The Rev. Douglas M. Thorpe, PhD, LPC is Executive Director of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, a position he has held since 2014.  He is licensed as a professional counselor in Virginia and the District of Columbia and certified as a Gottman Method Couple’s Therapist.  Doug has been ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church since 1986.  He served a church in Chicago before returning to Princeton Theological Seminary for a PhD in pastoral theology and training as a therapist.  He was certified as a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors in 2008, and served AAPC as its president from 2010 to 2012.

Doug grew up in what today is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where his parents were medical missionaries.  The story of how he got from the geographical center of Africa to Richmond, Virginia, is too long to tell here, but his wife, Mary, who is an Episcopal priest, played a large role in the last of those moves.  Doug will gladly trade photos of adorable grandchildren with anyone who has a few minutes to spare.

When Doug is not seeing clients or directing VIPCare, he can usually be found on his bicycle, searching for a quiet country road with good blacktop, or stalking flower gardens with his camera.  

Content & Course Format:

The SIP training program is a multi-disciplinary, inter-spiritual, multi-racial community of persons gathered for education, connection, and formation in the work of spiritually integrated psychotherapy. It serves licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals (i.e., counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, pastoral counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, addiction specialists, and more), as well as graduate students in any of those disciplines who seek to explore the ways spirituality, religion, and the search for meaning influence their own lives and the lives of their clients.


For more on current trainings and the core curriculum click here.