Goodwin Living Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE Program)

We are one of only seven senior communities nationwide that offer Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

The CPE program trains leaders from different faiths in pastoral ministry and chaplaincy. As the only program of its kind in Northern Virginia, we proudly serve as a hub for professional spiritual care in the region.

A ministry powered by purpose

Goodwin Living chaplains mentor students in spiritual care. This allows them to benefit from the rare opportunity to develop relationships with older adults and their families, as well as our diverse team members. Students refine their skills in providing spiritual support with visits in hospice, palliative care, hospital and home contexts.

Students engage in ministry at a variety of clinical placement sites, including Goodwin Living Life Plan Communities, Goodwin Hospice and Inova hospitals in Northern Virginia. More than 1,000 residents and over 1,450+ team members from a wide range of cultural and faith backgrounds interact at our campuses, making them ideal settings to teach and practice pastoral skills.

Local chaplains with in-hospital spiritual care experience mentor through our Inova partnership. The variety of contexts our students can practice in ranges from cancer centers to level one trauma to community hospitals. This provides our CPE students a wide range of experiences to grow their pastoral skills.

Accreditation and offerings

Goodwin Living CPE is fully accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. The program offers CPE units* at Level IA, IB, IIA and IIB in each unit. Students progress through the levels at their own pace. Goodwin Living CPE also offers year-long CPE residency positions in which residents will earn 3 units of CPE over the course of a year.

Goodwin Living CPE program offers three CPE units each year as well as residency positions:

• Fall session: 15 weeks, September to December (30 hours per week)
• Winter session: 15 weeks, January to April (30 hours per week)
• Summer session: 10 weeks, June to August (40 hours per week)

CPE Hospice/Hospital Residency: A year-long position in which a student works with the Goodwin Hospice team or hospital site and earns three units of CPE over the course of one year. The CPE Resident earns a stipend based on the clinical placement.


*A unit of CPE consists of 400 hours. Successful completion of 400 hours (as according to program requirements) is registered as 1 credit of CPE in the ACPE database.
Tuition is $1,000 per unit.

Apply today

We review applications and interview prospective students on a rolling basis.
Click here to download your application.

Please email the written portion of your application to Syazana Durrani, CEC, CPE Program Manager at SDurrani@GoodwinLiving.org and mail a check for the $45 application fee to the following address:
Goodwin Living CPE

3440 S. Jefferson Street

Falls Church, VA 22041

The Goodwin Living Foundation generously offers scholarships to CPE students who need help with tuition. Ask Syazana (SDurrani@GoodwinLiving.org) about the scholarship application process.

The Goodwin Living CPE Program does not discriminate against persons because of race, ethnicity, religious/spiritual tradition, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age or disability. We take serious complaints and ethics violations for which we are in compliance with all ACPE Policies.

Please review our Annual Notice.