What is Spiritual Direction

FAQ

What is Spiritual Direction in the Catholic Christian Tradition?

Spiritual Direction 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.

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

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.

What is the Role of a Spiritual Director?

Instructive

Directive

Contemplative

What does a spiritual director do?

A Catholic spiritual director helps the directee/retreatant to notice the presence and call of God in the circumstances of their everyday life and to help find the words for talking about those encounters, which helps to deepen the experience of being in a relationship with one’s Creator within the Church and the graces of the sacraments. The director also guides one in sorting out the various interior ‘voices’ within and around them for discerning God’s will. This process is called discernment of spirits and is also used in deciding through prayerful attention to the heart, head, and hands what will lead to an increased faith, hope, and love.

It is to:

help one notice areas in their prayer life they may have overlooked
share different methods of engaging in prayer from the Church’s tradition
offer practical considerations such as helping one organize time
teach about the discerning of spirits
- help on how to listen for those prompts, where they are coming from (Holy Spirit, self, or the ‘enemy or bad spirits’)
support one to notice and sort out distractions or attachments
affirm how one is proceeding in growing in Christ

“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?

"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."

Is Spiritual Direction Therapy?

Yes and No.

Yes: Therapy for the Soul is for today, tomorrow, and eternity. However, it is not what the healthcare system calls therapy today, which also uses the term counseling. The skills used overlap, while the focus and ends are different.

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.

Most have formal education (a Master's or Doctorate) with advanced post-graduate credits (certificates) in spiritual direction from universities, while some may have other college degrees and have short-term or long-term study within an organization or a parish. In contrast, some may have no formal theological or pastoral education and are gifted by the Holy Spirit.

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.

All Catholic spiritual directors are ethically bound to practice the faith, have a director, and be accountable to a supervisor.

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.

What are the differences Between the Helping Professions and a Ministry? *

Psychological Therapy: 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, for they focus on the temporal time frame. Assessment (or diagnosis), planning, and treatment with an end goal set within a time frame.

Pastoral Counseling: Here the focus is on the mind and soul in relationship with God and others. It is problem-solving, crisis management, faith-based care where God is a primary partner for emotional health and well-being. It combines psychological treatment protocols 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: The full human person ( body and soul) with 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 with Christ as the central focus. 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 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 include teaching, mentoring, and disciplining.

Mentoring: It is caring for the development of another to improve one’s external actions, where the companion acts as a coach. in discipling another in the transmitter of knowledge.
Spiritual Companion : One accompanies another peer in their walk with the Lord. One may use some of the basic listening skills of a spiritual director yet do not offer direction.

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.

* click on: Training Programs - section on different levels of accompaniment evolving today

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In looking for God, we often find ourselves

Letting God Mold Us