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.
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On tuesday feb. 26th 2008 Dr. Raymond J. Lawrence, General Secretary for the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy reviewed four candidates to become Board Certified Clinical Chaplains and inaugurated the first CPSP chapter in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. 
These four names will be recommended to the Board Certifying Committee of the Governing Council for ratification.
We had some dozen others that will be reviewed in the near future. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the ministry community. The visit was very positive and encouraging. We thank Dr. Raymond J.Lawrence for his extraordinary visit.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:02 AM
NATIONAL CLINICAL TRAINING SEMINAR
Carmel Retreat Center
Mahwah, New Jersey
May 6-7, 2008
Download NCTS Registration Form
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
“Contextual Supervision: Isomorphism and Parallel Process in the Clinical Arena”
Contention: Identification and management of isomorphism and parallel process provides contextualization of the clinical arena (expanded from the clinical rhombus) pertinent to administration, service, training, education, supervision, certification, accreditation, and regulation.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
“Contextual Supervision: The Bottom Line”
Contention: Inspired by Randy Pausch, Ph.D in his often downloaded THE LAST LECTURE reprised on OPRAH, supervisors need to consider what “last words” or “bottom line words” they will offer to their supervisees.
Our presenter this year is Dr. Jim Pruett!
Dr. Pruett comes to us with a wealth of education, experience and enthusiasm. He is presently employed with the Counseling Center at Charlotte. He is married to Dr. Jean Smith Pruett and the father of two married children (son, Jeremy and daughter, Jamie) and four grand children, Faith, Hunter, Zachary and Matthew. Dr. Pruett holds a Dmin. (Pastoral Psychotherapy) and a Ph.D (Psychology and Counseling). His postgraduate work is in Marriage and Family Therapy.
Dr. Pruett is a Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a Diplomate, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Diplomate, College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, Clinical Chaplain, Pastoral Counselor and Psychotherapy Supervisor (Diplomate). Dr. Pruett is a National Certified Counselor and Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor with the National Board of Certified Counselor. He is an Approved Clinical Supervisor, Center for Credentialing and Education, Inc., and a Clincal Member, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
Dr. Pruett’s teaching experience includes, Psychology, Psychotherapy and Supervision. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Doctor of Ministry Program in Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary since 1999. Dr. Pruett’s other Professional Activities includes, Chairperson, Public Relations Committee, South Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 1982-1985, Executive Committee, South Caroling Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 1982-1993, Chairperson, Membership/Supervision Committee, South Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 1987-1993, Annual Conference Coordinator, Southeast Region, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, 1984and Pastoral Therapist and Supervisor, Counseling Center at Charlotte, 2005- present.
Dr. Pruett has done several presentations. Here are a few: Processing Typically Unrecognized Grief: A Multifaceted Family Therapy Approach, South Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Teleconference. Health Communications Network, Medical University of South Carolina, April 2, 1986; Family Grief: Curse or Gift? And The Fine Art of Couple Communication with Jean S. Pruett, D.Min. At Fall Festival of Marriage, Ridgecrest, North Carolina, October, 1986, Engaged Couples Retreat with Jean S. Pruett, D.Min., Living the Blessed Life, Devotional Series, WSPA-AM with Jean S. Pruett, D.Min, October, 1994 and Processing Typically Unrecognized Grief: A Multifaceted Family Therapy Approach, Charter Hospital, Greenville, SC, January 18, 1994.
The following is a list of some of Dr. Pruett’s publications: Reflecting Upon the State of Family Therapy: An Interview with Carl Whitaker, M.D. in The Palmetto Family, Vol. 3, No.2, summer 1986; Substance Abuse: An Alternative Lifestyle in Home Life, Vol. 43, No. 3, 1988; My Theory of Supervision of Pastoral Counseling Trainees, in Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry {Formerly: Journal of Supervision and Training in Ministry}, Vol. 11, January 1990; (Selected as AAPC Diplomate Theory Paper of the Year) and Stress…Conflict to Confluence: Beating Swords Into Plowshares, Caregiving, Spring, 1999 and “Pastoral Counseling and Supervision Competence: A Formation Process” in Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry {Formerly: Journal of Supervision and Training in Ministry}, Vol. 24, 2004.
