Crawford-Meeks accepted into advanced training for chaplain educators and supervisors
As an advanced level of Clinical Pastoral Education, the Supervisor-Educator program focuses on preparing chaplains to teach, mentor, and evaluate future CPE students in healthcare and community settings.
By Michelle Ryan-Day
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Chaplain Kim Crawford-Meeks, USA Health’s spiritual health and counseling manager, was recently accepted in the Clinical Pastoral Education International (CPEI)/Community Chaplain Network Supervisor-Educator Clinical Pastoral Education Program, an advanced training pathway for experienced chaplains who want to become certified educators and supervisors in Clinical Pastoral Education.
At its core, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a hands-on, experiential training model used in hospitals, healthcare systems, and other care settings to prepare chaplains to provide spiritual and emotional support.
As an advanced level of Clinical Pastoral Education, the Supervisor-Educator program focuses on preparing chaplains to teach, mentor, and evaluate future CPE students in healthcare and community settings.
Participants receive in-depth training in supervision, curriculum development, and group facilitation, while also strengthening their ability to integrate theology with clinical practice. This training is a critical step toward certification and plays a key role in expanding access to high-quality spiritual care.
The certificate in CPE Supervisory Education assists students interested in becoming CPE Supervisors-Educators. The process involves gaining the knowledge and skills needed to make a lasting difference in the lives of others through the advancement of one’s supervisory practice. In the supervisory education program, students learn to develop critical thinking, supervisory, and leadership skills.
Chaplain Crawford-Meeks served as a site supervisor for the first CPE student at USA Health, Chaplain Brady Powers, who is now a full-time staff chaplain for the health system.
The Spiritual Health and Counseling Department currently has chaplaincy interns, and upon Crawford-Meeks’ completion of the CPE Supervisor-Educator program, the department will be eligible to accept resident chaplains and serve as the only clinical pastoral education program on the Alabama Gulf Coast.
Expanding clinical pastoral education strengthens USA Health’s ability to support patients, families, and care teams through some of life’s most challenging moments, addressing not only physical health but also emotional and spiritual well-being.
