Certificate of Spiritual Direction Courses

An overview of spiritual direction as a contemplative ministry of listening for God’s presence in everyday life. Participants will explore the purpose, posture, and boundaries of spiritual direction and how it differs from therapy and other helping professions. The course includes guided prayer and reflective exercises that model the attentive presence central to spiritual direction.

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*Required to take for the Certificate in Spiritual Direction

This course provides a practical introduction to various forms of prayer that have developed within the Christian community over the centuries. They are gifts we receive from those who have prayed before us. The course also explores ways Christians have learned to notice, relish, and act on the holy desires that are part of the spiritual lives of those who are “making progress” in the spiritual life.

Practicum A focuses primarily on freedom in spiritual direction. Students are invited to explore their own inner and outer experiences of freedom, and to learn how to invite their directees to freedom.  Students will be introduced to the tools of contemplative spiritual direction, including evocative questioning, compassionate presence, and contemplative listening, and will have ample opportunity to practice directing in safe and supported “real play” sessions with their cohort.  Students will also be assigned a supervisor and learn about the supervision process, including how to prepare for supervision sessions. Attention will be given to the differences between direction, supervision, and other helping professions, and to ethics and professional boundaries. Finally, students will be introduced to the Experience Circle, a tool that can help them notice God in all the areas and dimensions of life.

Spiritual Journey and Direction is a formational, retreat-style course that invites students into deep engagement with their own spiritual story while developing the interior posture needed for the ministry of spiritual direction. Rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition and informed by stages of faith, real-life narratives of spiritual direction sessions as well as communion and belonging, the course emphasizes lived experience, embodied awareness, and reverent listening. Through guided practices, Circle Way dialogue, and reflective exercises, students grow in self-knowledge, compassionate presence, and developmental awareness.

Practicum B focuses primarily on embodied spiritual direction. Through preparatory readings and reflective exercises, in-class modeling and exercises, and supervised real-play practice sessions, students become aware of the wisdom their bodies carry as well as how to help their directees access the wisdom in their bodies. Students will also learn about grounding, with an emphasis on the biology of grounding, through contemplative exercises and in-class discussion.  In addition, students will delve more deeply into the Experience Circle (introduced in Practicum A) by mapping a portion of a dialogue session with a directee on the Circle. Attention will also continue to be given to various practical skills such as evocative questioning, compassionate presence, and contemplative listening.

This course invites students to explore how contemporary movements influence the practice of spiritual direction today. It is not intended to replace foundational training but to deepen formation by focusing on lived realities that spiritual directors encounter in their work. Through teaching, experiential practices, personal reflection, and group dialogue, the course emphasizes integration.

This course represents a community journey through the spiritual discipline of discernment, facilitating an understanding of the practice and introducing methods that underwrite its process. Part of the experience will explore background meanings, while a substantial portion will be dedicated to immersive practice. Learning outcomes facilitated through readings, class conversation, peer engagement, and experiential immersion.

Practicum C focuses on how to bring the various spiritual practices of visual art, music, and storytelling into the spiritual direction space as a method for helping their directees explore the depths of their spiritual life through spiritual reflection and discernment.  Students will use Imago Divina as a tool for exploring the focus question from their final supervision Contemplative Reflection Form.  Along with various readings, the primary assignment for this class will center around a song and storytelling assignment.  Students will learn how to use these tools in one-to-one spiritual direction, as well as group spiritual direction, where they will explore various group settings and structures. They will also spend time exploring the emerging identity and vocation each student is sensing as they near the completion of their training.