Piedmont Fayette Hospital is home to a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) center, which is focused on offering a program to area clergy, lay ministers and lay persons who are interested in learning about or improving their ministering skills for those who are sick or in crisis.
The CPE program is accredited by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP).
Participants in the CPE program learn to minister to everyone equally, regardless of the patient, family or staff member’s religious beliefs.
Students will meet once a week in a small group of peers for a time of learning and self-reflection. These group meetings are designed so that the student can learn about themselves and what changes they must make within themselves to better minister to a diverse cultural, religious, and racial population.
The primary CPE learning tool is the verbatim or case study presented by students in which they record their experience with a patient or family during their clinical rounds of the hospital floor. The case studies are discussed by the group led by an experienced CPSP supervisor.
Each student is required to devote an average of 15 hours per week on the hospital floor working with patients and their families. Each unit of CPE training is 20 weeks in length — approximately 100 hours in group session and 300 hours on the floor in all areas of the hospital.
Piedmont Fayette offers two units every spring and fall. The next CPE units at Piedmont Fayette begin on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Each class is limited to seven students, and the deadline for applications is Jan. 15.
For more information about this program, contact Chaplain Kim Holman or Chaplain Jim Taylor at 770-719-7037.
