Courses and Schedules for Bukal Life Care

The following describes a snapshot of our courses and schedules for 2026. With changes to the calendar being made by the Philippine Department of Education, even our very flexible schedule as shown may still change in the coming months.

Bukal Life Care and Counseling Center

Courses

Foundations of Christian Counseling: 1-2 days in duration.

The course is done by request for a group. It covers basics such as counseling ethics, empathy, active listening, proper (and improper) use of Scripture in counseilng, boardaries and referral, and so forth. Actual topics may vary depending on the specific needs of the group, and the time available.

Clinical Pastoral Orientation 100 hours (CPO-100). 3-4 weeks intentive

(or may be done as a semestral course).

The course utilizes the learning modules or regular Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE): practical ministry, case presentation, didactics, individual supervision, and group work relations. It has been set up to equate to a 3 credit hour course in a seminary (3 hours per week for 15 weeks). Alternatively, it can be done in an intensive format in 3-4 weeks. It provides a “taste” of CPE for those considering to take CPE or for those who are unable to take it.

Clinical Pastoral Orientation 200 hours (CPO-200). 5-6 weeks Intensive

This course expands on CPO-100 and equates to a ½ unit of CPE. In fact, some programs call this “Half Unit CPE.”

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). 10-12 weeks Intensive or 16-20 weeks Extended

This course follows the standards of CPSP-Philippines and its parent organization CPSP (College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy). One full unit is 400 hours, consisting of 90 hours of group time consisting of Didactics, Case Presentation, and Group Work Relations, 10 hours of Individual Supervision, and 300 hours of practical ministry and personal reflection.

For certification as a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain or Board Certified Pastoral Counselor, one has to take at least 4 full units (1600 total hours). Units 1 and 2 are often described as “basic units” and Units 3 and 4 are often described as “advanced units.” While each trainee has their own learning goals and works with the supervisor to tailor training to those goals, generally, the following is where the focus is meant to be:

Unit 1: Basics of Clinical Pastoral Care

Unit 2: Pastoral/Ministerial Identity and Assessment

Unit 3: Pastoral Theology and Theological Reflection

Unit 4: Introduction to Pastoral Supervision

Supervisor-In-Training (SIT) Program

This is available to those who have passed their certification for Board Certified Clinical Chaplain. Acertified Diplomate in Pastoral Supervision will oversee training. The SIT will oversee a CPE group (one group at a time). Normally, SITs will be limited to overseeing trainees for CPE Units 1-3. Normally, Unit 4 CPE will be overseen directly by a diplomate. To complete fully the SIT program to be eligible for the certification board for Diplomate in Pasotral Supervision, the SIT must oversee a minimum of five (5) units of CPE, while being supervised by a Diplomate.

Schedule (for 2026)

Foundations of Christian Counseling and CPO-100 are done on request by groups and so it is not on the schedule. The SIT program is done concurrently with CPE and CPO-200.

Jan-Apr CPE (Units 1, 2, 3, and 4)** May have Intensive and/or Extended groups

Apr-Jun CPE (Units 1, 2, 3, and 4)** Summer Intensive

Jun-Jul CPO-200**

Aug-Dec CPE (Units 1, 2, 3, and 4)** May have Intensive and/or Extended groups

** Actual schedule depends somewhat on partnering schools and availability of trainees.

Tuition Costs

CPE 22,000 Philippine Pesos per unit

CPO-200 13,000 Philipine Pesos

CPO-100 7,000 Philippine Pesos (or may vary if done as a semestral course)

Foundations Cost is negotiated based on location, duration, and size of group.

SIT SITs receive a stipend from supervising CPE groups and so there is no direction tuition per se.

For More information, contact us at bukallife@gmail.com

www.bukallifecare.org

2025

Congratulations to Newly Certified Chaplains!!

From Left to Right: Chaplain Jezza Pingo, Dr. Paul Tabon, Dr. Vic Navarro (on screen), Chaplain Vo Canoy, Chaplain Celia Munson, and Dr. Jun Vestidas

July 31, 2024, Bukal Life Care hosted a CPSP-Philippines certification board. We would like to congratulate Dr. Jun Vestidas and Ms. Jezza Pingo for passing their respective boards. The board is for a dual certification:

-Board Certified Pastoral Counselor (BCPC)

-Board Certified Clinical Chaplain (BCCC)

The members of the certifying board were Diplomates Paul Tabon, Celia Munson, and Vic Navarro (who joined online). Also participating was Diplomate Vo Canoy, who served as their endorser.

Both Chaplain Jun and Chaplain Jezza have been invited to join our Supervisor-in-Training (SIT) program and will soon be supervising CPE groups at Bukal. Upon completion of the SIT program, the two of them may seek a certification board for Diplomate In Pastoral Supervision.

The certification is with CPSP-Philippines and is recognized by our partner and parent CPSP in the United States.

We are excited for them as well as Bukal Life Care.

