Demystifying Mental Health Ministry
Paper for the SCD Learning and Teaching Conference
27, 28 September
2013
Rev Alan Galt, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, Level 3 CPE Supervisor, Centre Director, the
Mental Health CPE Centre; and Mrs Rosemarie Say, Mental Health Chaplain, Acting Level 2
CPE Supervisor.
Background.
NSW Churches have been closely associated with mental health ministry for over 50 years. In
1959, four ministers from major NSW Churches were appointed as Chaplains to Callan Park prior
to the Royal Commission into abuses of patient rights and staff practices1. Their main task, to
ensure community awareness of what is happening inside previously closed institutions, has now
been taken over by government appointed official visitors, and by closer monitoring of staff
professionalism. By 2000 there were 13 full time mental health chaplains funded by the state
government2, with the generally accepted function of “meeting the pastoral and spiritual needs of
patients, their relatives and staff”3.
At present, a total of twenty full-time equivalent mental health chaplains are deployed in NSW:
eleven government funded in state psychiatric hospitals4; six church funded chaplains in church
run private psychiatric hospitals5, and two in psycho-geriatric facilities6, as well as one in the
Mental Health Department’s Forensic Unit7. Of these twenty mental health chaplains, fourteen
have elected to do their mental health ministry training through our Rozelle and now Macquarie
based Mental Health CPE Centre. This is in addition to the hundreds of full-time, part-time and
sessional chaplains - clergy, lay people and theological students of all Churches and Other Faiths
- who have graduated from our Basic programs over the past twenty years and are now either
employed or visiting as pastoral volunteers in psychiatric units attached to general hospitals,
prisons, aged care facilities, and ministry in the community and congregations8.
What are we offering that so meets the needs of people wishing to prepare themselves for mental
health ministry? Students report excellent adult education opportunities, appreciate the studentcentred teaching and the transformational, experiential learning that both increases their
understanding of their task and their capacity to fulfil it. A bonus benefit is that students can claim
18 points towards an SCD Masters for the 2 semester CPE program.
In a radical departure from the traditional approach to mental health ministry, we focus on three
essential ingredients for effective pastoral interactions with people affected by mental illness:,
1. Understanding what the residents, and those who are working with them, want
and need from God’s representatives.
1
2.
A capacity for agape love, the Christ-like, other-centred, transforming attitude
and theological approach, that looks for the essence of the divine in troubled and
often troublesome people.
3.
Willingness to “learn from the living human documents.
Callan Park Royal Commission Report p7
Deployment and Funding of Mental Health Chaplains (5)
3
Deployment and Funding of Mental Health Chaplains (3)
4
at Newcastle, Macquarie, Concord, Cumberland, Goulburn and Orange
5
to Wandene at Kogarah, Wesley at Ashfield, St John of God Burwood, and St John of God Richmond
6
Holy Spirit at Croydon, Lillian Wells at Northmead
7
Health Department Forensic Psychiatry Unit at Long Bay
8
The MHCPE Centre runs 2 Basic (400 hour over 2 semesters) CPE Units a year, one in aged care and
one in mental health ministry, with 5 to 8 students graduating from each program
2
2
Video 1
Heather).
Pastoral Interview by Hazel with “Joanne” (portrayed by
Heather)
Experienced chaplain Hazel portrays a new student who
while drawing on her own capacity for empathy with a
distressed long term resident, reveals a propensity to problem
solve. In reviewing this interaction, she recognises what she is
doing and is offered space in individual supervision to
understand how her own life story imposes on her current
pastoral interactions.
The professional supervision entailed in clinical pastoral education helps students with the goals
they set for themselves in the way of personal growth, professional competence and pastoral
effectiveness9. It also addresses “complexities in the caring relationship and the potential
reactions within the professional her/himself”10. CPE supervision promotes
“the ability to establish an emotional bond that is characterised by support, trust,
respect, care and role clarity; foster collaboration and teamwork; develop an
agreement on goals and tasks; acknowledging mistakes and share errors; work
through and resolve conflicts; use appropriate self-disclosure; appreciate the
dynamics of the supervisory relationship”11.
