CPSP Canada
Our Canadian Identity

CPSP Canada

CPSP Canada is the Canadian expression of the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. As part of CPSP, we share in its principles and goals: excellence as we train, supervise and support our members in the provision of pastoral care, counselling and psychotherapy for the public.

We are a College in two ways.

• As expected of a college, we teach students to become chaplains, pastoral care or counseling specialists in faith community settings, and pastoral psychotherapists. In this capacity, CPSP requires excellence and accountability of its members at every stage of the training process.
• In the original sense of the word, we are collegial. As colleagues, we meet regularly with each other to provide support, advice, correction and encouragement in our ongoing life as a community of spiritual care providers. The ongoing participation of each of our members in regular chapter meetings permits us to develop familiarity with each other, and with the practice of pastoral care each of us provides to others. As colleagues, we provide the kind of ongoing inter-connection that assures that each of our members is providing care appropriately.

The word Pastoral refers to the Spiritual basis of the work that we do: the provision of spiritual care to people, regardless of their faith background. Every aspect of the care we provide is based on the understanding that humans are spiritual beings, and that the provision of spiritual care and healing is just as important as bio-medically based modes of care.

Our Canadian Identity

CPSP Canada brings a distinctively Canadian perspective to the larger CPSP family. We have been shaped by the diversity of a society which is explicitly multi-cultural and multi-faith. This has allowed us to develop a CPSP community that teaches us to go beyond mere "religious tolerance". Rather, we embrace our diversity, and it strengthens us. We actively engage in dialogue with each other, across the lines of many faith expressions. This has provided us with deeper spiritual insight for our own work, allowing us to more completely serve the spiritual needs of people within our own faith communities, and in others.

This diversity has become a defining aspect of CPSP Canada. It is one of our greatest strengths, and we plan to nurture it. As new chapters form in Canada, we will be encouraging them in the strongest possible terms to ensure that members of different faiths and various cultural backgrounds are represented in each new chapter.