Spiritual direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship.” (From The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William Barry and William Connolly 1982).

Spiritual direction is not psychotherapy, pastoral counseling, discipleship or mentorship. Unlike those disciplines, a spiritual director and directee generally meet only once per month, allowing time for prayer and reflection on the spiritual journey between sessions. Also unlike those disciplines, a spiritual director does not give advice, form judgments or offer solutions. In fact, we do not “direct” at all. Instead, spiritual directors practice “holy listening”, keeping one ear tuned to the words and experiences of the directee and the other listening for the whisperings and leadings of the Holy Spirit.

The spiritual director acts as a guide along the spiritual journey, helping the directee to notice their inner landscape, to recognize and rely on the voice of God as their compass and to experience His love more deeply and personally along the way.