Webinar Series
Fall 2025

Mental Health Spiritual Care and Spiritual Care Education:
An Overview Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of CPE

In the Summer of 1925 Anton Boisen led the first unit of CPE at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. In a series of three webinars this Fall, together with our co-sponsor, ACPE, we will revisit Boisen’s life story and the origins of CPE. In addition, we will look at the current state of CPE and spiritual care in mental health care.

Anton Boisen
and the Origins of CPE

Tuesday, September 16, 1-2 PM (CT)

This webinar will introduce Anton Boisen (1876-1965), the founder of modern clinical pastoral education/training and modern institutional chaplaincy. It will describe Boisen’s ‘vilusions,’ the intersection between his visions and delusions, his concern for people in crisis, and his contribution to the dialogue between science and religion. It will also describe the complex relationship between Boisen and other early leaders of CPE. With a focus on data driven, patient centered care, Boisen’s work resonates with current emphases in healthcare.

Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education – A Specialized CPE Program

Tuesday, October 21, 1-2 PM (CT)

One hundred years after Boisen offered the first CPE unit in a psychiatric hospital Angelika Zollfrank will describe one of the few remaining CPE programs in a mental health context. The program addresses the need for mental health competencies in religious leaders and chaplains. The presentation will include graduates’ feedback about the impact of this CPE program on their leadership in chaplaincy and in religious communities. Angelika’s CPE program was described in a paper recently published in Religions. (Zollfrank, A. A., Kaufman, C. C., & Rosmarin, D. H. (2025). Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education—A Specialized CPE Program. Religions, 16(7), 886. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070886. OPEN ACCESS.)

Spiritual Care in Public Mental Health Hospitals

Wed., November 12, 1-2 PM (CT)

Public psychiatric hospitals were the birthplace of CPE and modern spiritual care. The deinstitutionalization movement of the mid-20th Century dramatically changed mental health care and also spiritual care for people with serious mental illness. In this webinar Lauri Swann will present results from interviews with chaplains currently working in state psychiatric hospitals. While poor funding for mental health care continues to impact these facilities, the spiritual care provided within them remains strong and innovative despite chronic underfunding and inadequate staffing.