Learn how to nurture your awareness of and response to God's love and guidance through the historical practice of spiritual direction.

Spirituality.

Updates his classic, Spiritual Friend Spiritual direction pioneer Tilden Edwards here shares the wealth of twenty years of experience he's gained since his classic book, Spiritual Friend. The fresh and insightful result covers both spiritual and practical sides of the art, from the nature of the soul to recommendations on payment rates. Both directors and directees benefit from this wholistic look that considers all of the person and not just his or her prayer life. At the book's heart, though, is spiritual direction at its best. Edwards examines new methods to nurture the soul, ways to recognize a true spiritual experience, and suggestions for being truly present during the process. Practical guidelines are also given for getting started with new directees, running group spiritual direction, evaluating sessions, and setting up a spiritual director peer group. In addition, Edwards gives a brief history of this special ministry and a view of its future. He also considers spiritual companionship in other religious traditions and their relation to a Christian framework. This new title offers enormous insight and support for both spiritual directors and directees, anyone considering entering spiritual direction, and all those ministers--from pastors to Christian counselors--who so often unexpectedly find themselves in the role of spiritual director. +

Although secular psychology addressed a great deal about how we come to be the way we are and how we might live more efficiently, it can offer nothing in terms of why we exist or how we should use our lives," writes Gerald May in this classic discussion of the nature of contemporary spiritual guidance and its relationship to counseling and psychiatry. For millions turning for answers to the world of the spirit, May shows how psychiatry and spiritual direction are alike, how they complement one another, and how they ultimately diverge.

An ancient spiritual practice rediscovered--and re-imaginated--for today. This fascinating introduction to an ancient spiritual practice is for all of us who are searching for fresh spiritual insight. People of all faiths--and even those with no particular religious involvement--are discovering spiritual direction. Traditionally identified with Christianity, but also resembling the relationship between teacher and student in Buddhism, sheikh and disciple in Islam, and rebbe and Hasid in Judaism, spiritual direction is a distinct kind of relationship for enhancing spiritual growth. And its renewed popularity has led to a now uniquely accessible modern phenomenon: interfaith spiritual direction. Howard Addison presents personal accounts from the lives of people representing a broad spectrum of religious and spiritual traditions to show how we can find guidance and inspiration from people of other faiths--without ever leaving our own. This one-of-a-kind guide explores: Where to find spiritual guidance within your own faith community or beyond it. How spiritual direction can help you, even if you come from no formal religious background. Why and when it may be appropriate to seek a spiritual guide from a faith other than your own. What interfaith spiritual direction means for the future of religion and spirituality in our world.

An Introduction to Spiritual Direction is a clear, nuanced and practical handbook for spiritual directors and directees that examines what it means to be spiritually whole and the process that gets us there. It is based in part on the two-year training course that the author conducts at Spiritual Direction Institute, the teachings of the depth psychologist, Carl Jung, and the Christian traditionalists, among them, St. Francis de Sales, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross. It is further conjoined with sections on the qualities of the good director and directee, with fascinating forays into the nature of temperament and psychological type. The core of the book is devoted to its larger question, the actual growth and acquisition of spiritual wisdom, where the stages, pitfalls, remedies, rewards, as well as the importance of spiritual direction, especially during times of crises, are examined in numerous comprehensive sections. Dovetailed with chapter notes and questions, index, and extensive bibliography, An Introduction to Spiritual Direction deserves recognition by directors, directees, counselors, students and practitioners of psychology, and religious educators. It is a great starting point for spiritual exploration. +

"God created us to be lovers," writes Nick Wagner in his introduction to Spiritual Direction in Context. "When we love, we are in right relationship. We are acting for justice. The ministry of every spiritual director, in any context, is to serve as a guide into the depths of that love relationship." Here, in this provocative collection of essays, respected leaders in the field of spiritual direction explore the myriad of contexts in which this relationship takes place and offers practical ways to respond to them. As the popularity of spiritual direction grows, directors are facing situations that monks and nuns - for centuries the exclusive practitioners of this profession - never had to face. The essays in this book, drawn from Presence, the journal of Spiritual Directors International, look deeply at spiritual direction in a number of contexts, including the workplace, with the aging, in hospitals, with women's groups, with youth, with the homeless, and with those in mourning. Spiritual Direction in Context is the third in the SDI series.

Spiritual Direction gives us the unique and unrivaled experience of having Henri Nouwen as our personal spiritual director, answering our questions about the spiritual life in his wise, comfortable, and engaging style. With Nouwen's guidance, we can reorient our lives and open the door to true spiritual transformation. Henri Nouwen, the world-renowned spiritual guide and counselor, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community, and relationships. Though he counseled many people during his lifetime, his principles of spiritual direction were never written down. Now two of his longtime students, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird, have taken his famous course in spiritual direction and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to create the definitive work on Nouwen's thoughts on the Christian life. Stories, readings, and thematically organized questions for reflection and guided journal writing provide an unparalleled resource for spiritual direction, both for individuals and for small groups.

The resource is designed to help spiritual directors and others use expressive arts in the context of spiritual direction. It is the latest book in the unique SDI series, designed for professional spiritual directors, but also useful for clergy, therapists, and Christian formation specialists. The Spiritual Directors International Series – This book is part of a special series produced by Morehouse Publishing in cooperation with Spiritual Directors International (SDI), a global network of some 6,000 spiritual directors and members.