FAQ
What is Catholic Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual direction, as a particular ministry, is a form of pastoral care that is individualized for the person offered in a one-on-one encounter. In this setting, a trained mentor, guided by the Holy Spirit, helps direct the individual within the context of their everyday life, supporting one's growth in holiness through teaching, co-discernment, and ongoing accompaniment for one’s deeper discovery through prayer, listening and discerning on who they are, how they are, and what and where they are called.
Catholic spiritual direction is a Trinitarian, Marian, and Sacramentally magisterial based pastoral care focuses on one's relationship with the Trinity God and on one's growth in holiness through prayer, service, and the sacramental life within the Mystical Body of Christ.
Those called to this ministry should have a foundational core in the Four Pillars of Formation, as do all ministers who co-labor in the vineyard of the Church. In addition, they are to have specific formation related to the spiritual life. Whether affiliated directly as employees within an institution or organization, or working independent
History of spiritual direction in the Catholic Church
The history of spiritual direction in the Catholic Church involves guidance toward eternal happiness through both public teaching and private counsel, with roots in the early Church and development through various figures and traditions. Spiritual direction has been part of the Church's mission since Christ commissioned the apostles to teach and guide all nations, and since the early Church Fathers and Mothers have played significant roles in providing spiritual guidance. Within its a 2000 year history consisting of multiple spiritual traditions such as the Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Carmelites, Redemptorists, Passionists and others, it has encompassed now specifically trained clergy, religious and the laity practitioners working in various settings.
Who comes to Spiritual Direction?
People experiencing a faith transition or loss, changes in self-perception, challenges within the normal flow of life, life transitions, changes in careers, or a yearning for God to deepen their prayer life, to understand more of their interior life, to discover more profoundly their unique relationship with Christ, and or finding God’s will and desire for their life, to grow in holiness.
What does Spiritual Direction Involve?
Spiritual direction involves the soul and all its facilities (intellect, memory, and will), one's desires, and direction in life (both temporal and eternal) in relationships with God, others, and the self. This is a form of pastoral counseling where two people come together, listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit's direction for one to grow in holiness and in applying their God-given gifts in the service of others. It is multi-dimensional, using all of the skills found in contemporary counseling - assessment, planning, and 'treatments' (such as prayer). Healing, health, and well-being are accompanying results. The focus and frequency change over time; the intermittent goal is temporal, while the end goal is eternal.
Spiritual Direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables the person [a directee] to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to His grace, to grow in intimacy, and to live out the consequences of that relationship” with Jesus Christ, God's Self-revealed. (Practice of Spiritual Direction by Barry and Connolly p8).
Spiritual direction services the whole person, holding the balance at the threshold between prayer and everyday life. Our prayer and self-examination bring forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit through the grace of God's gifting for us to discern the good we are to do and grow in virtue and holiness. Spiritual direction also helps one interpret the dynamic interplay of the head, heart, and hands.
What we think, is what we do and feel
What we feel, is what we think and do
What we do, is what we think and feel
What does a spiritual director do?
How to Locate a Catholic Spiritual Director?
“Since the God we seek is a busy God, we cannot let our interior life and prayer float above our daily life in our lifeworld.
Our spiritual life is rooted in an experience of God freeing us from our sins so that we can present our bodies and everything we experience in a day,
lifelong as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship…"
(Joseph Tetlow, SJ)
In looking for God, we often find ourselves
Who we are
Whose we are
Who we are called to be and do
(St. Ignatius' Principle and Foundation SE 23)
Letting God Mold Us
“Few people understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon
themselves wholly into God’s hands and if they were to allow God’s grace to mold them.”
(St. Ignatius)
What areas in my life does Spiritual Direction address?
Spiritual Direction "addresses what is in one’s daily life as one prays their way through life’s complex decisions
and interpretations of their spiritual experiences in those everyday life circumstances."
(Joseph Tetlow, SJ)
How does spiritual direction help me make my decisions?
Spiritual direction helps one discern their way to find what God desires for them to become and what the best action to take is. A spiritual director supports "the whole person in prayerfully discerning the next good thing as they seek "to find God in all things."
How often does one go to a Spiritual Director?
It varies. In general the recommendation is following up once a month. Initially it can be more concentrated if one is being instructed in an one-on-one in the ways of prayer or walking through the discernment of spirits; or weekly in taking a retreat daily or weekly for a limited time, or as in Spiritual Exercises over a 9 month period.
Are there Fees for Spiritual Direction?
