Spiritual Director Training

Registration for 2026-2027 is now open!

Spiritual Director Training at the Dominican Center is a two-year in-person education and formation intensive, called Practicums, designed to attune your ear to the Spirit and deepen your contemplative practices for tending your own inner journey and companioning others. These Practicums follow the one-year Foundations in Spirituality course. If you are called to guide others on their spiritual journeys and want to nurture your own relationship with God, we invite you to explore Dominican Center’s Spiritual Director training. Through prayer, study, companioning, and practice you will learn to follow the Spirit. You will be paired with a mentor to journey alongside you who is a seasoned Spiritual Director; be part of a spiritual formation community participating in this shared study experience; and collect resources that support ongoing ministry from ancient times through the contemporary moment.

 

In him we live and move and have our being.

–Acts 17:23

Explore Becoming A Spiritual Director

 

Spiritual Directors guide others by listening to a person’s life story with an ear for the movement of the Holy Spirit and offering prayerful response. An important component of listening is discernment of patterns and relationships that lead toward God or away from God. A Spiritual Director is a co-listener, or co-discerner, who sits before the Word as it stirs in the heart of the person seeking direction. A Spiritual Director holds sacred the many stories heard in a one-on-one relationship or in a trusted group.

Spiritual Director Practicum Admission Process

 

  • Successful completion of the Foundations in Spirituality course. (Only Foundations I, Foundations II is not required.) Please contact programs@dominicancenter.com for questions regarding coursework that might be considered equivalent.
  • Complete Application forms. Your completed application and required personal recommendations will be reviewed by Dominican Center’s Spiritual Formation Team. You can drop off completed documents at Dominican Center Marywood or submit your applications by mail (see postal address below) or email as attachments to programs@dominicancenter.com.
  • Please submit the $25 application fee by credit card online by clicking the link below. Payments by check can be dropped off or mailed to: Dominican Center Marywood at Aquinas College, 1700 Fulton Street East, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506-1799. Make check out to Dominican Center Marywood.
  • An interview with the Spiritual Formation Team to discern readiness to participate in the Spiritual Director Practicum.
  • An acceptance offer to the applicant.
  • Apply for scholarship if desired.
  • Complete registration.

Application Fee

Submit the application fee to begin the application process.

Pay Application Fee

Application Forms

Once you have paid the application fee, review and download the application forms.

Download Forms

Spiritual Director Practicum Commitment & Expectations

  • Dedicated to a two-year formation course of study and practice.
  • Three modules each year that are framed around spiritual direction, Christian discernment, and adult development.
  • Active participation within a cohort made up of others participating in the course of study.
  • Complete required readings and a written integration paper for each module.
  • Practice spiritual direction with directees – practicum participants are recommended to offer spiritual direction to 6 to 8 directees each year.
  • Participate in individual sessions with a paired mentor who is a seasoned Spiritual Director for a total of nine meetings each year.
  • Continued development of a life of prayer and contemplation, and on-going review of a personal rule of life.
  • Extensive study of the Spiritual Exercises and Guidelines for Discernment of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
  • Attendance at annual four- or six-day directed retreat.

Spiritual Director Practicum Tuition

  • Tuition is $2,550 for each year
  • Application fee of $25 is required
  • Tuition includes instruction and facilitation by the Dominican Center
  • Formation Team, individual mentoring sessions with a seasoned Spiritual Director, and materials provided before each session
  • Fees do not cover cost of required textbooks

Credit Hours

Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, gives credit hours to participants completing the Spiritual Director Program at Dominican Center at Marywood. The Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Indiana, also accepts credits from Dominican Center’s Spiritual Director Program.

 

Spiritual Director Practicum Year 1

2026-2027 Session Dates and Times

 

Fridays 6:30 – 9:00 pm and Saturdays 9:00 am – 3:30 pm ET in person at the Dominican Center on the dates listed.

 

Learn More, Apply & Register

Dates

  • September 11 & 12, 2026
  • October 9 & 10
  • November 13 & 14
  • December 11 & 12
  • January 15 & 16, 2027
  • February 12 & 13
  • March 12 & 13
  • April 16 & 17
  • May 14 & 15

Dates

  • September 4 & 18, 2026
  • October 2 & 16
  • November 6 & 20
  • December 4 & 18
  • January 8 & 22, 2027
  • February 5 & 19
  • March 5 & 12*
  • April 2 & 23*
  • May 7 & 21

Spiritual Director Practicum Year 2

2026-2027 Session Dates and Times

 

Fridays from 9:00am – 2:00pm ET in person at the Dominican Center on the dates listed.

Learn More & Register

Questions & Information

If you have questions or need more information on how to become a Spiritual Director, please contact:
programs@dominicancenter.com

News & Information

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