Skip to main content

College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy 2012 Plenary

The 2012 CPSP Plenary March 25th-March 28th 2012 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania



Kimberly Garner, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.F.P. will be the Plenary speaker at the 2012 Gathering of the CPSP community.

Dr. Kimberly Garner is a staff physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is also an assistant professor of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Garner is the medical director of the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System which is a specialized intermediate unit which provides an interdisciplinary team approach in an inpatient setting.

The GEM specifically addresses relatively recent and potentially reversible loss of physical or cognitive function using a rehabilitation model. This involves a multidisciplinary, including occupational and kinesiotherapists, assessment. The primary goal is to promote functional well-being that allows re-entry into the community at the most independent and least restrictive level of care for chronic and seriously ill Veterans. She is currently conducting research to develop methods to engage Veterans and care providers in effective communication about advance care planning.

Dr. Garner received a juris doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law and a master’s of public health from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She received a B.S. in dietetics from Louisiana Tech University and her M.D. degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

During the 2012 CPSP Plenary Dr. Garner will address the Current State of the Art of Assessing an Individual's Readiness to Discuss Advance Care Planning from a Palliative Care Perspective.

Advances in medical care and technology can prolong an individual’s life expectancy and blur the boundaries between life and death, dramatically impacting how they may experience the end of their life. There is some evidence that the treatment people would want to receive when faced with the end of life is often different from the treatment they actually receive.

In most cases, individuals may receive more aggressive care than desired, prolonging their death and potentially increasing their suffering. However, this may also result in some individuals not receiving all the care they desire.

Palliative care is founded on the principles of identifying patient preferences and attempting to achieve those wishes. Identifying readiness to discuss a patient’s wishes is a foundational skill for palliative care and other healthcare providers who provide end-of-life care. Research in this area supports that the most successful interventions by providers are those that are iterative and tailor information based on the individuals’ readiness for engagement and participation. The Transtheoretical Model Stages of Change is a model that has been used successfully to identify an individual’s readiness to discuss preferences and wishes.

Visit the Pastoral Report the online Journal of The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy

Popular posts from this blog

Edwin Friedman Thinking Systems

What I want to do this morning is talk about how congregations function like families. I am going to do it from a variety of points of view. I’m going to begin with a fable. This one is called "Burnout" and it’s about a fish tank with a scavenger fish in it, you know a scavenger fish is supposed to keep the fish tank clean. I’m trying to be as realistic about it in my use of language as possible so I hope that you will appreciate that. Once upon a time there was a scavenger fish that lost its taste for shit. (I don’t think I have to read the rest of the fable. You all got the message already!) It was your normal, garden-variety scavenger and had never previously shown any signs of being different from the other members of its species. It lived in a normal-sized tank with the members of several schools and, from the very beginning of its association with this ecosystem, seemed always to be in perfect harmony with the environment. It never got in the way of the others and th...

The Wounded Healer Too Wounded To Heal

“The painful irony is that the minister, who wants to touch the center of men’s lives, finds himself on the periphery; often pleading in vain for admission….He never seems to be where the action is.” I wonder if this says more about Henri Nouwen than it does about the minister’s involvement in critical and crisis situations.“ George L. Buck Ph.D. The minister, the story tells us, is sitting among the poor, binding his/her wounds one at a time, waiting for the moment when he/she will be needed. The minister is called to be the wounded healer, the one who must look after his/her wounds and at the same time be prepared to heal the wounds of others.” --- Henri Nouwen. In his article titled “Wounded Healers”, Thomas Maeder quotes a child of psychiatrists (both parents): “I Think my parents were crazy, I think that, somehow, being psychiatrists kept them in line. They used it as a protection. They’re both quite crazy, but their jobs give them really good cover.” It is no secret that the so...

Asbury Theological Seminary: How to Receive Credit for CPE Training

CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION Asbury Theological Seminary  Find a certified ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education) or CPSP (College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy) training site.  ACPE website has a  list of certified training sites by states .  CPSP website has a  list of certified training sites .  (NOTE: Your denominational body usually defines which of the above training programs they prefer.) See  ACPE  or  CPSP  webpage for more information on each respective program. Apply directly to the ACPE or CPSP sites you are interested in training.  Both  ACPE  and  CPSP  website have application forms you can access. Your training site may also provide you with the application as well. ACPE and CPSP training sites may require you to pay a tuition fee to train with them. You are responsible for paying for your CPE training.  The seminary will reimburse you up to ...