Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)

Seven articles written by ACPE educators describing their professional work in ACPE in challenging areas

Buhuro, Danielle

Buhuro 1
SECTION 1: ACPE
Editor’s Introduction
Famed Black feminist bell hooks notes that sitting in the margins is a radical, 
revolutionary act. To sit in the margins, first and foremost, symbolizes one’s desire to 
acknowledge the presence of the other. Siting in the margins assumes that one rejects 
self-centeredness and embraces community. Sitting in the margins represents one’s 
goal, ultimately, of learning new wisdom and insight currently unknown. The writers 
in this section have embraced the bold, courageous task of sitting in the margins of 
Clinical Pastoral Education. 
ACPE has a long history of prefacing White, Christian, heterosexual male 
theorists in supervisory practice. With our new vision focused on justice, diversity, 
equity, and inclusion, we are beginning to examine the gifts that diverse cultures bring 
to the field of spiritual care education as Natasha Huang and Cecil Tengatenga 
highlight in their article. We are beginning to center queer voices in CPE such as that of 
Brittany Powell. In the face of Islamophobia, we ask our Muslim siblings for their 
guidance in CPE. 
What are the new tools we employ to “do” CPE in the margins? Melanie Melton 
encourages us to reconsider the “wounded healer” motif to foster growth and 
effectiveness in Black pastoral caregiver ministries. Luke Heberle pushes us to utilize 
hermeneutics as a tool for pastoral counseling theory. Legendary ACPE Certified 
Educator Judith Ragsdale calms our anxieties by teaching us more about the new ACPE 
CPE outcomes. 
Sitting in the margins also invites us to grapple with new “clinical” sites in 
Clinical Pastoral Education. How do we acknowledge and affirm that CPE can take 
place in homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless, social services 
organizations and yes, faith communities. Kristin Langstraat invites us to reflect on the 
development of emotional intelligence in CPE to assist clergy such as those of the 
United Methodist tradition. 
We invite you to sit in the margins with us. 
Danielle Buhuro
Editor


English

SECTION 1: ACPE

Turner, Andrew

Claiming Your Voice: Speaking Truth to Power, by Norvene Vest, Reviewed by Andrew Turner

The role that self identity, self care, wounded healers, and wrestling with ones own beliefs inform growth and effectiveness as Black pastoral ccaregivers

