Clinical Pastoral Education

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a rigorous, reflective program of education and formation for those offering spiritual and pastoral care across healthcare and community settings. Combining real-world care with supervised, theologically informed reflection, CPE develops professional identity, relational insight, ethical awareness, and confidence in multidisciplinary contexts.

Many churches require CPE for ministry accreditation or ordination, and most healthcare providers expect Spiritual Care Practitioners to undertake CPE as part of their formation.

CPE prepares graduates to serve in hospitals, aged-care facilities, schools, prisons, rehabilitation centres, and community agencies.

Open only to Australian-based students, units are delivered primarily in clinical environments, with in-person placements available across Australia, supported by some online components.

Students who complete two units may also be eligible to apply for professional membership with Spiritual Care Australia.

Partnership for Professional Practice

Clinical Pastoral Education is offered as part of the University of Divinity’s Partnership for Professional Practice and is hosted by Whitley College.

While the program is coordinated through Whitley, students are welcome to undertake their studies through their existing Home College within the University.

Hear from CPE Students

For Tanya, an ordained minister in the Uniting Church, undertaking Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) was more than a program requirement; it was a deeply transformative step in her formation for ministry. Having heard from peers how valuable and stretching CPE had been for them, she felt drawn to the Northeast CPE Program, particularly because of its strong regional focus. “Living and ministering in regional Victoria, it was important for me to train within the same context I serve,” she reflects.

When the world slowed down during COVID, Kynan found himself at a crossroads. A carpenter by trade and an active member of his Zen Buddhist community, he began to reflect deeply on how he could best serve others. “I’d been working with people in my spiritual community for a long time and felt moved to learn more about pastoral care, how to support people through crisis or significant change,” he recalls. “I was ready to move from overtly physical work to overtly pastoral work.” That reflection led him to the University of Divinity’s Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program in 2023, a decision that would reshape his vocation and his understanding of presence, care, and listening.

Brendan's first encounter with Clinical Pastoral Education came at age 25 during seminary training. Even then, he sensed that CPE was more than a program; it was a transformative space, one that invited deep self-understanding and shaped the heart of pastoral care. Life carried Brendan through many seasons after that early experience: priestly ministry, years of work in community development, and leadership in local government. And yet, decades later, when he found himself returning to pastoral care, something in him recognised the need to return to CPE as well, this time with a lifetime of experience behind him. He describes the decision simply: “I jumped at the opportunity.”