The following are a list of some of Dr. Pruett’s honors: 1962- Present Modern Music Masters (Tri-M); 1965 Member, NAIA National Baseball Team, Carson-Newman College; 1992 Outstanding Member Award, South Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 1999 Marquis Who’s Who in the South and Southwest 2000 Scientists of the 20th Century, Second Edition; 2000 Annual Bruce D. Henderson Award for exemplary leadership and service, Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee and 2005 Outstanding Service Award presented by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors at its 42nd Annual Convention, meeting April 16, 2005 in Forth Worth, Texas.
We welcome Dr. Pruett to the Spring 2008 NCTS!
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 4:05 PM
Requests for post-mortem sperm retrieval are increasing while legislative arrangements relevant to such requests and the problems raised by these requests are minimal. The typical requests for post-mortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) comes from the wife of a recently deceased man who, before her husband’s death, would have welcomed pregnancy. However, other requests are much more complex such as those of parents who wish to preserve the possibility of having grandchildren. In the face of increasing requests for PMSR many medical institutions are developing ethical guidelines to help them process such request. The following are an example of the ethical guidelines adopted by some medical centers:
1. Intended consent of the deceased
2. Next of kin or legal consent
3. Sudden death
4. The consent to a one-year period of quarantine of specimens for bereavement
In the absence of clear documentation, PMSR raises troubling issues that must be addressed:
• Who has the right to request PMSR?
• Who will get custody of the retrieved sperm?
• What happens if the deceased wife and his parents both want the sperm?
• What happens if the wife requests the sperm and the deceased family are against the procedure for religious reasons?
• What potential psychological burdens would be placed on a child conceived following the death of her biological father when it was the child’s grandparents who made the request?
Many would argue that PMSR is unjustified until there are better mechanisms for addressing the many ethical questions raised by this procedure and until court rulings have established legal precedent. Others conclude that a request for PMSR should not be honored unless there is convincing evidence that the deceased widow would want to carry and bear his posthumously conceived offspring. It is also widely cautioned that even when consent is affirmed, medical professionals should also consider the welfare of the potential child. This caution is well made given that evidentiary standards for such decision making is difficult to define and far from clear.
For further Reading:
Virtual Mentor
American Medical Association Journal of Ethics
September 2007, Volume 9, Number 9: 630-634.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 3:27 PM
I have been asked by CPSP’s Governing Council to convene a task force whose mission is to assess CPSP and its future. I have enlisted two colleagues to help me with this work:
Barbara McGuire and Jonathan Freeman. Together we have initiated a
process designed to provide meaningful feedback to the larger
community about where we are as an organization and where we are
headed. Our task force will add members in time, but for now we are
starting small and traveling light.
In the coming weeks and months we will be engaging in one-on-one conversations with many of you to hear your perspectives on our community: what our strengths are, what our needs are, and how we can dream the dream together to help usher CPSP strong into the future.
As a task force we are fully aware that there is much creativity in our midst. We look forward to our conversations with you and to hearing your thoughts, ideas, dreams and visions as we continue to live out together our unique and vital identity as a CPSP community.
-Luise Weinrich
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 2:28 PM
Jim Gebhart, CPSP President, sent a note to all members of the community encouraging us to make plans to attend the 2008 Spring CPSP Plenary in Little Rock. Jim writes:
Brothers/Sisters: I remember ten or twelve years ago I was grumbling about the cost/timing/travel to the CPSP Plenary at Virginia Beach. I communicated the same to Raymond Lawrence. I received a memorable response: "Just get there!"I pass that on today. In around six weeks we shall gather as a community at Little Rock. The program/speakers et. al are provocative. But even if they were not the important thing is that we gather as a community. "Just get there!" To see each other once again, to put it all on the table, to know and be known for the people that we are. To be our unique community.
So make your arrangements this week. Whatever the inconvenience, "just get there."
George Hull has provided the PR the flight information for the Little Rock Airport that will help you with your flight plans and to make sure your "just get there." You can download the following documents:
LITTLE ROCK AIRPORT FLIGHTS: Download file
CANN YOU GET THERE FROM HERE: Download file
-Perry Miller, Editor
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:45 AM
“Where’s the reverend? Reverend, you got a word for me today? A word from the Lord. ”
I could hear Ivan talking to himself the moment he got off the elevator. He was on his way to visit me, part of a routine that repeated itself about every six months. Living alone in the city, without proper food and neglecting to take his medication, his condition would deteriorate forcing him back to the hospital. Under the watchful eye of the nurses and with good food his condition would improve and he was allowed to roam the hospital until his release, my office and the chapel one stop on his daily rounds.