Melton, Melanie

Melton 1
The Psychology of a Wounded Healer: Exploring Key 
Considerations to Foster the Growth and Effectiveness of Black 
Pastoral Caregivers
Melanie Melton*
Introduction
It was nearing 9:00 p.m., and I found myself contacting my pastor for encouragement. It 
was in the middle of my first 24-hour on-call shift of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) 
in a local hospital. The pager had gone off before my CPE group could pray over me 
and my shift. From 7:35 a.m. that morning to 7:30 a.m. the next, the pager rarely 
stopped alerting me of families in need of my support. I contacted my pastor as 
throughout the day I had the experience of being “baptized in death,” with page after 
page being a person actively dying or having just died. Did my CPE and other clinical 
education equip me to be an active listener, validate emotions, and be a supportive 
presence for families in need? Absolutely. However, those skills did not help me 
address being “baptized in death” nor prepare me for the remainder of my shift. 
Instead, my awareness of who I am as a Black woman and of my emotions, triggers, 
theological wrestling at work, and self-care were the essential tools for that moment. I 
reached out to my pastor, which I knew would be an act of self-care as he was someone 
who would understand my triggers and how to encourage me while not dousing me in 
scripture or a sermonette.
The preparation of clergy to engage in effective pastoral counseling, includes 
educators teaching counseling skills, ways of connecting, and how to access resources 
for those seeking support. Yet, to provide effective pastoral counseling, one must also 
understand one’s own identity, struggles, and beliefs concerning God, healing, pain, 
and wellness. According to Lifeway Research’s 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, 63 
percent of pastors ranked stress as their top mental challenge.1 Therefore, incorporating 
self-care, which includes stress management, within a pastoral caregiver’s education is 
also critical to position the caregiver to implement effective caregiving. This article 
explores specific areas that address the psychology of Black pastoral caregivers, or what 
some call wounded healers.
It is important to first set the foundation. According to Howard Clinebell in Basic 
Types of Pastoral Care & Counseling, pastoral care and counseling is one of the most 
effective ways that the church supports its congregation.2 He specifically notes that 
caregiving can help save the broken, allowing them to have the space to receive the 
gospel as good news, leading to healing and wholeness.3 Clinebell posits that through 
* Melanie Melton is an ordained minister, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and an 
author who lives in Durham, North Carolina. Email: bookmelaniemelton@gmail.com.
Melton 2
effective pastoral caregiving, a caregiver who is functioning as a healthy person can 
cultivate healing and growth.4
Pastoral caregiving is one way in which a clergyperson may provide help for 
people going through times of physical, mental, spiritual, and relational stress.5 Pastoral 
counseling is a form of pastoral caregiving provided by a clergy member who has been 
trained to provide pastoral counseling for individuals or families.6 In this article, I will 
use the terms ‘pastoral counseling’ and ‘pastoral caregiving’ interchangeably to indicate 
the actions of a clergyperson who has completed specific training to provide effective 
counseling and clinical support to others in need.
SELF-IDENTITY
In dealing with the psychology of Black pastoral caregivers, it is necessary to 
present areas of Black identity that the caregiver should explore. How can the caregiver 
help anyone else if they do not know who they are? In his book Biblical Counseling with 
African-Americans, Clarence Walker helps readers to understand the many areas to 
explore within the identity of Black pastoral caregivers.7 Walker lists several identity-
related issues that caregivers must explore as they seek to provide counseling to Black 
counselees, including ethnicity, gender, sexual, power, and religious issues.8 Of these 
issues, I will elevate one key consideration within the ethnicity context: self-concept.
Walker incorporates self-esteem and self-identity within the topic of self-concept. He 
shares that the primary areas that create self-concept issues for Black people in America 
are residuals from Africa; adjustments and responses to long-term systematic 
victimization as a result of racism, poverty, and oppression; and attempts to identify 
with mainstream Americans. He offers that Black people cope in one of three ways: 
creating an isolated subculture; solely identifying with American culture; or attempting 
to integrate the two worlds. He connects Black people’s low self-esteem and lack of self-
love to the systemic isms that they experience daily, including the dangerous skill of 
compartmentalizing, or shutting down parts of oneself, to fit role expectations.
Feminist bell hooks suggests ways Black people can repair and heal their self-
esteem in her book Rock My Soul.9 hooks articulates the necessity of healing self-esteem, 
including by living consciously with awareness of self, others, and the world, and 
accepting responsibility for oneself.10 Clinical psychologist Na’im Akbar argues that a 
Black person’s self-acceptance must include acknowledging one’s slave mentality, 
