News from the Psychotherapy Commission
It’s hard to believe we’re coming to the end of 2020. Last Thanksgiving, who could have imagined what this year would bring, or how much the world would be changed by circumstance and human choice? This year, we struggle with a pandemic that consumes our thinking and constrains our activity. We have been appalled by violence against African-Americans and continuing aggression against immigrants arriving on our shores. If you are like me, you worry about the political uncertainty we have faced this year. While we have elected a new president, we still encounter the ups and downs of a contentious transition.
As an association, we also faced challenges this year. CPE programs and certification events were postponed. We cancelled face-to-face meetings and scrambled to find new ways to gather. But while we all missed ACPE’s annual meeting, the Kanuga conference, and several continuing education offerings, we still found opportunities to come together.
On a personal level, we have learned to work more effectively in the virtual world. Many of us were familiar with using video conferencing for meetings, but some of us have had our professional lives completely shifted to the online environment. We often are conducting classes, meetings, trainings and counseling sessions virtually instead of face-to-face. I learned (from John Roch) how to transform the Zoom image of me in my living room into a beautiful beach scene or Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World (wishful thinking!) Quite a year, don’t you think?
During these difficult times, the work of the Psychotherapy Commission has continued. Here are some upcoming events sponsored by the Commission:
- I am happy to remind you of a Continuing Education event on December 4, 2020. The topic is forgiveness, and details are available here.
- Beginning in January 2021, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy programs will be offered virtually for the New York area, the Asheville NC area, and the Chicago area. Details for these programs are available here.
- In February, there will be a second SIP Train the Trainer event. Applications for this program are due by December 10, 2020, and successful applicants will be notified by January 8, 2021. For further information, read more here.
Our Newest Initiatives
In addition to these upcoming events, the Commission is making progress on our newest initiative, the Pastoral Care Specialist program. Several members of the Psychotherapy Commission and other colleagues have formed a task force to pilot and present this program to ACPE. As you know, the PCS program is designed to support clergy and lay pastoral leaders who wish to enhance their knowledge of mental health theory and hone their mental health practice skills. While it is not a substitute for professional mental health training or CPE, it does provide knowledge and skills training for pastoral leaders wishing to be more informed about the mental health dimensions of pastoral care.
Beginning in January and February 2021, task force members will pilot the Pastoral Care Specialist program in several sites across the country. Each site leader will determine the format of the program; some pilots will be completely virtual, others will have in-person components. Pilot programs will take place in Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio, and Arizona, and the components of each pilot will be evaluated by the task force. Once the pilots are completed and evaluated, we will roll out our finalized Pastoral Care Specialist Program nationwide. We hope this program will enhance and support the work of the caring clergy and lay pastoral leaders who complete it.
Finally, I call to your attention a small, international gathering of ACPE members interested in supporting each other in their psychotherapy work. Thanks to the dedication of Katherine Higgins and a fairly consistent group of ACPE members, we meet on Zoom Fridays at 12 noon Eastern time. At these gatherings, we engage in lively conversations. On occasion, we discuss professional issues arising from cases, at times we talk about theological issues arising from our work, and sometimes we wind up having political conversations! The group is diverse, the style is informal, and the conversation is always supportive and enriching. You can get the link for this weekly gathering from Katherine if you’d like to join us. Her email is Katherine.Higgins@acpe.edu.
I look forward to seeing you face-to-face sometime in 2021, and I wish you and your families the blessings of this season. Stay safe and be well.
Joann Heaney-Hunter, M.S., Ph.D., LMHC, NCC, ACPE Psychotherapist
Chair, Psychotherapy Commission