Now he stood in my doorway, a great block of a man with a head that looked like it had been chiselled from stone. His face glistened damp, the smell of sweat heavy in the air; both telltale signs of heavy medication. Indeed just beneath the surface you could sense a battle raging between the demons and the drugs, the drugs barely holding their own, while above the fray stood Ivan, still in command, determined to keep the ship from going down.
“Reverend, you got a word from the Lord for me?”
I was always struck by the sincerity of the request. Nothing put on or superficial. Too often as a preacher you are asked to pray or otherwise speak some kind of God talk and you wish you were somewhere else. But not with Ivan. He needed all the help he could get. God was not far off and he was asking for a word.
Such language sounds rather peculiar for our time although it has not always been so. In centuries past it was accepted practice to not only wait for a word but to actively seek after one, to call upon the gods for direction, some sign of what was to come. The Greeks studied the entrails of animals and observed the flight of birds seeking a sign, an omen good or bad, in order to have some indication of how they should proceed in all sorts of matters both personal and public. One of the most famous battles in history, a clash between the armies of Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius in 331, was decided partly on the basis of the fact that Alexander’s astrologers interpreted the eclipse of the moon to mean the defeat of the Persians. Bolstered by such predictions Alexander’s troops,greatly outnumbered, swept to victory. Lest we find this strange I must point out a man in south Saskatchewan forecasts long range weather patterns by examining the spleens of pigs with, he claims, as much accuracy as the weatherman. Of course, we don’t believe that kind of stuff. And yet... .
Another story I find quite delightful is that of Gideon who, like Ivan, also sought a word from God, even going so far as to double check the answer.
Called upon by the Lord to do battle with his enemies, the reluctant Gideon desired a sign as to how the battle would go. He proposed that he lay a fleece on the ground and if in the morning there was dew on the fleece, while the ground remained dry, it would be a sign from God that Gideon would be victorious. The next morning Gideon wrung water from the fleece and the ground was dry. Just to be on the safe side Gideon decided to repeat the test, a second poll so to speak, to see if, in fact, God were on side. He would put out a fleece the second night and if in the morning it were dry and the ground wet he would know that God was with him. And it was so. Whatever you make of Gideon’s methods he went into battle and prevailed.
Maybe I’m just an old man lost in his overcoat, but there are days when I’m not so far from throwing down the fleece. And often mindful of Ivan, caught up in his mad world of hospitals and medications, asking, not for a cure -he knew better than that -but a word, something to keep him going.
Yes, I’ll admit it, I listen for a word, watch for a sign. Nothing as messy as pig spleens to be sure but a sign, an intuition, that helps tilt the balance. Not that I’m going to win the battle and slaughter all the tribes that oppose me, although there are occasions here in the village when the thought crosses my mind. No, just a word to keep going, some indication that it’s worth it. A word from the Lord, rations for the day.
I never knew what to say to Ivan when he showed up at my door as he did that morning. Often he was mad, eye glazed, spun out mad. I was a chaplain, trained in a church that had long since opted for reason as its god, long ago having lost touch with its mad men and women. Moreover, I was part of a health care system whose mission was to cure you and make you normal. And we had the means to do it, at least we had drugs that would slow you to a walk as they had with Ivan. What do you say to a man whose madness keeps returning and who keeps asking for a word?
On impulse, before he could utter the request that I knew was coming, I said, “Ivan, is there a word for me today? Has God got a word for me?”
A kind of childlike smile crossed his face.
“Reverend, God says you’re a good man.” He held my hand a moment, like a priest giving blessing to a child at communion, then left as quickly as he had come. One brief moment of intimacy, perhaps all either of us could tolerate.
Is there any word from the Lord?
You throw down the fleece. You watch the birds. In your madness you do all manner of things hoping to hear. You listen for some word to offset the mediocrity of all that’s normal, a little sustenance to keep going in the midst of the madness that has erupted all around. And a madman tells you what you need to hear and have forgotten how to speak.
