Sam's Background:

Dr. K. Samuel Lee is the Edna & Lowell Craig Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care, & Counseling at Claremont School of Theology and Executive Director of The Clinebell Institute for Pastoral Counseling & Psychotherapy. He trains practitioners to integrate psychological and spiritual dimensions in clinical care. An ordained United Methodist Church elder and licensed psychologist, Dr. Lee has spent 20 years at CST, where his commitment to diversity and transformative education earned him the Fisher Faculty Mentoring Award from students.

Beyond his training work, Dr. Lee serves as Vice President for International Relations and Director of the Doctor of Professional Counseling degree at CST. His previous academic appointments include Yale University Divinity School and Wesley Theological Seminary. He has also led major initiatives as President of the Society for Pastoral Theology and in developing multicultural competency standards for the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education.

Dr. Lee holds a BA from Westmar College, an MDiv from Yale University, and a PhD from Arizona State University. His scholarship supports his training focus, with publications including the co-edited volume Justice Matters: Spiritual Care and Pastoral Theological Imaginations in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2023) and the translation of the Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Training Manual for ACPE, alongside contributions to the Journal of Pastoral Theology on pastoral imagination and multicultural care.

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.