Clinical Pastoral Education

Within our program you will find:

• Meaning-making and clinical presence in the midst of illness, grief, and change
• Psychodynamic formation (self/other awareness, transference/countertransference, object-relations and other theories) 
• Group dynamics and Tavistock/BART lenses for teams, families, and systems
• Spiritual assessment and pastoral diagnosis that unite faith, ethics, and evidence-informed practice
• Reflective writing, verbatims, case studies, and supervised clinical hours

Graduates pursue chaplaincy roles in health care, hospice, behavioral health, corrections, first-responder, and community settings; seminaries often grant academic credit per their policies.

Certifications include:

• College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy (CPSP)
• Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) /The Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. (BCCI) — Board Certification acceptance of CPSP units. BCCI’s current list of approved providers includes CPSP, ACPE and CPEI, (for units granted on/after Jan 1, 2024; earlier units may be submitted via BCCI’s equivalency process). 
• National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) — Recognition of CPSP CPE units 
  In September 2025, NACC and CPSP announced a partnership recognizing CPSP CPE units toward NACC certification, expanding CPE options for candidates discerning Catholic chaplaincy. NACCP+1
• Spiritual Care Association (SCA) — Reciprocity and advanced certification. SCA offers reciprocal/streamlined pathways for qualified CPSP clinicians and supervisors, and its Advanced Practice BCC requirements explicitly recognize clinical training accredited by ICPT, ACPE, NACC, CPSP, CPEI, or CASC. 

All CPSP units completed in our program (Jan 2024 onward) are accepted by APC/BCCI toward board certification; CPSP units are also recognized by NACC through the 2025 partnership; and SCA provides reciprocity options for CPSP-trained chaplains and educators.

You will learn the following:

• Pastoral identity and role clarity: a grounded sense of who you are as a chaplain/pastor in specialized settings.
• Advanced empathy and clinical listening: presence, affect attunement, and ethical use of self.
• Pastoral diagnosis and care planning: integrate theology, ethics, and behavioral science to guide interventions.
• Systems and group work: apply Tavistock/BART principles to families, teams, and complex organizations.
• Self-awareness and supervision: evaluate your practice, use feedback, and translate reflection into action.

Structure and schedule details include:

Each unit = 400 supervised hours combining clinical practice and structured education (verbatims, group process, didactics, supervision). (400 hours is the widely recognized unit standard across accrediting bodies.)

• Spring Unit: January – May
• Fall Unit: August – December
• Formats include extended (part-time) and occasional intensive offerings, depending on cohort needs. 

Those commonly interested in applying include:

• Those discerning a call to chaplaincy (health care, hospice, behavioral health, first responder, corrections)
• Clergy and lay ministers seeking clinically rigorous formation
• Helping professionals (e.g., counselors, social workers, nurses) wanting deeper spiritual-care competence
• Seminary students seeking field education/credit (credit granted by schools at their discretion) 

Step 1: Application

Download the Clinical Pastoral Education Application (PDF). 

Step 2: Submit

Email your completed application to andrewa1@ah.org, or mail to:

Adventist Health Bakersfield
Attn: Tony Andrews, Pastoral Care
2615 Chester Avenue 
Bakersfield, CA 93301

Step 3: Questions? 

Let’s talk. For general questions about CPE, call 661-863-3629