The lived experience of Buddhist monastics engaged in clinical pastoral education in the United States: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Item and associated files
Author
Qian, Yishan See all items with this value
Date
2026
Degree
Doctor of Buddhist Ministry
Committee
Gauthier, Jitsujo
Gabriel, Victor
Iwamura, Jane
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the lived experiences of Buddhist monastics participating in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in the United States. Although CPE serves as the predominant training pathway for professional chaplaincy in North American healthcare, and Buddhist participation in chaplaincy is growing, the experiences of Buddhist monastics, whose formation is shaped by renunciation, Vinaya observance, and contemplative practice, remain largely unaddressed in empirical research. Employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study addresses that gap through semi-structured interviews with seven Buddhist monastics representing diverse traditions, cultural backgrounds, and levels of CPE training.
Analysis following the six-step IPA process yielded six superordinate themes: the negotiation of dual identities; the transformation of emotional awareness; the application and adaptation of Buddhist concepts in clinical contexts; the navigation of cultural and religious difference; the distinctive contributions of Buddhist monastics to chaplaincy; and the vision for Buddhist chaplaincy training. Findings indicate that CPE functions as a transformative formation—professional, personal, emotional, and spiritual—while requiring participants to engage in ongoing identity work through diverse strategies of integration, differentiation, and contextual expression. Participants demonstrated sophisticated processes of Dharma localization, translating Buddhist teachings into accessible clinical forms without reducing their essence. Several participants experienced emotional reclamation—recovering suppressed affective capacities—which deepened rather than departed from their Buddhist practice.
Three theoretical contributions are advanced: integrative negotiation (describing how monastics hold dual roles), emotional reclamation (the recovery of emotional availability), and Dharma localization (the adaptation of Buddhist wisdom for clinical contexts). Implications address CPE educators, Buddhist communities, healthcare institutions, and Buddhist monastics considering CPE. The study concludes that while individual monastics succeed in current structures, systemic changes are needed to make chaplaincy education genuinely multifaith, and that CPE can serve not as a departure from monastic identity but as its lived expression in service of suffering beings.
Analysis following the six-step IPA process yielded six superordinate themes: the negotiation of dual identities; the transformation of emotional awareness; the application and adaptation of Buddhist concepts in clinical contexts; the navigation of cultural and religious difference; the distinctive contributions of Buddhist monastics to chaplaincy; and the vision for Buddhist chaplaincy training. Findings indicate that CPE functions as a transformative formation—professional, personal, emotional, and spiritual—while requiring participants to engage in ongoing identity work through diverse strategies of integration, differentiation, and contextual expression. Participants demonstrated sophisticated processes of Dharma localization, translating Buddhist teachings into accessible clinical forms without reducing their essence. Several participants experienced emotional reclamation—recovering suppressed affective capacities—which deepened rather than departed from their Buddhist practice.
Three theoretical contributions are advanced: integrative negotiation (describing how monastics hold dual roles), emotional reclamation (the recovery of emotional availability), and Dharma localization (the adaptation of Buddhist wisdom for clinical contexts). Implications address CPE educators, Buddhist communities, healthcare institutions, and Buddhist monastics considering CPE. The study concludes that while individual monastics succeed in current structures, systemic changes are needed to make chaplaincy education genuinely multifaith, and that CPE can serve not as a departure from monastic identity but as its lived expression in service of suffering beings.
Keywords
Religion See all items with this value
Religious education See all items with this value
Philosophy of Religion See all items with this value
Buddhist Chaplaincy See all items with this value
Clinical Pastoral Education See all items with this value
Engaged Buddhism See all items with this value
Humanistic Buddhism See all items with this value
Monastic Education See all items with this value
Degree Granter
University of the West