Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian

Uncategorized

Select a Category Advent angels Anne Lamott Christmas church leadership clergy contemplation contemplative Christianity Desert Fathers and Mothers discernment election evangelicalism faith freedom guru healing interfaith dialogue Lent love Martin Luther King Jr media mind body spirit mystic Nativity nature new year's resolutions parables peace pluralism prayer prayer practices religious diversity resurrection Rules for Prayer Rumi saints sexual abuse spirit spiritual direction spiritual discernment spiritual mentor spiritual path spirituality stewardship Super Bowl terrorism theology transgender Uncategorized violence visioning vocation

Select a Month February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 September 2022 August 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012

November 2012

November 04, 2012

How to Become a Spiritual Director

Since spiritual direction is a faith-oriented practice, there is no standard regulation or licensing available....

October 2012

October 25, 2012

Using a Discernment Coach

Part of every spiritual director’s training is (or should be) education in the art of...

October 16, 2012

Does a Candidate’s Faith Matter?

Does a candidate’s faith matter? Patheos has asked its bloggers to reflect on this question...

October 15, 2012

Spiritual Direction and your Leadership Team

One of the greatest gifts a spiritual director brings to any leadership team, council, session...

October 10, 2012

Hiring a Spiritual Director for your Group

For a paltry fee most any spiritually-oriented group can hire a spiritual director to lead,...

October 01, 2012

Covert Group Spiritual Direction

No matter what I’m invited to do at churches or spirituality gatherings, I’m covertly doing...

September 2012

September 24, 2012

How to do Group Spiritual Direction

Group spiritual direction is as varied as the groups and directors involved. There are two...

September 17, 2012

Group Spiritual Direction

You can learn things with others than you don’t learn by yourself or with...

September 14, 2012

What a Spiritual Direction Session Looks Like

Two people sitting in a quiet, private space perhaps with a lighted candle on a...

September 07, 2012

One-on-One Spiritual Direction

When you are in need of a safe place to share your spiritual questions and...

September 04, 2012

Spiritual Direction vs. Spiritual Friend

It's great to have a friend you can talk to about your spiritual life. But...

August 2012

August 31, 2012

Spiritual Direction vs. Counseling

There are very real differences between spiritual direction and counseling (also known as therapy). You...

August 27, 2012

Appreciating Spiritual Experiences

A common misconception is that spiritual direction is mostly about people’s discomfort or problems. In...

August 21, 2012

Wrestling with Tough Spiritual Issues

Spiritual exploration is not for the fainthearted. If all you want from your spiritual journey...

August 14, 2012

Pop Quiz: Tony Jones Asks Progressive Christians to Talk about God

I'll throw down with Tony Jones any day and talk about God. Gladly. In fact,...

August 13, 2012

Assessing Spiritual Growth

What does spiritual direction actually do for a person? How can we assess whether this...

August 10, 2012

Simple Questions to Help you Discern

Discernment doesn’t have to be some heavy, serious, complicated process. Just this week I was...

August 06, 2012

Discernment, Wesley-style

Sometimes you just need a simple, practical way to explore your choices. For that, we...

July 2012

July 27, 2012

Discernment-in-Community, Quaker-style

If you don’t know enough about Quakers to stand in utter awe of their understanding...

July 23, 2012

A Step-by-Step Discernment Process

Not everyone wants or needs a step-by-step process for spiritual discernment. But for those who...

July 20, 2012

Basic Principles to Help You Discern

You could fill a library with books written about spiritual discernment. Here’s a distillation of...

July 16, 2012

Discernment as a Way of Life

Out of our awareness of God and our trust in God grows the practice of...

July 13, 2012

Remembering an Experience of God

Many people come to spiritual direction wanting to better understand an experience of God from...

July 09, 2012

Silence in Spiritual Direction

Silence is sometimes referred to as God’s first language. But how you feel about silence...

July 05, 2012

Awareness of God

The first step in any spiritual journey is awareness--becoming open to a reality beyond yourself....

June 2012

June 29, 2012

What spiritual direction cannot do for you

Spiritual direction is not professional counseling. Even though there may seem to be some overlapping...

June 25, 2012

What Spiritual Direction can do for you

At its best, spiritual direction can help you become more aware of where God is...

June 22, 2012

Who comes to Spiritual Direction?

All kinds of people come to spiritual direction--there is no one "type." Directees are lay...

June 15, 2012

It’s about Contemplation

Spiritual Direction is a contemplative practice. By contemplative I mean it values contemplation, which is...

June 11, 2012

The Spiritual Director as Field Guide

Spiritual directors today are, in a sense, “field guides” along the walk, pointing out interesting...

Related posts from Spiritual Direction 101

Family

Finding the Right Spiritual Direction Training Program

Spiritual Direction 101

Family

How Many Before Mary? An Advent Tale of...

Spiritual Direction 101

Family

Thinking vs. Feeling: What's the big deal?

Spiritual Direction 101

Family

Visit from an unexpected Spirit Messenger

Spiritual Direction 101

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos