JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
A program that helps Army chaplains become more in tune with the people they care for is in full swing at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
The Clinical Pastoral Education, or CPE, program was created to get religious spiritual care providers to think about the human aspect of their care, and not just the religious or theological part, according to Army Chaplain (Col.) Mark C. Lee, dean of the Graduate School, U.S. Army Institute for Religious Leadership at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
“We’re incorporating some of the behavioral health sciences and looking at lots of things about a person, so we’re looking at self-awareness, emotional awareness, emotional intelligence and empathy,” Lee said. “We’re also helping our students learn what it means to be empathetic and to be present. We integrate that with our theology, philosophy and spiritual background.
“As spiritual care providers, we come from the understanding that we are representing something that is divine beyond us and whatever that faith background may be for the provider, as well as those who receive care,” said Lee, who has previously worked as the Director of Clinical Pastoral Education Center at Brooke Army Medical Center, educating Certified Educator Candidates and CPE residents, directing the largest CPE Center in the Department of Defense. “In that space, we are trying to help our spiritual care providers learn how to be present with the human and to be the representatives of the divine.”
Army chaplains entering the program are usually in the rank of captain and have been in the military between 18 and 48 months, although majors are accepted as well.
“All chaplains are eligible for the CPE program, but there is a very thorough screening and selection process,” Lee said. “There’s an annual board and an application process. We’re trying to get applicants in their early to middle years of being a captain to give them the awareness of how to be present with people, particularly in a moment of suffering.”
The chaplains who go through this program can serve anywhere in the Army, as a lot of the training and education is centered around large-scale combat operations.
“For the Army CPE program, the key things we’re looking at is how to minister during traumatic events, and for chaplains to be prepared to advise senior leaders during these events,” Lee said. “That’s going to be critical for every chaplain at any echelon, especially at the battalion level.”
The Army CPE program is a one-year residency at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and is a mix of classroom course and real-world experience.
“It’s very different than just learning from lectures and books,” Lee said. “There’s a lot of learning that happens in a group setting, so they’ll bring in case studies from actual patient interactions or Soldier interactions.
“Here at JBSA, it is very unique, as we have Brooke Army Medical Center, which is a Level I trauma center, the only one in the Department of Defense. The chaplains get experience of being on the floors, being in the trauma center, so they get hands-on experience,” he added. “We also have chaplains at University Hospital in San Antonio getting trauma experience.
JBSA is leading the charge for a fresh and innovative approach to CPE by extending it to the Dodd Chapel. This expansion will allow us to incorporate students into the installation, offering comprehensive professional development without sacrificing the distinctiveness of the trauma-informed spiritual care learned at BAMC.
“We will also be working with the many tenant units throughout JBSA that don’t have a chaplain assigned to them. This way, our Soldiers will get experience working with Air Force and Army personnel, as well as trainees and permanent party members.”
The experiences these chaplains have at Level I trauma centers help them gain a more rounded and varied background. Lee hopes this will make them better equipped to handle whatever situation comes their way.
“The key thing is how the chaplains are going to be more present, more empathetic and more in tune with those they care for in the midst of chaos and trauma, blood, guts and all of that,” he said. “They’ll need to remain who they are and be focused on the needs of those they are caring for.
“In trauma situations, there’s going to be a lot of ugliness happening and we need our chaplains to be the calm presence amidst the chaos,” Lee said. “They’ll also have to be able to advise senior leaders on some very difficult decisions. We want them to be able to do that, all the while not being caught up in the anxiety, fury and craziness that’s happening all around them.”
The CPE program looks to produce chaplains who are better equipped, emotionally and spiritually, Lee explained, and also better integrated with their own faith.
“I’m a practical theologian, and that means we take from my academic discipline what systematic theology says of what and who God is, and see how we ought to live out that faith in our lives. That’s nice from the ‘ivory tower,’ but when all hell breaks loose and life is actually happening and lives are breaking apart, how do you apply that theory down to the practical,” Lee explained. “That’s what practical theology is all about and that’s what CPE is. We not only learn our religious background, but we’re also integrating that with the reality of life, as it happens. We learn how to make sense of what’s going on and how to apply this training in the moment. That’s what we’re really looking to do with CPE.”
CPE has been in existence in the Army for more than 40 years, but at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, the program instructors have been trying to look beyond the hospital and look at how they are taking CPE into all different parts of military life so when the students graduate from the program, they don’t just have the hospital background, they will have a practical, real-world background as well.
“What we’re trying to get away from is this whole image of CPE being just for hospital chaplains,” Lee said. “You go to CPE to become a hospital chaplain, but that’s not the totality of CPE. Part and parcel of that is to make sure our hospitals have chaplains who are qualified to fill those billets. In the Army context, we are looking at equipping chaplains for the entire Army, so that no matter where they go, whether it’s in garrison or in infantry, armor, engineering, or medical, they can do what they do and do it well in any type of situation and in any kind of unit at every echelon.”
This year-long course grants four units of CPE that are accredited by ACPE, which is a professional organization for spiritual care and education, accrediting and certifying CPE programs and educators.
“Because our program is accredited by ACPE, our residents graduate with four units of ACPE,” Lee said. “This would allow them to apply for board certification in the civilian world. In the Army, we also offer our students to get a Doctor of Ministry degree while in this program. With this, they can get the ‘7 Romeo’ additional skill identifier.”
The specific “7 Romeo” designation requires that a chaplain complete four units of clinical pastoral education – with each single unit requiring 400 hours – in residency, followed by a two-week Army combat medical ministry course. “That allows them to serve at various echelons at different ranks throughout the Army that has a 7 Romeo requirement,” Lee said.
“The benefit of this program is that the Army receives chaplains who are more self-aware, more emotionally intelligent, and who are better integrated theologically with the behavioral health sciences and can provide great care in the midst of chaos and trauma and are better equipped to provide advice to senior leaders,” Lee said.
Graduates may also find there are more positions in the Army they can qualify for.
“Because of the 7 Romeo qualifier students receive, there are more opportunities and billets that can be filled,” Lee said. “I feel it better equips individuals to better deal with leaders and to better advise those leaders. That ends up better for them, career-wise, and better for the Army.”
Since this is a one-year in-residence course, and counts as a permanent change of station, or PCS, families are allowed to accompany the chaplains and can live on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, which is one of three locations the CPE course is offered. The other two locations are Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, located in Bethesda, Maryland.
“Each class here consists of about six to nine chaplains at any given time,” Lee said. “The feedback we have received from students that they have gained a lot from this program and have become better Army chaplains, better spouses and better people as a result.”