News & Resources

Our founders and elders have taught us about how to care for the soul in travail, of how to help spiritual care givers to tend to the “breaking open” that happens inside of them as they do the same for others, and how to engage our supervisory and educational practices with creativity, passion, and integrity. They did not settle for small improvements. While in hindsight their grandiosity was not always well-founded, they dreamed big—for them, for us, and for our world. And I imagine we’re all grateful that they did. From this legacy, we have inherited a precious gift, one that gives meaning to our lives, that brings purpose to our students, healing to our patients, and transformation for each of us. 

At the same time, we have stagnated in furthering and growing this movement. (This is an inherent tension of being both an organization and a movement, but that is another month’s newsletter.) I could articulate my hunches as to why, just as I imagine many of you could, but the number of active Certified Educators and the number of ACPE-accredited programs have remained more or less flat for a good 15-20 years. On the one hand, this means that our strategic initiatives over the years, stating that we want to grow, have not panned out as we’d hoped. And yet, on the other hand, that we have held fairly steady is perhaps surprising and good news amidst many of the stories we hear of programs closing as well as external threats. Similarly, while the number of ACPE Psychotherapists is lower than the preceding AAPC membership, significant inroads have been made with the SIP program, and exciting opportunities are on the horizon, such as the potential for certifying SIPs and counseling professionals. 

My perspective—and I imagine many of you share this and have known it for longer than I have—is that we have far more value as a profession, an association, and as a movement than we often realize. It is also tempting to look around and recognize threats more than our opportunities. Some of the forces that cause us to doubt this value can also prevent us from dreaming big and seeking to build audaciously. I want to invite all of us to return to the boldness of our founders, and I want us to aim even beyond what they could have foreseen. 

So, I have a goal and a hope. The goal is for us to make good on this longtime commitment to growth that we have stalled on. I hope that we will experience that growth, feel it, and develop a new narrative about our present and our future—not solely based on good PR or marketing, but based on and deeply rooted in our reality, experience, and statistics. 

As for the goal, I am appointing a work group that will focus on growth and innovation within CPE. The hope is to gather some colleagues who have been successful in that regard, to learn from them, and in conversation with a variety of constituents, including our membership, to set forth an ACPE strategy for growth that will be proactive rather than 

reactive. This country and our world need what we have to offer too much for us to wait for them to knock on our door. I want us to consider how we can best grow and seek to make that happen. I will also engage our psychotherapy leaders to assess if we need a parallel body for their work, or if the current structures are the best ones to pursue such a goal. 

What would it be like for us to do an audit and see where ACPE (and CPE) "deserts” are and develop intentional strategies around it? Where is there a dearth of spiritually integrated psychotherapists, and how could we find strategic ways to ameliorate that? What kinds of settings and locales are the most sustainable from a business model perspective? What are the best avenues and academic partnerships for us to develop the next generation of psychotherapists, counselors, chaplains, and educators? Some of you have already taken these kinds of initiatives to start new programs. We can learn from you, and we can work to simplify the processes that allow for growth and innovation. 

We have only recently begun to introduce leadership as an important skill and competency in our certification process for new CE's. How can we lean into this movement to be both educators and leaders? How might we do the same for our psychotherapist and chaplain members? As Maurice Appelbaum wondered with us last May in Minneapolis, how could human history have looked differently if our predecessors had access to CPE in previous centuries? And also, how will the world be different in this next century if we dream a little bigger? How will we also be enlarged by it? 

I hope to do my best as your Board Chair to help deliver on our strategic goals in my role. My ability to do so will depend on your support, as ultimately, it is something we will all need to do together. In order to keep this from just being a grandiose pep talk, I want to share a few initiatives we'll be undertaking to help operationalize a plan toward this goal. 

First, every month, our newsletter will run a new story about growth and innovation that is happening across various areas. If you are doing this kind of work, we NEED to hear from you as we build a culture of collaboration over competition. Developing these kinds of innovative programs happens when we build off each other’s ideas. 

Second, we will launch a Growth and Innovation Work Group that looks at what is happening in our organization, in our field, and in cognate fields. This group will give us more guidance as to how we can fulfill these strategic initiatives in a way that is collaborative between the national organization and all our members. 

Third, as interest (potentially) emerges, I, at least, recommend that we also develop a Growth and Innovation Community of Practice so that everyone who has an interest can participate in this creative process on the ground level. 

Fourth, with deep gratitude to our Recognition Task Force, our Accreditation Commission, and to Lynnett Glass, our ED, we are reviewing and revising a new proposed accreditation model that will serve us much better in accomplishing these strategic goals. 

Fifth, we're going to look at ways to better integrate our different groups of members—how can we make sure that our association’s common life serves our psychotherapists, our spiritual care practitioners, our CECs, etc.? 

Sixth—and I can't take any credit for this either—but Lynnett Glass, our Executive Director, and the ACPE Staff are working diligently to deliver a one-log-in experience for our future online interface with all ACPE platforms...you read that right, ONE! This roll-out (Q2 2026) will be one of many in which improving the member experience will also increase our capacity for growth. 

Friends and colleagues, we have so much possibility before us, amongst us, and within us. Let’s dream, plan, and work together to bring the gift that we have been entrusted with to a world that needs it. 

Sincerely, and with Deepest Hope, 

Matt Rhodes 

ACPE Board Chair

Matt Rhodes is an ACPE Board Chair and can be reached at Matthew.Rhodes@acpe.edu