Students recognise and deal with any aspect of their functioning that may prevent, or that may
enhance, their pastoral interactions, and students report this as one of the most beneficial aspects
of the year’s work in a Basic CPE program12.
Learning Pastoral Ministry with Mentally Ill people.
1. The first essential ingredient for effective mental health ministry is coming to
understand what the residents, and those who are working with them, want and need from
God’s representatives.
We are guided by feedback from staff and patients13, research of the professional mental health
literature14, and the findings of mental health chaplains15, as well as by the Mid-term and Final
evaluations of students and supervisors in our programs16, which provide continuous and updated
peer and supervisor feedback on what is working and what could be done more effectively in
pastoral ministry.
In the past, pastoral ministry in clinical situations deferred to the wisdom of medical, nursing or
other professional staff. Of course student pastors need to know what they are doing and should
be able to rely on the guidance of experienced mentors to avoid serious pitfalls and discredited
modes of operating. But, especially in the complex world of psychosis, anxiety and depression,
we are becoming less sure of the certainties that once existed, and the inherited knowledge of the
past is being overtaken by more experientially learned truths.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
NSW College of CPE Handbook 2011 p11
Harrison and Westwood 2009 pp203-219
Falender and Shafranske p19
Final evaluations MHCPECentre 2012
Macquarie Hospital Quality Assurance survey 2008
Rosemarie Say Submission for Accreditation as Level 1 Supervisor of CPE 2012
eg Marion Carson The Pastoral Care of People with Mental Health Problems London SPCK 2008
Mid-term 2013, Final Evaluation 2012, Basic Unit of CPE in Mental Health Ministry Macquarie Hospital
3
An example of this is the new understanding and treatment of “voices”17. Mental health
professionals from all disciplines are increasingly encouraging people experiencing auditory
hallucinations to distinguish between “good” and “bad” voices, and to use behavioural techniques
to resist destructive comments and demands. They continue to enjoy support, even inspiration,
from the positive interactions, and can avoid taking anti-psychotic medication with its inevitable
distressing side-effects to block the voices. One delightful long time resident we visit converses
for hours with his own special saint, who assures him that he is a good man, despite the decades
of mental deterioration that has seen him lose his work as a high school teacher, his marriage and
family.
One of the many metaphors for the supervisory relationship that has long appealed to me is the
“grandmother/mother/baby” image for the interactions between supervisor and student and
patient18. In many years of working with mothers and babies at risk I have become aware of
the importance of mothering the mother, so that she will have the strength, courage and
determination to mother the baby.
It has been my conviction that supervision is not a matter of having all the answers, but of being
comfortable with the uncertainties.
Another area of concern for me in 40 years of mental health ministry, has been the harsh,
unforgiving attitude of church representatives towards suicide, the most frequent cause of death
for young mentally ill men in Australia19.
We help our students to listen to what depressed and suicidal patients or parishioners are telling
them, to be there for them in a way that fulfils the ancient pastoral conviction: “Though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23.4).
Video 2
David with
“Joel”
(portrayed by Alan)
Encountering a suicidally depressed person for the first time,
Theological Student David listens to Joel’s fears and regrets, and
reflects on helpful teachings from the scriptures and church history,
to bring encouragement and hope, rather than condemnation and
despair. David, drawing on his own experiences as a son, husband,
father and pastoral visitor, recognises what his parishioner is going
through, shows compassion, and avoids attempting to instruct Joel
on matters that Joel knows much more about than David does!
We look closely at the attitudes, sensitivities, and skills that distinguish “skilled” from “unskilled”
helpers20, and encourage students to address the “ultimate concerns”21 that underlie and give force
to the patient’s presenting behaviour.
Pastoral Volunteers at Macquarie work with people on those ultimate concerns that are
universal, such as grief, confusion about the purpose and meaning of life, the experience
17
18
19
20
21
Hearing Voices Network Australia
Carroll p54
Suicide in Australia
Egan The Skilled Helper and Taylor The Skilled Pastor
Clebsch and Jaekle p4
4
of alienation and the desire for reconciliation; as well as being sensitive to the specific
concerns raised by the experience of psychosis, depression, anxiety, phobias, addictions
and personality disorders22.
