What IS spiritual direction?
A bit of a misnomer.
Unlike other forms of counseling, spiritual directors do not provide diagnoses or treatment plans.
Spiritual companionship might be a better name.
From my experience of and training in spiritual formation, I will listen to and bear witness to your holy story—to your seeking, losing sight of, fighting with, rejecting, and falling in love with all that is sacred in your life’s walk.
I will ask questions and offer resources not to achieve a specific end but to support the open-ended work of surfacing the wisdom that is part of each of us.
Unlike other forms of counseling, spiritual directors do not provide diagnoses or treatment plans.
Spiritual companionship might be a better name.
From my experience of and training in spiritual formation, I will listen to and bear witness to your holy story—to your seeking, losing sight of, fighting with, rejecting, and falling in love with all that is sacred in your life’s walk.
I will ask questions and offer resources not to achieve a specific end but to support the open-ended work of surfacing the wisdom that is part of each of us.
The spiritual director serves as companion and witness,
someone who helps you (sometimes with questions, sometimes just by listening)
to discern the divine where you might have missed it
and to integrate that awareness into your daily life.
- Rabbi Jacob Staub
Is it religious? Do I have to talk about God?
That is up to you.
If you come to do spiritual direction with me within a specific religious tradition, as either a current practice or one that you are questioning or would like to reconstruct or rethink, I will follow your lead on that relationship.
Likewise, if you come without a tradition, I will not try to convert you to one.
This is spiritual companionship, not religious training.
If you come to do spiritual direction with me within a specific religious tradition, as either a current practice or one that you are questioning or would like to reconstruct or rethink, I will follow your lead on that relationship.
Likewise, if you come without a tradition, I will not try to convert you to one.
This is spiritual companionship, not religious training.
Spiritual direction is holy listening, presence and attentiveness...
in this covenanted relationship the director has agreed to put (their self) aside
so that total attention can be focused on the person sitting in the other chair.
What a gift to bring another, the gift of...loving attention!
- Margaret Guenther
So what does spiritual direction DO?
We live in a time of a lot of talking and very little genuine listening.
In spiritual direction you will receive the full and loving attention of my prayerful heart.
You will gain me as a conversation partner for your questions of meaning and experiences of liminality.
Over time, my witness becomes a living documentation of your wisdom work.
And with the broader view my role provides, I am able to help you identify trends, connections, which doors might need closing and those that are wide open.
In spiritual direction you will receive the full and loving attention of my prayerful heart.
You will gain me as a conversation partner for your questions of meaning and experiences of liminality.
Over time, my witness becomes a living documentation of your wisdom work.
And with the broader view my role provides, I am able to help you identify trends, connections, which doors might need closing and those that are wide open.
Pricing
My rates are $40 to $100 based on self-assessed need and capacity.
How do I begin?
I offer spiritual direction in person in Coles, Clark, and Crawford County, IL, and Vigo County, IN.
But I meet with many people online via Zoom.
Whichever suits your needs, please e-mail me. The first session is always free.
But I meet with many people online via Zoom.
Whichever suits your needs, please e-mail me. The first session is always free.