which means also owning the necessity of freedom and healing.11 He cautions that the 
healing journey will take a significant amount of faith and require one to accurately 
relearn about the Black experience and Black history, celebrate one’s self, celebrate 
being Black, and engage in healing within the community.12
As Walker postulates, when counseling a Black person, it is important to help 
them explore and understand their history accurately, help them see their value, and 
raise their self-love and self-esteem.13 Therefore, who the Black pastoral caregiver is, 
Melton 3
their history, and the traumatic events they have experienced need exploration so they 
can understand themselves better as well as those they serve. This identity and self-
work are critical for Black caregivers. As licensed clinical psychologist and assistant 
professor Jessica Young Brown argues, “As black Americans, and particularly as black 
church folks, we hold secrets about our mental and emotional troubles.”14 When a 
caregiver ignores these historical implications, internal wounds, and identity confusion 
and attempts to educate people solely about Jesus, the pastoral caregiver can 
unintentionally inflict pain and create a barrier between them and the person receiving 
the care. Before providing pastoral care to others, pastoral caregivers should embark on 
their own personal healing journey, including receiving counseling from a licensed 
mental health provider.
WOUNDED HEALERS
The insight provided by Walker, which includes possible self-identity and self-
esteem challenges of Black pastoral caregivers as they exist in the United States context 
full of systemic ism’s, demonstrates that caregivers do indeed bear their issues and 
pains. As Henri Nouwen states, “Nothing can be written about ministry without a 
deeper understanding of the ways in which ministers can make their wounds available 
as a source of healing.”15 This stance of using one’s wounds and pains to help others is 
what Nouwen calls being a “wounded healer.”16
Nouwen shares that serving through pastoral caregiving requires the willingness 
“to enter into a situation complete with all the vulnerabilities one human being has to 
share with another.”17 He also contends that when a minister is unable to be in touch 
with and share their own emotions of affection, sympathy, or even anger and be 
vulnerable, they cannot help another.18 As Brown notes regarding the lack of emotional 
and mental wellness in the Black church, “Healing requires that they [Black people] 
acknowledge their woundedness.”19 These insights help us to understand why Black 
pastoral caregivers must get to know themselves and pursue their healing to provide 
caregiving. Nouwen also cautions that this is not a call for the caregiver to share their 
secrets, nor to ignore their pain, but rather to keep their experiences in mind as a source 
of compassion, empathy, and healthy ways to help. Nouwen sums it up this way: “For a 
deep understanding of our own pain makes it possible for us to convert our weaknesses 
into strength and to offer our own experiences as a source of healing to those who are 
often lost in the darkness of their own misunderstood sufferings.”20 Thus, it is vital for 
pastoral caregivers to be responsible and to unmask and allow the healing of their pain.
BELIEFS TO WRESTLE WITH
To follow Nouwen’s prescription that the pastoral caregiver should offering their 
past sufferings as a way to help others heal, the caregiver must deal with their pain, 
engage in counseling with a licensed mental health professional, and heal in Jesus. 
Melton 4
Then, they can walk out their testimonies. Testimonies are gifts from God that allow 
pastoral caregivers to teach others about Jesus while glorifying God by sharing how the 
Lord brought them through or supported them within life’s challenges. Testimonies 
and the sufferings that birthed them are a major element that develop one’s beliefs, 
including one’s beliefs about God, healing, suffering or pain, and wellness.
Oftentimes, clergy serve without considering what they believe regarding healing, 
suffering, pain, and wellness. They may shout, “Jesus heals!” yet have not explored 
what they think that means, who it applies to, whether it can occur now or only in 
heaven, and other theological wonderings. Counselees will surely come to pastoral 
counseling with deep questions as they struggle to make meaning of their situation. 
Thus, pastoral caregivers must do this belief wrestling as well.
Clinebell highlights the importance of doing theology in pastoral caregiving. He 
argues that in this theological wrestle, one breaks from tradition as one challenges and 
reinterprets the biblical text. As a person engages in reinterpretation of the biblical text, 
new understandings of healing and pain will shape them and the ways they assist 
others in pastoral caregiving.21 The pastoral caregiver views life differently as a result of 
their experiences, which supports the need for them to revisit their current thoughts on 
God, life, suffering, pain, healing, and wellness and to be open to receiving new 
revelations. Not engaging in this theological wrestling can lead a pastoral caregiver to 
share ill-fitting scripture or biblical narratives that can be harmful when they have not 
thought through the layers of meanings and implications in the context of the suffering 
person seeking help.
