spiritual direction

Spiritual direction is a conversation between two people where one person (the director) listens deeply to the other (the directee) as they talk about their life, spirituality and deepest questions. Through this conversation, the directee is helped in noticing and connecting with the Divine Presence, however the directee names and understands that (God, Love, Christ, Higher Power or something else).

As a spiritual director, I offer companionship as you reflect, wonder, question, wrestle, and celebrate. Like a midwife, I will stay with you while you do the important work of birthing whatever is held within you.

Through compassionate listening, gentle questioning and playful guided practice, I will help you go deeper into your experiences and notice and respond to the invitations as they emerge.

I find that people approach spiritual direction differently. For some, it is a place of verbal journaling where they can reflect on, process and share with the Divine what is happening in their lives and within them; for others, it is a space to explore questions or practices; for others, it is a quiet space where they can listen to what wants to be noticed and named. Some people come to direction knowing what they want to talk about, others come with no idea. All approaches are welcome and I am practised in adapting my approach to complement yours.

Every spiritual direction session is a bit different but there are some common patterns:

• Each session begins with me asking what you need in order to begin. That could be a moment of silence, a spoken prayer or a guided settling practice. It’s ok if you don’t know how you want to begin - I can help you enter our time together intentionally and can suggest something if you would prefer. Alternatively, if you’re ready to jump straight in, you are welcome just to start talking!

• During our time, you can share anything and everything you like. Nothing is irrelevant or inappropriate, all is welcome as an opening onto the inner life. Often the uncomfortable, messy or seemingly trivial things in life turn out to be the most important. I will provide a safe place for you to share your stories, feelings and experiences. Through gentle reflective listening and by offering wonderings and noticings, I will help you to go deeper into your experiences and questions. Together we seek to notice and follow where you are being invited.

• I leave space around our words so that your noticings can “breathe” and so we can attend to what is beneath the surface of words. There is no rush during a direction session.

• During a session I may invite you to pause so you can stay with something that seems important. I may invite you to pay attention to where something is felt in your body or may ask if you would like to be guided deeper into an image or memory. All of this is offered for the sake of your own healing and awakening. There is, however, absolutely no pressure to say “yes” to these invitations. Gentleness is my guiding principle and it is critical that you feel safe throughout the session.

• Each session ends with a period of intentional reflection. Again, this could take many forms. If I sense there is a fitting way to close our time together, I will suggest it and you are welcome to say “yes” or “no”. Otherwise, I will ask you how you would like to close our time.

If you’d like to explore the possibility of journeying with me as a spiritual companion, you can use the form below to book a free 30 minute introductory chat.

This exploratory chat is an informal opportunity for you to get to know me and for us to discern whether we have a good “fit”. Discerning our “fit” is largely about seeing whether you feel safe with me and to check that our practical constraints are compatible (time zones etc). During our introductory chat I will help you name what it is you are seeking and we will explore whether spiritual companionship with me is the appropriate support and care for you. You are also welcome to ask any questions you may have.

I never want people to feel pressured into making a hasty decision. Sometimes it’s easy to discern a “fit” and we can arrange a first meeting during the exploratory call but you are always welcome to take your time reflecting and then get back to me with your decision.

I always book one session at a time so you can go slow and we can adapt the frequency to suit your needs.