Spiritual direction is a one-to-one relationship with another individual for the purpose of obtaining spiritual guidance. “A spiritual director – or soul friend – will encourage, guide, advise, confront and challenge us on the path toward holiness,” writes Father Chet in An Introduction to Spiritual Direction.
It is not a modern concept as Aelred of Rievaulx, an English Cistercian, eloquently described the director-directee relationship in the 12th century:
“What happiness, what security, what joy to have someone to whom you dare to speak on terms of equality as to another self; one to whom you can unblushingly make known what progress you have made in the spiritual life; one to whom you can entrust all the secrets of your heart and before whom you can place all your plans.”
A session with a spiritual director is having a respectful conversation, in a safe place, with a soul companion.
The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
~ Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island
50 Tools for Spiritual Direction
Personal relationship with God/prayer
- A spiritual autobiography
- Five hours of prayer, five hours of study per week
- Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): a tool for self-knowledge
- Four temperaments, different prayer and spirituality for each
- Lectio Divina
- Five methods of prayer using Scriptures
- How to use the four functions in prayer and spirituality
- One hour/day, one day/month, one week/year directed retreat
- Three Ps: power, pleasure, possessions
- Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s “little way” of spiritual childhood
- Centering / contemplative prayer
- Discerning God's will
- Developing an intimate relationship with Jesus
- Love letter to Jesus, a daily spiritual journal
- Understanding the Dark Night of the Soul
Tools for spiritual growth
- Personal growth plan
- Six Cs in the journey of faith
- Seven levels of faith
- Four steps of individuation
- Twelve signs of spiritual progress
- Crises of faith by ages
- Enneagram - a tool for self-knowledge
- Personal mantra or mission statement
- Intensive journaling (Progoff)
- Feminine spirituality
- Positive attitude toward God, self, others, world, future
Tools for spiritual direction
- Guidelines for spiritual directors
- Qualities to be developed in a directee
- What to look for in choosing a spiritual director
- What to talk about in spiritual direction meetings
- Listening skills
- Practicum (training)
- Guided imagery to heal memories, relationships
- Differing world views
- Jesus's worldview, the Beatitudes
- Developing a personal worldview
- Spiritual direction with addiction
- Ministering to the sick, terminally ill, families of deceased
- Pitfalls in spiritual direction
Psychology background/knowledge for spiritual direction
- Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): a tool for self-knowledge
- Place of Jungian psychology in spiritual direction
- How to discover and use the energy of the unconscious shadow
- Law of polarity
- Recognizing the persona complexes and using their energy for growth
- Balance between femininity and masculinity (anima/animus)
- Four gender archetypes
- Spirituality of dreams
Theological concepts/knowledge for spiritual direction
- Twelve aspects of mission of Christ, the Church
- Balanced Christianity
- Theological criteria for Christian growth