Spiritual direction is soul companionship.
Spiritual direction is the ancient contemplative practice of having a compassionate listener attend along with you to ways you can live more fully into wholeness and dignity, foster connection to your truest self, and tune into the movements of God and goodness in and around you.
My role as a spiritual director is not to be an expert who has all the right answers but a support, resource, and fellow traveler who hosts space for us to listen together for the Spirit’s gifts and invitations in this season of your journey.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
Spiritual direction is valuable in seasons of discernment regarding vocation, life partnership, or family. It can be a helpful grounding in times of transition. It can facilitate healing and rebuilding in the aftermath of grief, loss, or abuse. It can provide a safe place both to deconstruct and reconstruct faith. Spiritual direction can be particularly important for those in helping professions (e.g., counselors, coaches, pastors and other clergy, and medical professionals). It’s a way of filling your cup and processing the needs and experiences of others that it is your responsibility (and most often your joy!) to carry.
My experience of serving in a variety of church ministry and pastoral roles over the years equips me to empathize and resonate with the unique burdens and cares connected with those roles.
After an initial meeting to explore whether I might be a good fit as a spiritual director, we will
Find a meeting rhythm that works best for you, most often monthly
Spiritual direction sessions last around an hour
In our meetings, we’ll talk about what is giving you life as well as places of fear or stuck-ness. We will sometimes focus on your work or family or community. Other times, we’ll reflect on practices or readings that might be helpful. We’ll get comfortable with pauses and silence, making time for thoughts to deepen, new questions to emerge, and greater clarity to form.
My usual rate is $90 USD. I offer a student/clergy/artist rate of $40 - $60. If that is still prohibitive, I’m happy to discuss a fee that is sustainable for you.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WITH CHILDREN
Spiritual direction is fostering connection to your own soul and to your sense of God and the holy. Children benefit from that kind of loving presence as much as grown-ups. Spiritual direction with children is about creating playful and contemplative space to surface questions, emotions, and hopes. Spiritual direction is not teaching but partnering with kids to notice places of comfort and consolation as well as loneliness or sadness.
The goal is to help a child tune into their truest self and where God’s love and kindness are showing up in their lives.
After an initial meeting with you and your child to explore whether I might be a good fit for them as a spiritual director:
We will find a meeting rhythm that works best for your child, most often monthly
Spiritual direction sessions with children typically last 30-45 minutes, depending on the age and interest of the child
Depending on what comes up that day, your child and I might engage around gratitude, grief, or connections. They may share about a special person or creature. We will sometimes engage questions about death, the meaning of life, how to be peacefully alone, or what to do with freedom. These explorations will happen through conversation, story-telling, drawing, and using tools like story stones or finger labyrinths, and more.
At least one adult guardian must be available during our meetings
Book a FREE discovery call for you and your child.
SUPERVISION
Perspective of supervision:
Supervision can help new and seasoned directors grow in their ability to host others in holy listening. It is a chance to connect with a fellow director who can help you cultivate more freedom and safety for yourself and your directees. Who can celebrate the goodness unfolding in your work with you. Who can notice with you where the Spirit is moving in and through you. Supervision is a time to explore invitations to growth, to notice where your history is surfaced as you bear witness to the stories of others, and to be supported in the often-solitary work of soul companionship.
A little about my background and experience:
I love coming alongside fellow directors to offer support, care, and encouragement in this sacred work. I don’t think of myself as an expert with all the answers but as a cheerleader and fellow traveler.
I bring all the joys and heartaches of twenty years’ experience in church and pastoral ministry. I’ve been offering spiritual direction since 2015. After receiving an MDiv with a focus in spiritual formation from Portland Seminary in 2017, I was certified as a spiritual director in 2018. I also trained with Lacy Borgo to offer spiritual direction with children. I now work with her to train others to host children in spiritual conversations.
I offer supervision for directors who companion adults and children. I am honored to have completed a yearlong supervision training cohort hosted by the Companioning Center.
My usual rate is $90 USD. I offer a student/clergy/artist rate of $40 - $60. If that is still prohibitive, I’m happy to discuss a fee that is sustainable for you.
TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS
I’d love to offer training or a formational workshop for your team. This could look like hosting group spiritual direction or training on engaging examen prayers, how (and why) to create a rule of life, practicing lament, and more. Let’s connect to explore how we could work together to create something that fits your needs!
I’m also available for speaking engagements about a range of subjects related to spiritual formation, the practice of spiritual direction, etc. either remotely or in person.
And if your organization or staff could benefit from a compassionate assessment and help navigating change, growth, and questions connected with their life and work, I also offer packages of meetings for individuals or groups. Contact me to set up an exploratory call to determine how this could work best for your team.
Fees vary according to scope, group size, and your budget. Book a free discovery call to explore how we might work together.
WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE
Learn more about the Hope and Heaviness Workshop HERE.
01.
Breath Prayers: They are a way of engaging your body and whole self. They are a different way to connect with inner wisdom and knowing, leave room for creativity and tradition, and are easy to tailor to various life seasons. Learn how to engage them and create a breath prayer of your own to use in daily life.
02.
Images of God: When a faceless old white man on a throne don’t connect as well anymore, engaging different images of God can renew your sense of connection with the holy. In this workshop, we explore sometimes overlooked Biblical images of God (showing solidarity with the oppressed; as nursing mother, as mother hen; as a bird with huge safeguarding wings; and as a welcoming community). You’ll have a chance to wonder about which images of God you are being invited to connect with in this season of your journey.
03.
Encountering God as Mother Workshop: Many of us are accustomed to praying with metaphors. We’ve prayed to God as Father, Rock, Shepherd, etc. But as patriarchy and abuse in the church continue to be unmasked, I wonder if some of us could benefit from leaning into some different metaphors. For most of church history, and particularly the past few centuries, places God is painted as mother, both in the scriptures and in other spiritual writings, have tended to get overlooked. That’s why it can catch us off guard to hear of a 4th century monk writing, “The mother meanwhile pities [her baby] and rejoices that the little one seeks after her…and takes it up, and cherishes it, and nurses it with great affection. That is what God does…” Or to fathom medieval aesthetic Julian of Norwich professing, “Jesus Christ…is our true Mother.
We have our being from him, where the foundation of motherhood begins, with all the sweet protection and love which endlessly follows. As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother.” In this workshop, you’ll have a chance to engage feminine and maternal images of God and the holy including praying to God as nursing mother; as mother hen; as Sophia—wisdom embodied; and more. You’re welcome to join whether using such images in prayer is commonplace or brand new for you. We’ll wonder together about what might make such ways of approaching prayer difficult or complicated. And we’ll process what might be healing and holy about praying to God as mother.
04.
Creating a Finger Labyrinth: In this workshop, we’ll explore the rich history of walking a labyrinth. Early in the life of the church, a celebrated practice for those who were able was to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They wanted to walk where the historical Jesus had walked, see the same land he’d seen. But sometime during the eleventh century, some Muslim groups (who had taken Jerusalem centuries before) stopped allowing it. Another way of making a sacred journey was born. Instead of walking to Jerusalem, people would walk the labyrinth. As the practice grew and developed, it became associated with three movements: Moving toward the center—letting go (Holding a prayer or hope before God), Being in the center—listening (Listening for the voice of the Spirit), and Returning to the world (Taking what you received back into the world). Walking the labyrinth is a simple prayer exercise. There’s nothing magical about it; it’s simply a tool for prayer. In this workshop we’ll create a simple finger labyrinth together and practice using it.