A key component of clinical pastoral education not practised in other forms of training in helping
skills, is “theological reflection”23 looking at a pastoral situation from a perspective of asking
“where is God in this interaction?” “What resources from the suffering person’s faith tradition
and spiritual journey can help him or her survive and grow through this crisis?”24
We build a depressed person’s capacity for hope and resolution, not imposing impossible
expectations on an already over-burdened soul. The skilled mental health pastor enters the
tumultuous world of the depressed or psychotic patient, offering a reassuring, comforting
presence, but avoiding the type of unskilled hectoring and advice giving that has so characterised
many psychiatric patients’ previous interactions with the church25.
2. The second essential ingredient for successful mental health ministry is a capacity for
agape love, the Christ-like, other-centred, transforming attitude and theological approach26.
This is hard to “teach” but where it is present in a student, her or his interactions bring the most
amazing blessings for both pastor and patient!
There is a remarkable similarity between “client-centred psychotherapy”27 and the attitude of
Jesus to the people he met. Whether sick, troubled, alienated and marginalised, oppressed,
arrogant or humble, learned or ignorant, he always looked for the good and positive in them. We
believe this is a prerequisite for successful pastoral ministry.
Video 3
Mariola with “Shona” (portrayed by San)
After attending hospital chapel services as a parish volunteer
for 2 years, Mariola is doing her first Basic CPE this year, and
is already adapting her unbounded enthusiasm for the task to an
insightful awareness of her patient’s life-time of anguish. She
offers Shona a relationship of unconditional positive regard that
does much to counteract the rejection and abuse she has
received during decades of institutional “care”.
3
“If a student approaches a patient with appreciation, awe, positive regard and a
sense of enjoyment, the interaction will be profitable. If not, sometimes because of
the seemingly unlovely nature of the resident, or perhaps because of the student’s
excessive self-concern and lack of empathy, then the pastoral interaction proves
devoid of purpose, unsatisfying for both the patient and the pastor, and is guaranteed
to produce dissatisfaction and disenchantment in the job!28”
It has been a salutary experience to observe the way chaplains who demonstrate a dogmatic,
simplistic theology, equating sickness with lack of faith and unhappiness with failure to pray
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
The contribution of Pastoral Volunteers
Theological reflection comments from student final evaluations 2012
Jennings Pastoral Theological Methodology in Hunter Ed p862
Aist p714
Galt Selection
Rogers unconditional positive regard in Corey p170
Galt Selection
5
enough, draw a negative response of residents. This contrasts with the appreciative response to
our students who practise respect, even reverence, for the distressed people they meet 29.
Chaplains from some churches believe the only resource they need is the Bible and Prayer Book.
They usually find mental health ministry frustrating and unfulfilling, and residents largely
un-accepting of their ministry. On the other hand, residents appreciate our students’ genuine
respect and willingness to quietly, patiently walk with them, especially when life feels
desperate30.
Scottish pastoral theologian Ewan Kelly, who was guest orator at our recent celebration of the
50th Anniversary of Clinical Pastoral Education in NSW, highlights the transformational
experience that comes from respecting the dignity of the downcast31.
“In being with people in times of liminality and transition, in attending and waiting
with respect and in expectation, we are on holy ground like our forefather Moses…
(who) found the holy in the ordinary, heard God’s voice in the mundane, because he
was willing to take time, be attentive and risk looking through a different lens”.
He describes the mutual benefit of such meaningful encounters:
“Entering into the lives and stories of others enables us as listeners not just to encounter
the inner world and perceptions of the teller but, potentially, to glimpse something of the
mysteries of the Other as well as revealing something of the hidden depths of ourselves
…(this happens through) an attitude and innate gift to be reverently mindful in the
moment of what is shared, seen and experienced in the company of another.”
