Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. Eastern Region.

In the 1920s, clinical pastoral education was conceived by Richard C. Cabot, a prominent physician and active Unitarian layman in Boston, as a method of learning pastoral practice in a clinical setting under supervision. The concept was enlarged by Anton T. Boisen to include a case-study method of theological inquiry--a study of "living human documents." As clinical education developed, other leaders opened the doors to the integration into pastoral practice of knowledge from medicine, psychology, and other behavioral sciences.

The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) was formed in 1967 by the merger of several groups instrumental in the development and practice of clinical pastoral education. Among these groups were the Institute of Pastoral Care, Inc.; the Council for Clinical Training, Inc.; the Association of Clinical Pastoral Educators; and the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., Clinical Pastoral Education Functions of Certification and Accreditation. The ACPE, recognized as a national accreditation body by the United States Office of Education, has become the standard-setting, accrediting, certifying resource agency in the field of clinical pastoral education. It accredits institutions, agencies, and parishes as training centers to offer programs of clinical pastoral education and certifies supervisors to conduct these programs.

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