Depending on the training of the director and where they work and live, fees may vary. Those in full-time ministry working in retreat centers are paid stipends that are collected by their organizations, while those directors who minister in parishes generally do not, since it is part of their services for their local church as employees.
Almost all other spiritual directors collect fees directly from the directees, with fees varying depending on the directee's financial hardship (sliding scale) and the basic costs* of serving others in this ministry. Some directors do not charge because their ministry is self-supported or supported by others.
*The costs associated with providing direction are based upon initial training costs, one's ongoing formation with classes, materials, memberships, their own requirements such as spiritual direction, supervision, annual retreat, along with the basics overhead, facility costs, and at times liability insurance.
What is the Training of a Spiritual Director?
*What one will find today seem to be basically are two levels of programs offered one at the university with graduate level requirements for directors, and these other programs that have less requirements or those fitting the different models of accompaniment. And what is needed for those who discern the call to direction will be given basic core courses in formation in the 4 pillars: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral along with particular knowledge of spiritual development and pastoral skills.
Many directors today have formal education (a Master's or Doctorate) with advanced post-graduate credits (certificates) in spiritual direction from universities, while more and more today have other college degrees or had have short-term or long-term study within an organization or a parish.
Spiritual directors can be lay, religious, or ordained and work in retreat houses, monasteries, or within parishes as part of their regular duties or in private practice. Many spiritual directors work part-time in this ministry and have degrees and training in other disciplines which may or may not be related to ministry, counseling, or religious formation. Many now are full-time.
In contrast, some may have no formal theological or pastoral formation and are gifted by the Holy Spirit. One may find those who do not have formal undergraduate or graduate formation in theology, ministry, pastoral care, or history of spirituality, who are called with the charism of counsel and the gift of accompaniment, use the term spiritual director, under the gift of Holy Spirit to offer spiritual support.
All Catholic spiritual directors are ethically bound to practice the faith, have a director, and be accountable to a supervisor.
Is Spiritual Direction therapy?
No, but yes
It is therapy for the Soul for today, the tomorrows, and for eternity.
But it is not what the healthcare system calls therapy today, which also uses the term counseling. While there is overlap in skills—such as active listening, discernment, and reflection—the focus, framework, and goals of each are fundamentally different.
What are the difference types?
•Psychotherapy: The mind is the focus for emotional health. It is a problem-solving focus with crisis management treatment for individuals in their relationships with the self and others for emotional health and well-being. God is not part of the dialogue focusing on the temporal time frame. Assessment (or diagnosis), planning, and treatment with an end goal set within a time frame.
•Pastoral Counseling: The focus is on the mind and soul in relationship with God and others. It is a problem-solving, crisis management faith-based care where God is a primary partner for emotional health and well-being. Combines psychological treatment protocols and within one's faith tradition. Assessment, plan, and treatment with an end goal within a set duration considerations within a temporal and eternal telos.
•Spiritual Direction: Is pastoral care of the soul and all its facilities ( intellect, memory, and will), one's desires, and direction in life (both temporal and eternal) in relationships with God, others, and the self as the central focus. This is a form of pastoral care where two people come together listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit's direction for one to grow in holiness for service. It is multi-dimensional, using all of the skills in counseling - assessment, planning, and 'treatments' (such as prayer). Healing, health, and well-being are accompanying results. The focus and frequency change over time, for the intermittent goal is temporal, while the end goal is eternity. It may also have an aspect of mentoring and disciplining.
•Mentoring: It is caring for the development of another to improve one’s external actions and life competencies, where the companion acts as a coach to help one develop skills.
•Disciplining: It is an instruction process where the companion is the transmitter of knowledge.
Other roles of a spiritual director
At times, spiritual direction sessions may enter into the other forms of spiritual companionship to assist the directee in finding God’s call in their life. Depending upon the circumstance, the (human) spiritual director may accompany the directee in the roles as a spiritual counselor, a companion, a facilitator, a coach, a teacher, a mentor, and always as a holy listener, for it is the Holy Spirit who is the Spiritual Director.
Am I looking for training as a Spiritual Director or a Coach, mentor, companion, or Practitioner as a Catholic?
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A Spiritual Director utilizes all the skills of counseling to help one develop a conscious, intentional, and active relationship with Christ, integrating it within a formation model that provides a solid foundation of the Church's teachings in the moral life and one who has an understanding of the stages of growth in the spiritual life, ways of prayer, in addition to theology, sacramental life, and human development.
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A Catholic Coach, Mentor or Companion walks alongside and accompanies another in their spiritual journey, possible even as a spiritual friend (soul friend), as does a Spiritual Director, yet may not offer the formal training for the roles of instruction or counseling.