How do we preserve what is meaningful and transformative about clinical pastoral education (CPE) while also creating cultures of greater transparency, accountability, and safety?
This piece by Lynne Mikulak, MDiv, MSW names something many people in chaplaincy and spiritual care have quietly experienced but struggled to articulate: the gap between what our formation programs teach about presence, safety, and reflection, and the ways institutional culture can undermine those very values.
The helping professions often ask trainees to be vulnerable, self-reflective, and emotionally open. That creates real potential for growth, but also creates responsibility for institutions and educators to cultivate environments that are genuinely safe, ethical, and accountable.
I’m curious how others are navigating these conversations within chaplaincy and clinical pastoral education.
- Link: Integrating a Culture of Safety into Clinical Pastoral Education: Narratives That Demonstrate a Need for Healing and Change (2026) by Lynne M. Mikulak
Human. Chaplain. 
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