This is very much what Jesus was saying in the parable of the sheep and the goats, a subtle
interpretation of which is that when we visit the sick and suffering, the desolate and outcast, we
meet Christ himself (Matt. 25. 40)! We can even say that those who are ready to appreciate the
kingdom of heaven, are the ones who have prepared themselves by their loving approach to their
neighbours in this life.
3. The third essential ingredient of effective mental health ministry is willingness to “learn
from the living human documents”.
Listening to the experts, the residents themselves, students learn what they need to know about
the pastoral and spiritual needs of mentally ill people. It is at this point that our educational
programs provide a gentle introduction to being present with psychiatric patients, allowing
students to “meet” residents through simulated interviews, helping them reflect on that
experience, before taking them at their own pace on supervised pastoral visits.
The founder of Clinical Pastoral Education, American clergyman Anton Boisen, was powerfully
affected by his experience of his fellow clergy being unable to offer meaningful pastoral care
during his hospitalisation for a depressive illness. He organised a program requiring theological
students to visit mental hospital patients in order to gain an understanding of what they were
going through. Their task was not to teach, preach or counsel, but to listen and learn. As one of
our most effective graduates commented “The greatest gift one can give to another person is to
listen to them and let them be heard”.32
29
30
31
32
Exposure to mental illness Student Final Evaluations 2012
Macquarie Pastoral Volunteers
Kelly pp28,9
Shirley Student Evaluation 2010
6
The obvious benefit was the students’ increased appreciation of what psychiatric illness is and
what it does to the people affected, but also it led to an awakened realisation of the value and
dignity of the heroic survivors against adversity who they met in the psychiatric wards33.
Our program emphasises the importance of “pastoral presence”, being there, accompanying the
sufferer, sometimes walking alongside, sometimes behind, but seldom trying to push or pull them
in a direction we want them to go.34 CPE Supervision, working with trainees’ own stated goals for
personal, professional and pastoral improvement35, models self-help and empowering rather than
telling people what to do.
Over a typical day, students meet residents at the weekly Chapel service, visit them in their wards
and activity areas, write up their experiences and report them to the training group, present
verbatim reports and participate in didactic presentations on specific areas of mental health
ministry, with a strong component of theological reflection. The outcomes, assessment tasks, and
expected reading for a CPE Unit are listed in the SCD endorsed Course Unit Booklets.36
Students find it liberating not to have to understand the nuances and allusions in a psychotic,
depressed or anxious patient’s words and actions. They delight in the new found knowledge that
they do have the capacity to be present with, even enjoy the company of people who are so very
different to their own previous life experiences. Writing in her local newspaper, one of our senior
mentors comments:
“Getting to know the patients in the hospital, and also knowing people in the
community who struggle with mental illness, I have come to realise the tremendous
courage (they)have”37.
The fearful mystery of mental illness is replaced by exciting opportunities for a ministry of
presence.
Video 4
Loren with “Francis” (portrayed by Alan)
Listening to Francis’s bizarre recollections of his Baulkan
war experience, Loren identifies the deep spiritual anguish
beneath the surface of Francis’s psychotic utterances, does
not try to straighten out his confused thinking, but treats
him with respect as someone he is prepared to take
seriously.
The aim of mental health ministry, which we try to inculcate in our students, is to be with our
residents, accompanying them on their journey, letting them know that God is with them in the
vicissitudes of life.
“The care of spiritual companionship…(the pastor) accompanies the older person as they
seek to make sense of what is happening in terms of the bigger picture of their life and a
bigger picture of a power that is greater than them and greater than life.
33
34
35
36
37
Student final evaluations 2012
Final Evaluations 2012
Pohly p151
PT577, 578, 579
Heather in The South Sydney Herald October 2011 p9
7
“Overcoming the lethargy that is part of depression in this transition is often helped by the
spiritual companion constantly walking with, not carrying or not crowding out, just being
there at the right time, offering the safe place for the untangling of emotions, becoming
spiritually aware and surfacing new thoughts38.”
