School of Spiritual Direction

Module Objectives & Themes

Each module has specific objectives, but three meta-objectives for all modules are: 1) acquire a theological foundation for the ministry of spiritual direction; 2) deepen our own spiritual formation through contemplative practices; 3) grow in skills needed for spiritual direction.

1. Kingdom of God & Spiritual Formation
2. Image of God & Humankind
3. Discernment & The Spirit
4. Self-Awareness & Desire
5. Theosis: The Journey of Love

Reading

Similarly to Year 1, we aim to read for formation, not information. There are currently 7 new required books to read and 2 that we revisit from Year 1.

Receiving Spiritual Direction

You agree to continue meeting monthly with your own spiritual director. The only detour occurs when you begin the Ignatian Journey.

Offering Direction

Generally recognized (domestic) standards for spiritual direction training programs require 20 sessions of offering direction over two years of training. Consequently, if you had 10 sessions in Year 1, you technically only need 10 sessions in Year 2. This, however, is a minimum requirement. Our expectation and hope is that you’ll offer direction to 2-3 directees per month over the course of Year 2. Time in the trenches is critical to your development.

Completing the 18th Annotation of the Ignatian Exercises

In the month prior to beginning the Ignatian Exercises, you’ll be assigned to a small journey group of 3-4 members from your cohort. You’ll also be introduced to the spiritual director who will accompany you through the 18th Annotation, which is an abbreviated version of the full exercises. Your group will meet online on a weekly basis with the director to process your experiences. (Meetings typically last between an hour and an hour and a half.)

Because you’re receiving spiritual direction during these group meetings, because you meet weekly over the course of 13 weeks, and because we want to preserve the focus of the Exercises, we ask you to temporarily suspend direction with your normal director. (You’ll only miss 3 meetings.)

Submitting Summary Reflections

It’s common practice for each student to upload for the teacher and other cohort members a 1-2 page reflection on the various aspects of work we do together. The particular requirements vary from teacher to teacher / cohort to cohort. As a rule of thumb, a monthly submission of some kind is typically expected, but your teacher will let you know the content requirements and exact schedule for your submissions. Summary Reflections generally take under 1 hour to complete.

Receiving Supervision

The standard requirement is to receive 10 supervised sessions over the course of two years, and this is a primary feature of our Year 2 experience. Our approach to Supervision is contemplative in nature, as we pay special attention to interior movements that hinder us from offering direction and interior movements that are important for listening to and discerning God’s voice within.