Join us at Kanuga on October 28-30! In-person and Virtual Options are Available

For over 40 years pastoral counselors have gathered in late October at Kanuga Conference Center in the mountains of western NC.  This gathering, this group of people, this place has been a professional home for many of us.  

When AAPC stopped existing as a separate entity, it was always the plan to continue the pastoral psychotherapy gathering at Kanuga. We hoped to include psychotherapists from across the Association, educators, and other non-psychotherapist members of ACPE, as well as mental health practitioners who were not members of ACPE or AAPC but who were interested in spiritually integrated psychotherapy.  

And then the pandemic happened.  We could not meet in person. It was not safe. Kanuga Conference was not open for meetings. ACPE was not sponsoring in-person gatherings.  

So we shifted to virtual meetings.  While we could not replicate the casual conversations after sessions and at meals, meeting friends long-time and new, the late nights of storytelling and laughter, and the genius of Toasts and Jam, we were able to have excellent speakers (Gregory Ellison in 2020 and Jill Snodgrass in 2021) and a variety of workshops.  Because the gathering was virtual, people from across the country could participate.  We also had a number of educators who greatly enriched the conversations and who reported how meaningful and helpful the event had been for them.  

This year we are able to gather in person October 28-30.  Our speaker will be Dr. Julie Exline, whose topic is  Embracing Both Light and Shadow: Spiritual Struggles and Supernatural “Messages” in Daily Life, which will explore both the light and shadow sides of religious challenges and spiritual life, suggesting ways in which religious challenges and spirituality might fruitfully be integrated into pastoral or clinical work. We review a variety of psychological factors and consider interpretations through the lenses of normal psychological processes, actual supernatural involvement, mental illness, or a blend of these considerations. (from the registration brochure)

This conference, like many places of worship, is confronting the reality that, while people value the conference and all it offers, regathering in person has its challenges. There are ongoing concerns about safety even with the COVID protocols we will have in place. And, like our clients who are determining which parts of their pre-COVID lives to re-engage, we face the reality that it takes different motivations to come back in person when we have broken the rhythm of doing so. On our agenda for the weekend is time to dream together about ways a conference for psychotherapists might look going forward. We would love to have your voice in that conversation. 

So, while we hope as many people as possible will be with us in person, we are also providing a virtual option.  The keynote presentations and one workshop in each time slot will be broadcast.  

Here is the link for more information on the conference and the link to register.  This link works for virtual as well as in-person registration.  Zoom information will be emailed to registered participants closer to the conference.

There are still a limited number of rooms available at Kanuga.  The link for that is:

While we hope participants will join us as part of the ACPE psychotherapy community, one does not have to be a member of ACPE to attend.