Marian Carson, writing from the perspective of her experience as a psychiatric nurse, pastoral
worker and teacher, urges pastoral people to persevere:
“in the belief that our pastoral skills of bringing love, patience and intuition into
difficult situations help to ‘re-personalise oppressed and disoriented people’...We
can help those who feel that their views count for little in the face of professional opinion.
We can stand by them as suffering people who are loved by God.”39
Her excellent book aims to enable people from the church to befriend and support those affected
by mental health problems, and their families. In each chapter she accurately describes various
types of mental illnesses, gives examples from her own ministry, and adds some helpful hints
about appropriate pastoral interventions.
Comments from students’ mid-term and final evaluations, cluster around the liberating experience
of not having to make things happen for patients, and point to the life-giving benefits of a
ministry of presence.
“Before undertaking the CPE I felt wary and fearful of people who behaved in ways
that I could not understand and that were unpredictable. As I have gotten to know
residents at Macquarie Hospital, I have noticed that my fearfulness has dissipated.
I enjoy interacting with most residents and have a greater appreciation of the
challenges they face…I feel competent and confident of my ability to be empathically
present, and to reflect on the meaning of my interactions, with residents40.”
Conclusion.
Students take away from our Basic CPE in Mental Health Ministry, some transforming central
lessons: we do not “take Jesus” to alienated people, but rather meet him there; “Mental Health”
requires adaptation to the wide range of human experiences and needs; the essential ingredient for
effective “pastoral ministry with mentally ill people” is loving acceptance, an attitude of respect
and appreciation for heroic survivors against adversity.
Video 5
Jenny with “Martha” (portrayed by Rosemarie)
Taking time to get to know Martha over several months,
Jenny finds herself relaxed and engaged in a mutually
encouraging 2-way relationship, where she learns from the
wisdom of an older resident who has been through many
struggles in life, and at the same time becomes conscious of
courage, strength and peace in herself that she had not been
previously aware of.
38
39
40
White p97
Carson pxxiii
K Mid-term evaluation 2013
“When students bring to, or discover during the program, an awareness of the presence
of Jesus, the image of the divine, in the sick and imprisoned, alienated and despairing
people they visit, they come alive in their pastoral ministry, and they bring to their pastoral
calling an exciting, empowering readiness to walk alongside the struggling and growing
people they are called to minister with!” 41
It is fulfilling and rewarding to be part of their journey of discovery and development!
Appendix 1
Pastoral Groups at Macquarie.
Feedback from residents on 12th Nov 2008, led by CPE Trainees.
Appendix 2
Students’ learning agreement
Centre for Mental Health CPE.
Basic CPE in Mental Health Ministry
2013
References
CS Aist
"Mental Health and Illness" in R Hunter Ed Dictionary of
Pastoral Care and Counseling Nashville
Abingdon
1990
Callan Park Royal Commission of Inquiry, Report to the NSW Parliament Sydney Sept 1961
M Carroll
Counselling Supervision - Theory, Skills and Practice
London
Cassell
1996
Marion Carson
The pastoral care of people with mental health problems
London
SPCK
2008
WA Clebsch and CR Jaekle Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective
New Jersey
Prentice-Hall
1964
G. Corey
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy
3rd Edition Monterey California
Brooks/Cole
1986
Deployment and Funding of Mental Health Chaplaincies in NSW
Sydney
NSW Civil Chaplaincies Advisory Committee
1995
G. Egan
The Skilled Helper 7th ed. Pacific Grove CA Brooks/Cole
2002
C Falender & E Shafranske Casebook for Clinical Supervision Washington DC
American Psychological Association
2009
Donelson Forsyth
Group Dynamics (5th Edition) Belmont California Wadsworth
2010
E Kelly
Personhood and Presence - self as a resource for spiritual and
pastoral care London
T and T Clark International
2012
Macquarie Hospital Chaplains Department
Quality Assurance survey
2008
Mental Health CPE Centre Learning Agreement Basic CPE in Mental Health Ministry 2013
Mental Health CPE Centre Student Evaluations
Basic CPE in Mental Health Ministry
2011, 2012, 2013
NSW College of Clinical Pastoral Education
Handbook
2011
41
Galt Selection p3
Transforming the Rough Places
2nd Edition
Franklin, Tennessee
Providence House
CW Taylor
The Skilled Pastor
Minneapolis
Fortress
John White
Spiritual and Pastoral Care Approaches for Helping Older Adults
with Depression in MacKinlay Ed “Spirituality of Later Life: on
Humour and Despair”
Binghamton NY Hayworth
David Willows and John Swinton Spiritual Dimensions of Pastoral Care 3rd Impression
London
Jessica Kingsley
Journals
K Pohly
2001
1991
2004
2005
P Baume et al p3
Suicide Research Bulletin No 4 Griffiths University
1999
RL Harrison and MJ Westwood “Preventing vicarious traumatisation of mental health
therapists: Identifying protective practices” in Psychotherapy Theory,
Research, Practice, Training Vol 46 pp203-219
2009
M Holaday, T Lackey, M Boucher and R Glidewell “Secondary stress, burnout and the clergy”
American Journal of Pastoral Counselling Vol 4 (1)
2001
Heather R
“Tremendous courage” in The South Sydney Herald Waterloo Oct
2011
Presentations
A Galt
R Say
R Say and A Galt
Selection of students for a Basic Clinical Pastoral Education Program.
