Spiritual Directors are invited to learn in community about deepening compassionate presence through Internal Family Systems Theory, and about discerning our role and way as we accompany the wounded while also carrying our own wounds. Then, on June 4th, we will gather to share the wisdom in the room and discuss our consultation questions.

May 7 – Deepening Presence Through Internal Family Systems Theory

Lisa Tamblyn-Bergman, MA, LPC

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate, contemplative, sincere approach to deeper connection with God, others and our own True Self.  As an embodied therapeutic model, it offers a non-pathologizing, soulful path toward wholehearted healing and spiritual transformation.  IFS invites us all to notice and nurture the noisy conflicting chatter and vulnerable emotions that churn within and provides a way to access, rebalance, and deepen our connection to our sacred selves from which we offer compassionate, contemplative, sincere presence.

In this offering Spiritual Directors will learn about the key elements of the IFS approach and have an opportunity to taste and see how it can be practiced in session.  There will be some pre-workshop reading that will help participants become familiar with the model.  Through content presentation, reflective practices and processes we hope to encourage Spiritual Directors as they walk out their vocation of tending souls

May 21 – Understanding Trauma without Losing the Spirit: Listening for the Soul Beneath the Symptom

Dr. Phillip Johnson, Ph.D.

More people coming to spiritual direction are using clinical words like “trauma,” “trigger,” or “dissociating.” When we hear these words, it is easy to feel frozen. We may even ask ourselves: “Am I qualified to handle this?” “Should I refer them to a therapist immediately?”

Dr. Phillip Johnson will help us to learn a straightforward way to tell if a person is dealing with a clinical wound (which needs stabilization) or a spiritual struggle (which needs companionship). He will explore when it is time to refer someone to a counseling professional and we will practice listening past the heavy clinical labels to hear Original Somebodiness—the “true identity”—behind the symptoms. We will leave with a framework that allows us to work alongside clinical language without losing our distinct prophetic voices as spiritual directors.

June 4 – Consultation Question Gathering 

Panelists: Evelyn Diephouse, Judy Hahn, Sr. Mary Kay Oosdyke, & Esther Yff-Prins

We are hosting a gathering for Spiritual Directors to come together for dinner and conversation around our consultation questions. After dinner, we will share the wisdom in the room first via our panelists, then at our tables. 

“A Spiritual Director’s consultation question is about improving skill, often beginning with “What” or “How”, whereas questions to bring to supervision focus on interior movements within the director.”

Please share your consultation questions beforehand through the linked form below. We will use these to form the gathering!