Spiritual Direction Can Support You to:
- Feel held during challenging times and loosen your grasp on things that aren’t serving you
- Have space, time, and deep encouragement for the practice of heart-connection
- Connect with the divine / a loving presence / a higher power / grace / sacred mystery
- Experience lovingkindness, resilience, creative flow
- Live a richer and more authentic life, in alignment with your deepest values and purpose
- Explore major questions presenting themselves and the direction they call you
- Transform flashes of illumination into abiding light
- Explore interconnectedness with and justice in the world at large
Spiritual Direction Can Support You to:
- Feel held during challenging times and loosen your grasp on things that aren’t serving you
- Have space, time, and deep encouragement for the practice of heart-connection
- Connect with the divine / a loving presence / a higher power / grace / sacred mystery
- Experience lovingkindness, resilience, creative flow
- Live a richer and more authentic life, in alignment with your deepest values and purpose
- Explore major questions presenting themselves and the direction they call you
- Transform flashes of illumination into abiding light
- Explore interconnectedness with and justice in the world at large
Therapy and Spiritual Direction:
What’s the Difference?
Therapy and spiritual direction are both safe spaces to talk and receive care. While they are not mutually exclusive and complement each other well, there are key differences:
Therapy
- Therapy helps address mental health concerns, providing tools for managing emotional pain, processing grief, or navigating symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and/or depression.
- It helps people understand their behaviors, and how past experiences inform who they are in the world today.
- It may include exploration of thoughts, emotional support, skills-building, boundary-setting, conflict-resolution, problem-solving, and a focus on relationships and other current concerns.
- Therapy can certainly involve your faith but each session will likely focus on other goals or problems that you outline.
Spiritual Direction
- Spiritual direction focuses on tending to your sacred path. When you discuss work, family, relationships, problems, emotions, and decisions, we look at where the sacred is moving within them.
- Spiritual direction is rooted in understanding the "how" more than the "what." In other words, how do you move through your stories, and focus on tapping into spirituality to support that journey and offer comfort in your wounds?
- Spiritual direction helps you integrate your faith, however you understand faith, into all areas of life, leading to greater authenticity and wholeness.
Spiritual direction with a trauma-informed lens recognizes and respects the complexities of pain and feelings of brokenness. It honors the sacredness of your journey, acknowledging that healing may require more than just psychological work—it may also be about connecting with something transcendent to find beauty from brokenness.
What is the history of spiritual direction?
Spiritual direction is an ancient practice that spans many traditions and faith communities. In the mid-20th century, spiritual direction had a resurgence.
Now, there are many certifying bodies that train spiritual directors, both denominationally-affiliated and those that identify as “spiritual but not religious.”
You can learn more about spiritual direction here.
What is the history of
spiritual direction?
Spiritual direction is an ancient practice that spans many traditions and faith communities. In the mid-20th century, spiritual direction had a resurgence. Now, there are many certifying bodies that train spiritual directors, both denominationally-affiliated and those that identify as “spiritual but not religious.” You can learn more about spiritual direction here.
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