In a presentation for Accreditation as a Level 3 Supervisor of Clinical
Pastoral Education Sydney NSW College of CPE
2010
Presentation for Accreditation as a Level 1 Supervisor of Clinical
Pastoral Education Sydney
NSW College of CPE
2010
The contribution of Pastoral Volunteers to the spiritual well-being
of psychiatric hospital residents Macquarie Hospital
Feb 2013
Internet
Hearing voices network Australia
Appendix 1
Pastoral Groups at Macquarie. Feedback from residents on 12th Nov 2008, led by
CPE Trainees. Compiled by Rev Alan Galt, Supervisor, Rosemarie Say Co-ordinator of
Chaplaincy Department
At the end of typical half hour pastoral groups, we asked residents participating: “What do you
like about the Wednesday Pastoral Group?”
At H Hostel, 5 residents replied:
A
B
B
I
J
(f 55)
(f 50)
(m 55)
(m 60)
(m 50)
“the honesty”
“comradeship and encouragement”
“it’s a nice group, as long as it doesn’t go on too long”
“special company, God is personified in the Rector”
“everyone is half asleep, like me, but they listen. They accept me”
The supervisors and students also recorded these impressions from the residents’
behaviour:
their regular, repeat attendance
courteous attention to each other
supportive statements to other residents, eg J: “everybody here likes you I”
enjoying the prayers and asking for more and more specific, personal prayers
respected the Chaplain’s gentle request to stay till the end of the prayer time
(A “I’ve got to go now”, but persevered till the end)
At T House, 14 residents commented:
B (m 40
D (m 45)
E (f 50)
F (m 55)
I (f 60)
M (m 55)
R (m 50)
R (m 55)
S (m 50)
T (m 45)
T (m 60)
“I like you praying for me to get out of this place”
“it cheers us up for the day, the Spirit of the Lord is moving in the group”
“there is a feeling of love and peacefulness here”
“I want the Lord’s Prayer”
(mumbling, but showed interest when a student spoke to her in Arabic)
“we’re in the land of Nod where everyone thinks he is God”
“I want you to pray for my family”
(a deaf man who has never spoken - affirming response by hand gesture)
“I like this prayer and stuff, I wish everyone a Happy Christmas”
“you should love God first, then family. We need some sacred literature.
This is the manifestation of something real, not ephemeral, the true Spirit.”
“I can have a sensible conversation here.”
With encouragement from the hospital administration, assistance from medical, nursing and allied
health staff, and under the direction of senior CPE supervisors, student chaplains and pastoral
volunteers have used their learning about mental health ministry both to enhance the effectiveness
of the contribution of pastoral care to the residents’ overall recovery and rehabilitation, and to
equip themselves for a rewarding and fulfilling ministry with mentally ill people in hospitals,
psychiatric units, prisons, aged care facilities, and in the church and the community.