Mid-May Updates for CPE

We are busy still with Clinical Pastoral Education. We have kept pretty active with CPE through the pandemic, but the lessening of the stranglehold of the malady has eased some of the challenges of late. Chaplains Vo and Lyn each are leading their groups.

Chaplain Vo with her CPE trainees

The next CPE group is expected to be a 6-week Half Unit CPE. It is expected to start the 3rd week in June.

Bob and Celia are returning back to Baguio after a year in the US. They are excited to get back to work face-to-face.

Two or three of our staff are hoping to go to Davao in August to meet Drs. Raymond Lawrence and Cal Sodoy for a CPE supervisor training. Dr. Lawrence is the General Secretary and founder of CPSP in the United States.

We are still working on collecting papers for our Bukal Life Journal. Publishing date is To Be Determined.

CPE Commissioning July 26, 2019

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July 26, 2019 we held CPE Commissioning for our 9 trainees at Bukal Life Care (with Diplomate Supervisor Celia Munson and Supervisor in Training Lyn Montecastro). We also welcomed 6 recent CPE trainees from Saint Andrews Theological Seminary (with Diplomate Supervisor Paul Tabon). The commissioning was held at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary. Father Ivo Anselmi provided an inspirational message on family, and each of the trainees provided their ministerial metaphor to the group. Afterwards, all joined at the PBTS canteen for celebratory lunch.

Other photos of the event can be found at the Munson’s blogpage:  https://bobandceliamunson.wordpress.com/2019/07/28/cpe-commissioning/

Christian Counseling Presentation

Presentation that provides a quick little overview of Christian Counseling for those who— well— don’t really know anything about Christian Counseling.

December Updates

We recently had a few small holiday events.

On December 12th, we had our Drug Surrenderer Christmas celebration at Lualhati barangay. We are presently meeting with the Lualhati group monthly, and with the Pacdal group weekly.

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On December 15th, we had the last CPO (Clinical Pastoral Orientation) meeting of 2017. We did several case presentations, most of them done while having merienda at Noodle King.

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On December 16th, we went to the La Trinidad District jail for counseling, and some gifts for all of the female inmates. Afterwards, our team went out to lunch at Future Diner. . This is our last ministry day until the holidays is over.

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Some pictures from Huey on the jail ministry (can’t take pictures inside the jail)

December 19. We will have our last CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) on this date. This is for one of our two groups. The other group is already off for the holiday and will return in 2018.

January 8.  This is the start of three activities. One is the Lide-Walker Conference 2017. The focus will be on from the Grimes of The Relationship Warehouse. Second is a module course on Marriage Counseling, January 8-19, led by Dr. Chuck Henderson. Third is the SEE conference. All of these are at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary.

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January.  We will be having the Annual Board Meeting of CPSP-Philippines. Details as they become known.

December Updates

A few items to pass on:

A.  CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education). Supervisor Celia’s group is nearing completion of their Half Unit. There are 7-trainees in this group. Supervisor Paul’s group is in the middle of their Full Unit. There area also 7-trainees in this group.

B.  Clinical Pastoral Orientation (CPO).  CPO is presently being held at Zamboanga Peninsula Medical Center by Chaplain Phanuel Buac. This is actually the 2nd class he has held this year with trainees. This batch is from October to December.

C.  Counseling Sites. In addition to our trainees serving in counseling in hospitals here in Baguio and Bulacan, we presently have two new teams at additional sites. Group #1 is led by Chaplain German, and it is held weekly at the Baguio Jail (BJMP). This group works in partnership with Prison Fellowship International-Philippines. Group #2 is led by Chaplain Celia. It is a partnership with several local churches and is running a weekly pilot program of intervention with individuals dealing drug use in Mines View Barangay.

D.   Lay Shepherding. We are presently working with another local church to start a lay shepherding program. This is an 8-12 hour intensive in basic pastoral care principles for church members. The exact schedule is yet to be determined.

E.  Upcoming Trainings and Visits. We are looking forward to a number of our partners visiting. In January, Dr. Ryan Clark, former Bukal Life Care member will be in Baguio to provide training in Pastoral Care. In February, Dr. Raymond Lawrence, GenSec of CPSP, is planning a visit to the Philippines, as well as two or three other Southeast Asian nations. In April, Dr. Doug Dickens, CPSP and ACPE Diplomate, will visit Baguio and lead two training courses, and a 3-day seminar. We look forward to gaining from all of these visits.

November Updates

We recently completed half units of CPE led by Dr. Paul Tabon and Celia Munson. There will be follow-on CPE work for a number of trainees.

On the 27th, we celebrated Pastoral Care Week with a pastoral care presentation. After that we joined together for food and fellowship.

November 5 we will have our annual board meeting.

November 23 we will have training led by Dr. Raymond Lawrence, General Secretary of CPSP. The training will be in Case Study and Reflection.

November 24-26 we will have other activities associated with CPSP-Philippines and Bukal with Dr. Lawrence. More info on this to follow.

Below are a few pictures from the last few days.

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