph.D., a protege of Seward Hiltner, and an AAMFT Supervisor. His writings and his leadership positions are too numerous to list here. Suffice it say that Brian is a person of substance and erudition, and we are fortunate to have him willing to assume a significant leadership role in our community.

The Standards of CPSP define the role of the President as follows:

About ten days ago I was working at my desk. I needed to access a file still on a “floppy disc,” and began to think about how long it would be before this media can no longer be accessed. Having a number of floppy discs with files that represented earlier projects and programs, I began, in the midst of all the other pressing matters surrounding me, converting them one by one onto a master file to be loaded onto a compact disc “CD.” While doing this I was divided between completing this task that I had begun, or moving on to other critical issues, not unlike other times when I have felt like I am being guided in taking steps or undertaking tasks for reasons unknown to me in the moment. Now I understand that it was God’s hand that was guiding me that day.

What occurred during these two Governing Council sessions was very important in terms opening greater transparency and engaging the whole community in dealing with difficult matters and concerns. Like many of you, however, I was out quite out of sorts after the Monday evening Governing Council time. These had been very difficult sessions on many levels, especially relationally. As several of us sat together to debrief, I was aware that in the morning the endorsers would be meeting with CPSP leadership. I went ahead and invited Esteban Montilla, our President, to join us at the breakfast table.

I do not offer "good" news, I offer something "better"; better news. There is no need to apologize for the statement that the CPSP is really committed to being and becoming a BETTER certifying body than any other cognate group. And, we believe that our way of organizing and certifying is a better way to achieve competence, accountability and support for professional pastoral care givers. Period!

Meanwhile, over the past 22 years, it seems that some of our members have forgotten that we are committed evangelists and not just a club that some consider easier to join.

Golda Meir once said, "Don't be so humble; you're not that great."

Humility was expressed as a virtue because of the sin or tendency of human nature to elevate itself above its proper place. The need to "lower" yourself was to counter the degree to which you falsely elevated yourself. Jesus encouraged the arriving guest to avoid sitting in the place of honor, not because it was good to be "humble" or because you might not deserve it, but because someone else of greater merit might show up and you would have to move your sorry self. To be "humble" is to be in touch with the very earth [humus] or substance of who we are, neither elevated and inflated nor demeaned and unworthy.

False humility and self-deception are failings of character that betray our ability to trust ourselves. In both failings we inevitably lose our sense of who we really are. In the case of false humility, we trick ourselves into believing that we will be respected and respect ourselves for denying what we really believe about ourselves and our values. In the case of self-deception, we destroy the very pathways upon which we journey in pursuit of our values.

Trying to figure out what clothes to pack for the 2012 CPSP Plenary, check Pittsburgh's weather.

http://www.wunderground.com/US/PA/Pittsburgh.html

Author's Note: Last November I sustained a broken right forearm. It was a simple fall but I landed in such a way that I fractured the bone. For the next three months I was in a full arm cast which brought to an abrupt halt my work at the hospital not to mention daily activities such as driving, writing, typing, cooking and almost every other thing that one does with their dominant arm.

Shortly before having the cast off, feeling like I was on “house arrest” and frustrated on almost every front, I woke up one morning and slowly used the hunt and peck method with my left hand to put into words my frustration in hopes of seeing a “reason” for this suspended time in my life. The following poem came out. It says a lot about the grand plans that we make for ourselves and how they can be derailed out of control in a split second.

As a chaplain, I ended up “ministering” to myself through poetry. The lesson is universal, applicable to those in the hospital and those whose lives are put on hold. The Lesson within is also universal, namely, that while we think we know where we are going, our life work may be elsewhere.

Waiting to “Recalculate”

Speeding along the road I’ve finally chosen.
GPS taking me the fastest route.
By passing places and people I think I don’t need.
And then, along this back road “short cut”, I am stalled yet again by a herd of meandering cows.

I stop.
My car and I simply idle in neutral, burning gas and going nowhere fast.

Frustration.
Impatience.
Anger mounting.

Where are they going anyway?
There’s no road or path or barn anywhere in sight?
What do they know that I don’t?

Right arm broken so have to do everything with my left hand.
Have to do everything with the wrong hand.

Frustration.
Impatience.
Anger mounting.

Damn these cows.
Don’t they know they’re supposed to be somewhere important?
Don’t they know that someone needs them or that they have some vital work to do?
Do they even know where they are going?

Narciso (or Nars as many liked to call him) and I were good friends for half a century. We trained together in 1967, in Houston, under the supervision of the legendary Armen Jorjorian, and stayed in contact ever since. I visited several times recently with Narciso and his wife Mining before she died in 2007.

Coincidentally, I arrived in Manila on March 1, for meetings, and heard immediately that Narciso had been hospitalized. I was taken to see him the next day. He was clearly dying, though he recognized me and spoke my name. His son Armenito and others were caring for him. Narciso has two children, each named after beloved mentors, Armenito after Jorjorian, and Lorraine, who now lives in Toronto.

When the history of clinical pastoral training is written, Narciso will be a major figure in the Southeast Asia. He succeeded the late Al Dalton as Director of Chaplains at St Luke’s Hospital, Manila, in 1968. St Luke’s is said to be the preeminent hospital in southeast Asia. In later years he retired and started his own consulting business. Finally he opened a school and church for disadvantaged children which called the Garden of Life. There, in his last days, as he weakened, he was patriarch.

The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy has experienced remarkable growth in its short, nearly 22-year history. This has especially been true in the last five years when both our membership and the number of our chapters have doubled. We are now more than 1,000 in all, gathered in over 100 chapters and chapters-in-formation. This growth has taken place in a time when some of the other major pastoral care organizations have witnessed their memberships shrinking and some have struggled financially.

Critics of CPSP have expressed theories on why we are growing so rapidly. One prominent leader in another certifying body insisted to me at lunch one day that it was because CPSP “has no standards and would certify anyone who showed up ready to pay their dues.” This certainly isn’t my experience. However, with enormous, rapid growth, it is possible for cases to arise where our high professional Standards (which are published online for everyone to read) are not uniformly applied. Bill Scar addressed this issue last Fall1. Fair but uncompromising solutions to remedy such cases are not far away. Even allowing for certain instances where Standards may have been compromised, this cannot begin to explain the College’s appeal.

HOW CPSP IS UNIQUE

It is important to make a distinction: while we do certify members and accredit training programs, CPSP is not a pastoral care professional organization of the same sort as the others. Our expressed vision, organization and principal aims are fundamentally different from those of organizations such as APC, ACPE, AAPC, NAJC, NACC and others. While we too are about the business of accreditation and certification, our identity is expressed in a unique Covenant that lays out our ideals and is fostered by and perpetuated in the small Chapters upon which CPSP is based. Ours is the only integrated community of pastoral caregivers of every sort at all levels of professional development. Certifying and accrediting in CPSP flows from and gives expression to this vibrant, organic community life that is ongoing and demanding in a way that enriches us all. I believe it is our unique Covenant and Chapter life that have fostered our remarkable growth. I happen to believe that our model is superior to the others inasmuch as it is more congruent with the work we do as pastoral caregivers rather than modeled after so many other disparate professional organizations.