Your work with Kathy will be spiritual direction, not counseling. Spiritual Direction differs from counseling in that Spiritual Direction is not needs driven but focuses on everyday experiences of the directee and the presence of God in those experiences. The director and directee pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s leanings and promptings as they talk and pray together. The goal is for the directee to grow in experienced knowledge of God and self.
The role of the director is to provide a safe, caring environment, to listen and help the directee explore and sit with what God is offering. The focus of Spiritual Direction is not teaching or problem solving.
In contrast, Christian Counseling is a process of problem solving and treating mental health issues that can be diagnosable such as but not limited to depression, anxiety, and addiction.
As we make this pilgrimage together we will be engaging in practices for endurance, growth and hope:
- Spiritual Assessments: Assisting you in learning about yourself, your relationship to God and others.
- Centering Prayer: Engaging in quiet meditation in which a single symbolic word is used as a sign of one’s willingness to wait on God and be available to God’s presence.
- Lectio Divina: Reading scripture as intended to promote communion with God and provide special spiritual insights.
- Creative Arts: Reclaiming our creativity as a way to unfold our God given uniqueness.
- Silence, Solitude and Stillness: Engaging in these three practices were vital in Jesus’s life. To be more like Him, we must likewise find times of silence, solitude and stillness.
- Imaginative Healing Prayer: Inviting Jesus into our memories. It is calling to mind the solid, objective reality of Jesus’ presence where we have forgotten or missed it.
- Attachment Work to God and Others: Healing attachment wounds to facilitate healthy attachment.