WOUNDED HEALERS WHO DO NOT NEGLECT SELF-CARE
Engaging in theological wrestling, self-identity exploration, and healing is 
strenuous work. So is providing pastoral caregiving, particularly when a pastoral 
caregiver serves without sufficient self-care. God is all-powerful and can seem 
superhero-like, yet no human is God or a superhero. Thus, it is vital to engage in 
ongoing self-care.
Clinebell has helped clergy over the years deal with a loss of excitement, 
motivation, and zeal as they deal with burnout, which at times results in depression 
and distress. He shares that this is usually related to too-busy schedules and neglect of 
self-care.22 Clinebell elaborates on and shares the strain on clergy who are called on to 
care for dependent congregation members.23 Yet, pastoral caregivers are not without 
sources of help. Clinebell offers clear options, such as setting healthy and clear 
boundaries, engaging in additional training to be equipped for their role, and getting 
enough sleep.24
Referring a person to receive care from a licensed mental health professional is 
also a form of self-care; this is essential if the person is suicidal or homicidal; expresses 
unusual sensory experiences or beliefs; engages in serious substance abuse, domestic 
Melton 5
violence, or any other form of abuse; or has symptoms that prevent them from 
performing daily tasks.25 It is a form of self-care to refer a person, even when their care 
would be within the caregiver’s scope of practice, if the caregiver is overloaded, 
overwhelmed, and/or not available to address the person’s needs. As pointed out by 
Brown, “A referral to someone outside the church is not an indication that we don’t 
believe in the power of God to heal and deliver. It is our affirmation that God works 
through people, systems, and even medications to provide healing.”26
There are hundreds of other types of self-care to consider, ranging from dancing, 
singing, painting, and walking to seeking counseling for oneself. Rest is one noteworthy 
form of self-care. As emphasized by theologian and founder of the Nap Ministry, 
Patricia Hersey, “Grind culture . . . is killing us physically and spiritually. Sleep 
deprivation is a public health issue and racial justice issue.”27 She helps us understand 
the necessity of resting daily and argues that rest can take many forms, including taking 
a long shower in silence, praying, regular breaks from social media, intentional listening 
to music, laughing heartily, going on a prayerful or meditative walk, and drinking 
warm tea before bed.28 The understanding that lack of self-care can lead to burnout, 
which can lead to depression, should raise enough alarm for all pastoral caregivers to 
commit to better self-care. Therefore, it is essential for Black pastoral caregivers to 
include a commitment to consistent self-care as an essential part of their ministry.
This article has described the importance of self-identity and self-esteem work, 
the intentional pursuit of healing from wounds and past traumatic events, theological 
wrestling, and incorporating self-care in the ongoing ministry of Black pastoral 
caregivers. It has noted that if the Black pastoral caregiver does not engage in self-work, 
healing, and theological reflection, they may harm those they desire to help. Through 
the suggestions provided in this article, Black pastoral caregivers can grow to become 
even healthier healers.
NOTES
1 Lifeway Research, The Greatest Needs of Pastors Study, 2022, 
https://research.lifeway.com/greatestneeds/.
2 Howard Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care & Counseling (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 
2011), 2.
3 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 2.
4 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 7.
5 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 8.
6 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 9.
7 Clarence Walker, Biblical Counseling with African Americans (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 
1992), 5–6.
8 Walker, Biblical Counseling, 5–6.
Melton 6
9 bell hooks, Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem (New York: Washington Square Press, 
2004), 76–81.
10 hooks, Rock My Soul, 76–81.
11 Na’im Akbar, Breaking the Psychological Chains of Slavery (Tallahassee, FL: Mind Productions, 
1996), 46.
12 Akbar, Breaking the Psychological Chains of Slavery 34–46.
13 Walker, Biblical Counseling, 18–19.
14 Jessica Young Brown, Making SPACE at the Well: Mental Health and the Church (Valley Forge, 
PA: Judson Press, 2020), ix.
15 Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2010), 4.
16 Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 4.
17 Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 83.
18 Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 77.
19 Brown, Making SPACE at the Well, ix.
20 Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 93.
21 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 45.
22 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 461.
23 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 461.
24 Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral Care, 461–64.
25 Brown, Making SPACE at the Well, 41.
26 Brown, Making SPACE at the Well, 43.
27 Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto (New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022), 54.
28 Hersey, Rest Is Resistance, 85–86.