I heard that Ivan died awhile back; his death didn’t make the “obits”. I suspect it wasn’t much of a funeral. Probably few people attended other than the undertaker and a hired preacher, one that fills in and says the words when there’s no one else available. I would like to think I would have gone if I had known about it.
Maybe I would have had the courage to stand up and tell how every six months or so Ivan came to my door. Every six months I was reminded that each of us has something to say, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven. Each of us has something we need to hear. A word from the Lord.
_____________________
Ron Evans is a CPSP Diplomate who now devotes his energy to writing. His book, Sakatchewan Remembered, was well received. One reviewer states: "...Evans will make you laugh. He takes subjects that once made us blush with guilt or laugh nervously, and makes them approachable and acceptable. He does this by using his humor to gently sand away the rough edges. I have a belief that if you pursue something to its darkest, quips Evans, there will be something bearable about it..."
Following the book's publication, Ron focused his creative energies to produce an audio version of his book. The words and voice of the author blended with the music of a gifted local musician makes it a must have CD for your collection, especially if you like to listen to books in your car and when on the move with your iPod.
-Perry Miller, Editor
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 1:29 PM
The Spring National Clinical Training Seminar is fast approaching. Please make your plans to attend! The dates are May 6 & 7, 2008 at the Carmel Retreat Center in Mahwah, New Jersey. Our presenter for this seminar is Dr. James W. Pruett from the Counseling Center at Charlotte, North Carolina! We will post the registration and theme for this seminar on March 1, 2008. All roads lead to the CPSP National Clinical Training Seminar in New Jersey! Francine Angel,
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 8:52 PM
Workshop I – 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, March 30 – “Community Based CPE.” Presenter: Foy Richey, CPSP Diplomate, ACPE Supervisor; Thirty Five Years as a Description: This workshop will describe the evolution and development of the Workshop II – 10:45 a.m. to Noon Sunday, March 30 – “There is No Suffering in the Hospital!” Presenter: Rev. Ken Blank, CPSP Diplomate, ACPE Supervisor,Executive Director, Workshop III – 1:00 to 2:45 p.m. Sunday, March 30 – “Chapter Life Workshop” Presenter: Perry Miller, Chair of the Chapter Life Committee of CPSP. Description: There will be an open forum, a time for the group to share vignettes of HURRY! Download file "PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS"
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 2:46 PM
Raymond Lawrence applies his clinical eye and perspective to the President'ts State of the Union message in Lawrence's recently published article in CounterPunch, Bush's Troubling Non-Verbal Communication.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at 2:38 PM
February 4, 2008
The Spring National Clinical Training Seminar---May 6-7, 2008
Coordinator NCTS
February 1, 2008
A GOOD REASON to COME EARLY to the 2008 CPSP Plenary!
THE PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2008
CPE Supervisor; Disciples of Christ Clergy; President of Rocky Mountain Center for
Education and Training and Founder and Pioneer of Community Based CPE in
Colorado.
successful Community Based CPSP CPE program in Colorado developed by Rocky
Mountain Center for Education and Training over the past twelve years. Workshop
participants will learn about: organizational components, financial support, innovative clinical community placement issues, management of long distance and Internet CPE supervision, core demographic targets for the success of this model of doing CPE.
Participants will receive a “how-to-get-started” packet for doing indigenous community based CPE.
Oklahoma Health Center Clinical Pastoral Education Institute. Past President of
CPSP. Recipient: Professional Service Award, Association of Professional Chaplains.
Description: One of the primary goals of medicine is to alleviate or eliminate
suffering for hospitalized patients. And it is not unusual to have Certified Chaplains
join in this admirable effort, even if it means we make the burden “a little lighter” by
sharing it with the patient. But what if there is no suffering in the hospital? Would this change our theology of pastoral care? Would this have an impact on our style of ministry as Chaplains and pastors? Come and find out in this challenging and provocative seminar!
their life in Chapters, ask questions, impart info, etc. Also, Mary Davis will give a
presentation of new Conveners Manual. In addition, part of the workshop will be
devoted to helping Chapters access competence.
Early Bird Deadline is March 1st !CPSP People in the News: Raymond Lawrence
Perry Miller, Editor