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March 24, 2007
CPSP and the U.S. Army Family Life Chaplain Training and Resource Center by Stephen Demien
As the Director of the U.S. Army Family Life Chaplain Training and Resource Center at Fort Hood, I’m excited to share some of the innovative methods we’re incorporating at our facility for the integration of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) into the Chaplain’s Family Life Training Program (CFLTP). The Fort Hood program is one of only two such programs in the military providing training for Army chaplains of many faiths and backgrounds as well as chaplains from other branches of service. Chaplain (LTC) David Scheider and myself integrated CPSP CPE into the class of 2005-2006. The class of 2007 will leave the Chaplain Family Chaplain Training Center with 4 units of CPE and an additional master degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. The other program is located at Fort Benning, GA conducted by Chaplain (LTC) Tom Waynick.
The training initiative at the center is to integrate CPE to develop skills in pastoral care and counseling with an emphasis in family therapy, to develop self awareness, a professional identity as a chaplain and to begin the stages of training for family life chaplains to become mentors, pastoral supervisors and trainers to unit chaplains. At the centers we are seeking to incorporating CPE training into the U.S. Army Family Life Chaplain Training Program expands CPE process outside of the hospital setting and into a pastoral counseling and marriage and family counseling setting. This is a nice setting for CPE because the Family Life Students are in a group from 8 am in the morning until 10 pm in the evening all week for 14 months.
The Family Life Chaplain process first began at Fort Riley, Kansas in 2001. Maury Stout, former staff member in the Office of Ministry Initiatives of Army Chief of Chaplain Office, had been participating in CPE training in Topeka, Kansas, and invited Chaplain Peter Gotta, Director of New Life Designs, to come to Fort Riley and lead a community-based program of CPE.
The response was very positive and the wheels were set in motion to begin a community model CPE program. In 2003 a formal CPE pilot program accredited by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP) began at Fort Riley, which offered four units of CPE training to 18 different chaplains. Towards the end of the pilot program, Chaplain Carl Rosenberg requested Chaplain Gotta to provide supervisory training.
At this time, the Army Chief of Chaplains decided that CPSP offered a model of CPE training that enables unit chaplains to give pastoral care to soldiers before, during and after deployments. The CPE model will be used at the training centers as a model of education for professional development of the student and model of supervision. The end result is that students leaving the center will conduct Battle Space Pastoral Training on the installation and during deployments.
Chaplain Gotta believes Family Life Chaplains are ideal for this supervisory training because much of what goes on at Fort Hood and Fort Benning has many elements of CPE. Program participants could get credit for AAMFT, AAPC and CPSP, complete four units of CPE, and graduate the program with the credentials to later become CPE supervisors. CPE is the methodology to fulfill something that is already in a chaplain’s job description—mentoring less experienced chaplains. Their mission is to train.
The Chaplain’s Family Life Training Program is a very intense 14 months of 13 hour days and 48 hours of time spent together as a group during the week. Graduates of the program will obtain a Master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, complete a minimum of 300 practicum hours, and complete the CPE process. The program also includes integrated IPR, didactics, group and individual supervision. Fort Hood’s state of the art technology allows for live monitoring of case studies and instant feedback from observers.
Directing this program has allowed me to work with outstanding participants from different service branches, religious backgrounds, and experiences. Regardless of their backgrounds, participants in the program speak highly of the experience. USAF CH (LTC) Mark Campbell, a 2006 graduate of the CFLTP, shared with me his feelings about the journey of becoming a Family Life Chaplain and his experiences with CPE,
“It’s so incredibly rich. The CPE portion gives you time to interact with peers and reflect on your own life journey. You reflect on your interactions with others. It is extremely energizing and insightful.” When I asked about the benefits of the program, CH (LTC) Campbell replied, “CPE really enables you to understand how you come across to people. People who care about you will respond to you and help you become a more effective caregiver, pastor, and chaplain. I came out of there sensing that my strengths were affirmed and my weaknesses were appropriately noted, but in a polite way. The genius of the model is that it makes CPE available to people that are not in clinical settings, making it accessible to more people.”
After the chaplains complete the training program, they will use the pastoral care and counseling skills, family therapy skills and the group processing skills to develop a Battlefield Pastoral Education Program at their next assignment. This program will help unit chaplain develop pastoral care, pastoral counseling and marriage and family skills. It will also give chaplains a safe place to receive clinical supervision from skilled mentors and peers.
Last year 3 army and 3 air force chaplains were able to complete 4 units of CPE accredited by the College of Supervision and Pastoral Psychotherapy. In August of 2007 5 army chaplains and two Air Force Chaplain will complete the process. In May, 7 army chaplains and 2 air force chaplains will begin the process.
The intent is that these chaplains completing their four units of CPE will have receive new insight, enhanced the development of their professional identity and increase helping and marriage and family therapy skills.
Posted by Perry Miller, Editor at March 24, 2007 12:46 PM