Transformational education: exploring the lasting impact of students' clinical pastoral education experiences

"Thank you for that experience and for the ways it continues to shape who I am and how I interact in all of my life." (S20). There has been limited research validating Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as a learning approach to date, however, the anecdotal evidence supporting the transformative value of CPE is abundant, as demonstrated by this student response. This quality improvement project engages a thematic cross-sectional analysis of 34 students' self-evaluative responses reporting the lasting impact of their CPE training. From the survey responses a thematic map was developed highlighting six themes of lasting impact: Spirituality, Psychotherapy, Agency, Self-Inter, Self-Intra, and Story/Narrative. These six themes overlap and intersect to provide a point of what we call "SPE alchemy"-the perfect conditions for lasting impact and transformation.

HAVE-H: Five Attitudes for a Narratively Grounded and Embodied Spirituality

Western cultures are becoming increasingly cognitive. While this trend has produced many advances in science and related fields, it has also resulted in the neglect of human emotions and bodies in many domains. This article argues that spiritual care practitioners can counterbalance this trend through the embodiment of five specific attitudes summarized by the acronym HAVE-H ((a) honoring the origins of perception; (b) acknowledging the inevitability of projection; (c) validating experiential neutrality; (d) embodying a commitment to truth; and (e) holding space for metaphysics/transcendence/time).

A Narrative Approach to Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Health Care

Recent approaches to spirituality in health care suggest spirituality and meaning making are intimately connected. However, not much has been done to explore the hermeneutic and existential implications of this perspective. This article delves into these hermeneutic and existential questions, suggesting that narrative is a comprehensive phenomenon through which spirituality can be described and understood. This leads to a systematic description of spirituality, which is both defined and described herein. This article ends with a reflection on the clinical implications of this model, drawing upon both practical literature and impressions from the author's own spiritual care clinical practice.

What's the Point of Clinical Pastoral Education and Pastoral Counselling Education? Political, Developmental, and Professional Considerations

Further clarity is needed regarding the uniqueness of spiritual care and psycho-spiritual therapy. In this article, this uniqueness is described as the relative spiritual health of spiritual health professionals. Drawing upon political philosophy, spiritual development theories, and studies in spiritual health, three traits of spiritual health are revealed that spiritual health professionals need to function effectively in their work environments. The article ends with four recommendations for both clinical pastoral education and pastoral counselling education.

What's the Point of Spiritual Care? A Narrative Response

This article assumes spiritual care is relevant for all people, regardless of their faith affiliation. Building on the author's work in narrative spirituality, the discussion demonstrates how spiritual care practitioners can engage clients in their lived narratives, with Narrative Empowerment being the end goal. Several therapeutic practices are thus revealed, as well as three traits by which a client's Narrative Empowerment can be described and assessed.

Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Public Health Care: A Manifesto for Health Care Chaplains in Canada

Health care chaplaincy positions in Canada are significantly threatened due to widespread health care cutbacks. Yet the current time also presents a significant opportunity for spiritual care providers. This article argues that religion and spirituality in Canada are undergoing significant changes. The question for Canadian health care chaplains is, then: how well equipped are they to understand these changes in health care settings and to engage them? This article attempts to go part way toward an answer.