Appendix 2 Students’ learning agreement
Centre for Mental Health CPE.
Basic CPE in Mental Health Ministry
2013
A BASIC UNIT OF CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION (400 hours over 30 weeks
including the already completed 10 weeks of the Introductory and Pastoral Care in
Psychiatry segments)
- Allows workers in pastoral ministry to learn from your own supervised encounters with
people in a variety of pastoral situations, which raise questions of ultimate concern
- Provides opportunity for personal growth by observing the way you relate in your ministry,
learning from each other's achievements and frustrations
- Encourages professional competence by improving the effectiveness of your functioning as a
member of the helping team, working both with other disciplines and other pastors
- Builds pastoral identity, as you reflect on your own spiritual journey and accompany others on
theirs, in pastoral interactions with patients, staff and colleagues
- Develops your ability to assess specific concerns arising from differences of cultural,
theological, ethnic, socioeconomic, psychological and emotional backgrounds.
THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF CPE
- Action Reflection: Increasing options and improving strategies by learning from your own
supervised experiences of ministry, using verbatim reports, simulated interviews and discussion
of ministerial interactions which bring specific challenges for you
- Supervised pastoral placement in an appropriate setting for ministry over several months, in
this program, acute and long stay psychiatric units and off ward activities
- Intense pastoral interactions as you accompany people going through times of crisis and
growth, observing the impact on your own feelings and spirit
- Giving and receiving peer support, understanding and guidance, in a small group
- Reporting, reflecting on and evaluating the effectiveness of your own pastoral interactions
- Theological reflection, relating your own awareness of the word of God to the realities of life
in this frontier; acknowledging and growing through experiences that expand and develop your
understanding
- Dialogue and prepared presentations on areas relating to the program, in our case, mental
health ministry, challenging and renewing your own position on central human concerns.
SUPERVISION
Group Supervision - 3 hours per week: including Verbatim reports, Didactics on relevant
subjects relating to mental health ministry, Reports on supervised visits, and Theological
Reflection. Trainees in turn bring material and receive feedback from supervisor and peers who
understand the background to your pastoral interactions and can bring encouragement and
support, advice and guidance in a non-threatening way.
Group Presentations may consist of verbatim reports, audio or videotapes, or simulated
interviews, which allow the group to re-enact your pastoral encounters, or may raise specific
pastoral, theological or counselling concerns for discussion and feedback.
Individual Supervision - 10 hours, an hour a fortnight, with the supervisor, gives an opportunity
to discuss particular concerns arising for you during the program, exploring your learning issues
and supporting your adaptation and development in ministry.
In the LEARNING AGREEMENT you set out your goals and strategies for the program for:
Personal growth (self awareness, understanding and coping with difficult relationships...)
Professional competence (recognising and developing the skills and resources needed in an
interdisciplinary mental health team...)
Pastoral identity (knowing where you are on your own spiritual journey; working on your own
distinctive contribution to the healing, sustaining, guiding and reconciling of people as they deal
with ultimate concerns; the ability to reflect theologically...)
These goals and strategies are evaluated half way through the course, and at the end.
The 400 hours of a Basic Unit of CPE in Mental Health Ministry are made up of:
40 hours Introduction to Clinical Pastoral Education
40 hours Introduction to Aged Care Ministry
80 hours Supervised Placement over 20 weeks in the Mental Health Facility
80 hours over 20 weeks Group Supervision - clinical presentations, didactics,
theological reflection, reflections on pastoral visits
10 hours of Individual Supervision
150 hours preparation, research, report writing in your own time
LEARNING AGREEMENT
1. Goals. What do you hope to achieve in this course in the area of
Personal growth
Professional competence
Pastoral identity
What specific concerns would you like addressed in this program?
2. Strategies: How do you think the particular elements of this CPE program
can help you achieve your goals?
Action Reflection
Supervised pastoral placement
Intense pastoral interactions
Small group experience
Evaluating your effectiveness
Theological reflection
Other
Trainee ……………………………………… Supervisor ……………………………………….
Date
………………………………….
Date
.……………………………………….