The Psychology of a wounded Healer: Exploring Key Considerations to Foster Growth and Effectiveness as Black Pastoral Caregivers

Introduction to Section 2 which focuses on ATFE and ARPTE - Members Engaging Marginalit

Floding, Matthew

SECTION 2 - ATFE and ARPTE: Members Engaging Marginality

Learning about, understanding, developing Emotional Intelligence. The role Emotional Intelligence plays in being an effective clergy person. How Emotional Intelligence can be developed and utilized in effective ministry

Langstraat, Kristin

The Development of Emotional Intelligence in United Methodist Clergy

MacAlpine-Gillis, Susan

Ministry in Context: A Guide to theological Field Education and Ministry Internships in Australia and New Zealand, edited by Richard Trist

Poem about when feeling discourged and frustrated, remind oneself of all that is inspiring and affirming. Existence included affirmations alongside daily challenges

Heeter, Chris

Heeter 1
We are here
Chris Heeter
When all you can see is a world relentless in its harshness
may you be wrapped in the beauty of a gentle autumn day.
When it feels like we shall never find understanding
may you lay down upon this earth, on soft, solid ground
look up at a sky filled with wonder
feel the ground beneath you
and recall how wholly and completely we are all connected.
When you are wrung out, done, capable of no more
may you rest deeply and let yourself dream
knowing that this is the very best, most important thing you could do.
And when you dare to feel joy,
the bone-deep, belly-laugh, open your arms to the world elation,
may you feel it, may you know it,
and may you hold it with an open hand, delighted.
For we are all joyful.
We all feel despair.
This is living.
This is it.
You haven’t missed anything
done it wrong
or lost the manual.
We are here to experience.
We are here to love.
We are here to hold joy and grief with one another.
And we are here to engage with all of it.
Read more of Chris Heeter’s poetry and subscribe at:
https://thewildinstitute.com/category/wild-poems/


We are here

Chen, Lilu

Book Reviews 14
one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care. By Chenxing Han, 
Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2023, 304 pps.
Chenxing Han’s memoir offers a valuable window into caring for people of diverse linguistic, 
ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Readers follow Han on her journey to healing as she 
processes the grief of her friend’s death. The book is written in a non-linear fashion, in what Han 
calls “a mala bracelet of rumination-worn beads” (p. xvi). Organized thematically around 
aphorisms from the Chinese and Japanese languages, Han weaves together different pieces of her 
life as she finds healing in words and rituals. 
Bit by bit, readers get to know Han’s college roommate Amy, whose exuberant life and 
early death have a profound impact on Han. As Han remembers their friendship, we accompany 
her on international travels to a Taiwanese Buddhist University, urban apartment in Cambodia, 
and pilgrimage to Ireland where she scatters Amy’s ashes. Interspersed in this are flashbacks to 
Han’s childhood and complicated relationship with her parents as they experience the 
intergenerational effects of immigration and separation.
Chaplains and clinical supervisors will benefit from Han’s depictions of her CPE 
experience at a San Francisco Bay Area hospital, where she documents with loving detail the 
people she encounters and how they impact her. Han is candid and does not gloss over the 
exhaustion and mental toll of the CPE residency. She shares her highs and lows, noting personal 
insights along the way as she strives to offer what she can to patients—be it comfort, presence, 
or the companionship of a shared cultural background.
I appreciated the use of original Chinese characters (along with Thai, Khmer and 
Japanese) throughout the book. Han’s choice not to translate non-English terms is a bold and 
welcome one. While this may make it more challenging for those unfamiliar with the languages 
to follow along, it is well worth the struggle. In leaving words the way they appear in her own 
mind; Han ingeniously invites us into her worldview. The play on language mirrors Han’s own 
struggles feeling at home in different contexts as others try to reconcile her speech and physical 
appearance. 
Throughout the book, Han’s voice rings through beautiful and clear. At times she is 
solemn, confessing her wounds and speaking frankly of her internal suffering. At other times she 
charms readers with humorous asides and funny observations. Particularly noteworthy are Han’s 
descriptions of her friend Amy’s ability to embrace life even in declining health. This is a book 
that affirms the wonder of life and inspires us all to love more deeply in the midst of grief. It is a 
commendable contribution to the spiritual care field and will be enjoyed by clinical supervisors, 
field educators, and chaplaincy professionals alike. 
Lilu Chen
Institute of Buddhist Studies
Berkeley, CA 94704


one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care, by Chenxing Han

LOOKING AHEAD: THEME FOR VOLUME 45 THE 2025 ISSUE

Mikhalkova, Elena

Good Morning
Attributed to Elena Mikhalkova
Room of Ancient Keys, Russian novel (Komnata starinnih kluchei).  
https://katemitcheom.com/readings-for-meditation/good-morning-by-elena-mikhalkova/ 
accessed 11/28/2023
Grandma once gave me a tip:
During difficult times, you move forward in small steps.
Do what you have to do, but little by bit.
Don’t think about the future, not even what might happen tomorrow. Wash the dishes.
Take off the dust.
Write a letter.
Make some soup.
Do you see?
You are moving forward step by step.
Take a step and stop.
Get some rest.
Compliment yourself.
Take another step.
Then another one.
You won’t notice, but your steps will grow bigger and bigger.
And time will come when you can think about the future without crying. Good morning.


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