Spiritual Direction is for people seeking to develop their awareness of God at work in themselves and the world, and to integrate this awareness into their lives. It takes place between a director and directee and God; you speak about your life, and together, we practice prayerful listening and noticing. While the word "director" is traditional, my own sense is that I'm a companion or guide, accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

As we engage in Spiritual Direction, we begin to see ourselves through God’s eyes, and develop a better sense of who we are and who God is. Ideally, we begin to really sense our own belovedness, and find it easier to love and follow God, which ends up bearing fruit in our lives. Directees have described it as an "outlet," "a sounding board," or "a judgement free space" for making connections between their life and their faith.

No. Spiritual Direction is very unique to each person. Some directees have something specific they are trying to figure out, but more often, they have a more general longing for a deeper connection to God, or someone who knows them suggests Spiritual Direction. And some really can't explain why they are drawn to it.

While Spiritual Direction is a listening profession it's not counseling and I won't advise you, although I might make suggestions about prayer practices or resources. Those are entirely optional -- there's no homework in Spiritual Direction! It is helpful though, to reflect on your sessions in prayer.

The main difference is that while counseling assumes something needs work in your life, Spirit Direction is about noticing and deepening your relationship with God and your true self, the wonderfully made beloved of God you are.

The usual schedule is to meet once a month for about an hour by video chat (Google Meet).

I completed a two year course, including a supervised internship, called Tending the Holy: Preparation for the Ministry of Spiritual Direction at Christos Center for Spiritual Formation. Christos has been preparing spiritual directors for nearly 50 years.

I belong to Spiritual Directors International and abide by the ethics and standards taught in my training course and held by SDI, which includes that our sessions are confidential. For my own professional growth and healthy practice, I am in what's known as "supervision," where I discuss with other directors in a regular small group what comes up for me as I work with directees. You will never be identified and anything I present there will be anonymized and discussed in terms of my practice, not directees' individual situations.

Those same ethical guidelines and the laws of the state where my practice is set up require me to report abuse or injury to self or others that is shared with me and confidentiality would not apply in those very specific situations.

I use the sliding scale recommended to me of $35-$100 per session, and I use Venmo. You can decide what's comfortable for you in that range.

Please email me (deb@debandstevebaker.com) to set up an introductory meeting with you. This is about a 30-45 minute informal chat, so you can get a sense of whether you'd like to embark on this with me and I can learn more about what you are seeking as well. There is no charge for this initial meeting.