Reflection on New Outcomes and Indicators

When the Eastern Area CoP met before the new Outcomes and Indicators (O&I) release, there was a lot of buzz! The buzz ranged from “We’ve just been through new Standards! It’s too much!!” to “Can’t we just ditch the DoE?” to “It’s about time! Those Outcomes are awful.” 

I admit I leaned more heavily toward the latter to the point where I should have tried to get on the Outcomes Committee because I was so sick of my own complaining and whining about them (since writing for them in my own CPE Residency in 2001 and especially since becoming ACPE certified in 2009).  

During those two days that our CoP met in New York – and an Outcomes co-chair was among our ranks along with others in leadership, including Accreditation, Certification, and the Board – we tried to unpack them, plan, and make meaning out of what the changes would bring in the future to the best of our collective abilities.   

However, when I peered deeply into that buzz, what I saw predominantly through the lens of being a mental health chaplain for the past 20 years was fear: fear of the unknown, fear of not having the resources in work settings to make such a monumental shift, fear of “grading” students and fear of “failing” students in what has been viewed as a unique experiential learning model for decades, and not least of all, fear of simply being unequipped to handle integrating it all out of sheer exhaustion and post-pandemic burnout.  

I have also witnessed anxiety levels from ACPE colleagues then or who have since reached out to me, experiencing psychosomatic symptoms such as headaches and G.I. issues, emotional stress, and distress, including severe anger and resentment, and paralyzing procrastination.  

I tackled my fears and anxieties by signing up to become part of the Pilot Program, as mentioned during the O&I Q&A sessions. For the 14 CPE centers participating, the most helpful was our weekly Zoom call to exchange ideas, formats, and methodologies, to get clarity, and to respectfully debate and wrestle with theory and language in healthy and collegial dialogue.  

Now that I have successfully graded and evaluated four students utilizing the new O & I in the unit that ended Monday, it was the best dive into the deep end of a pool I have ever made in my career. I feel completely on the other side of my fears and anxieties with a fresh new perspective, a sense of renewal in confidence, skills, and energy, a heightened feeling of collegiality and professionalism (and I didn’t even go to New Orleans), and an enormous sense of accomplishment. 

Likewise, all four students in my program (two completing their second unit at IB, one completing his third at IIA, and one completing her fourth at IIB) expressed moving through a similar range of fears and feelings initially, then into a “sea change” of phenomenal skill development and learning. They lovingly signed a card to me with, “In Gratitude, The Guinea Pigs.” In the card, they expressed gratitude for my “inspiration and kind leadership…encouraging support…stretching us…teaching us so many new things…investing in us and our futures.” I wept in my office afterward; I was so moved and grateful.  

So, this essay is an invitation to take the plunge. Dive in and trust that we are all here too, with life jackets, exploring together new changes that truthfully were long overdue.  

A huge self-disclosure: I have been sober for 36 years. My favorite 12-step slogan is, “Move a muscle; change a thought.” I’ve always referred to this slogan as one-part cognitive-behavioral and one-part self-tough love. So, I moved lots of muscles and changed lots of thoughts in the process, all necessary for my professional development. None of us signed up to be ACPE Certified Educators so that we can stay stuck or not change and grow. 

The first thing I did with the new O&I was tear apart my Individualized Learning Plan and Verbatim formats from limb to limb. Wow, did that feel great! I should have done that years ago! Then, I methodically edited and integrated the O&I into four (IA, IB, IIA, IIB) Student End-of-Unit Evaluation formats. It was challenging and time-consuming, and I am convinced it was great for my brain.   

Wait until you see what we from the Pilot Program will happily and eagerly share. Yes, a sea change. Yes, we are sharing so that (to use another 12-step slogan) you can “Take what you like and leave the rest.” The formats will be there for you if you need or want to use them however you like. This ensures our dearly held creative freedom and autonomy values are still fully operating.   

And in the long run, I read new books and articles (Me, literally: “Wait. What? Spiritual orienting system? What the heck is that exactly? How did I miss that? Where have I been, under a rock?”), engaged in literature reviews, and taught new didactic material. Honestly, I did not change much in my syllabus. I tweaked a couple of didactic titles and approaches to reflect the new O&I language and added some new readings. But mainly, besides the many new levels of learning, becoming healthier and more relationally connected, I unburned out myself. Truly. 

Rev. Lynne Mikulak, MDiv, MSW, BCC, ACPE Certified Educator 

Main Line Health, Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood, PA