The Office of Contextual Education oversees all aspects of practical training that are both degree required and non-required at Garrett Seminary. This includes the Field Education Course, the Clinical Practicum and Internship, Clinical Pastoral Education and Curricular Practical Training for F1 Students. Below you will find information on all of these programs, including the necessary documents and forms (and links to the Moodle Course information hubs if you are a student).

If you cannot find what you need or have further questions, please feel free to reach out to the Director of Contextual Education, Rev. Dr. Lisl Heymans Paul. 

lisl.paul@garrett.edu  Main 212  847.866.3961 

Use this link to make an appointment with Dr. Paul.

Field Education is a six-credit hour course required for the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Public Ministry degrees.  Field Education provides students opportunities for integration of course work through supervised ministry practice in partnership with a learning site. Students also engage in theological reflection on vocation, leadership and professional identity with their learning site, supervisor/mentor and peer groups.  

Please contact us if you have and questions or need assistance.

field.education@garrett.edu     Main 212    847.866.3961   

Documents and Forms:

• FE Policies and Procedures
• Student Placement Contract
• Student Pastor Contract (for appointed student pastors)
• Learning and Serving Covenant
• Supervisor/Mentor Resource Guide
• Supervisor Midpoint Assessment (coming soon)
• Supervisor Final Assessment (coming soon)

Moodle Courses (for students only):

• Introduction to Field Education for New Students
• Field Education FE600/610 AY 24-25

Program Overview:

The Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling (MAPCC) Clinical Track and PhD in Pastoral Theology, Personality, and Culture (PTPC) Clinical Track at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary offers a distinctively interdisciplinary pastoral care and counseling training program designed to produce highly skilled, critical, reflective, compassionate, and socially engaged practitioners-scholars with a robust and evolving sense of pastoral identity. Students will be equipped to integrate theology with psychological theories to address human suffering and facilitate the healing and flourishing of persons and communities.

Practicum/Internship Overview:

The clinical practicum/internship aims at assisting Clinical Track students to obtain integrative knowledge, attitudes, and requisite skills related to professional, ethical, and supervised clinical training through Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary coursework and diverse clinical counseling agencies. Following one academic year of course work theory, the two (2) year practicum/internship is a critical opportunity for students to integrate theory and practice in a supervised clinical setting. Each student completes a 700-hour practicum/internship, a minimum of 240 hours of which involve direct individual or group counseling contact. Students negotiate with site supervisors regarding some combination of weeks/hours per week to fulfill the requisite hours over the course of two (2) years. These hours reflect the minimum required for licensure in the State of Illinois. Clinical Counseling Agencies located outside of Illinois must comply with these minimum requirements regardless of their home state requirements for licensure but can choose to offer students more hours if that is what their state requires for licensure. Concurrent with their clinical site experience, students participate in four semesters of weekly small group supervision with a Garrett faculty supervisor, beginning in late August and ending in late April. Students will continue to take courses during the practicum/internship experience.

Documents and Forms:

• Policies and Procedures
• Clinical Agreement AY 24-25

Moodle Course (for students only):

• Clinical Track Information

CPE Overview:

Clinical Pastoral Education is interfaith professional education for ministry. It brings theological students and ministers of all faiths (pastors, priests, rabbis, imams and others) into supervised encounter with persons in crisis. Out of an intense involvement with persons in need, and the feedback from peers and teachers, students develop new awareness of themselves as persons and of the needs of those to whom they minister. From theological reflection on specific human situations, they gain a new understanding of ministry. Within the interdisciplinary team process of helping persons, they develop skills in interpersonal and interprofessional relationships.  

The elements of CPE include:

• The actual practice of ministry to persons
• Detailed reporting and evaluation of that practice
• Pastoral supervision
• A process conception of learning
• A theoretical perspective on all elements of the program
• A small group of peers in a common learning experience
• A specific time period
• An individual contract for learning consistent with the objectives of CPE
• The CPE program must be conducted under the auspices of an ACPE Certified Educator (faculty) attached to an ACPE accredited CPE center.                (All information above from https://acpe.edu/education/cpe-students)

Who can take CPE?:

CPE is received at Garrett Seminary as a transfer credit and is a required course (2 units) for the MAPCC Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy Degree Program.  Students may also complete 1 unit of CPE for partial fulfillment of the Field Education Course requirement (3 of 6 credits) and for 1 elective course (3 credits).  Only those CPE programs accredited by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education may be accepted as transfer credit.  Students must obtain consent from the Director of Contextual Education before registering for CPE (PCC 679).  This process is outlined in the CPE Moodle Course.

Documents and Forms:

• CPE Registration Form (scroll down for link to form on MyGETS page)

Moodle Course (for students only):

• Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Information