The underlying assumption of spiritual direction is that God is constantly reaching out to us. God speaks to us as we interact with:

• Memories
• Emotions
• Relationships
• Scripture and other religious texts
• Media (movies, tv, radio, news, books, etc...)
• Nature
• etc...

Spiritual direction is a trained listener (the director) helping the person (the directee) to discern what God is saying to them.

Spiritual direction is prayerful & reflective listening whereby the director helps another discern God's voice in everyday life. The director never speaks for God or presumes to know God's will for the person, but always gives that person the freedom necessary to discover the voice of God arising from within.

Spiritual direction is about the whole of life. Therefore, all subjects, not just prayer, are appropriate: work, marriage, problems, joys, anger, fears, compulsions, addictions, dreams, etc...

Spiritual direction is for people who:

• Are discerning a major life decision like career change, marriage, divorce, adoption, etc...
• Feel God calling them to something deeper but are not sure what
• Have had some experiences of God in prayer and need to process them
• Are wanting to learn how to pray and include it in their daily lives

Direction is not therapy, which focuses on resolving problems and their underlying causes. Rather, spiritual direction focuses on the person's relationship with God and helping him or her to hear His voice as they experience life.

Direction is not discipleship or mentoring, which focuses on training someone in a particular theology or tradition. In fact, a director should never impose their personal theology on someone. Their role is to be a catalyst for helping a person hear God's voice within their own tradition.

Directors typically meet with a directee once every 4-6 weeks, although it can be more frequent if people are going through a particularly joyous or difficult time. To get a better feel for what happens in a direction session, read this sample session.