More about Spiritual Direction

What spiritual direction is:

Spiritual direction is all about intentional listening. The spiritual director listens to and with the directee for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, paying careful attention to the activity of the Spirit in their life.

Spiritual direction is also about noticing:  looking for where the Spirit might be moving in one’s life, and even noticing when we don’t feel very connected to the Spirit.  It includes noticing what your body, heart and mind might be telling you through feelings and sensation...noticing how things you're learning now, or from your past experience, draw you into a deeper sense of your authentic self.

Such listening, noticing and wondering out loud together becomes a sacred space and a holy conversation.

Through one-hour sessions once a month, the director and directee enter an intentional process of transformation that fosters the building and deepening of the directee’s relationship with God through conversation and exploration of spiritual practices such as prayer and sacred reading. 

What spiritual direction is not:

While one may notice some points of similarity between spiritual direction and counseling or psychotherapy, there are important differences between spiritual direction and either of those other disciplines.  Although it may address some of the same questions as counseling or psychotherapy, spiritual direction focuses on the “inward journey”— seeing one’s life story through the lens of the presence of the Spirit of God. 

If you experience psychological or relational problems that would be well served by being in psychotherapy, I will be glad to assist you by making a referral to someone who can provide those services.

Spiritual direction is not outcome-oriented nor is it centered on problem solving.  Instead, it is a tool that may be used on one’s lifelong journey towards transformation.

If you are interested in exploring spiritual direction, please contact me to set up an initial 30-minute meeting free of charge. That initial session will be a time during which you can share what draws you to spiritual direction, see whether it will be a good fit for both of us, and for us to talk about agreements of how we will do sessions.