G.R.A.C.E. can be an active and adaptive process not only in the spiritual accompaniment encounter but in the context of our whole lived experience, and a powerful resource for us, not just a technique. When we live it, it can become a way in which we align ourselves with our integrity, values and deep aspiration to be of service to others in our life with God.

The Celtic tradition offers us the wonderful notion of anam cara . In Gaelic the word anam means soul and cara is a word for friend. So anam cara means soul friend . This is not a simple or superficial friendship, but a special and deep one in which one person really supports and guides another. They are the person to whom you can reveal the hidden intimacies of your life - your innermost self, heart and mind, without mask or pretension. In early Celtic history, the anam c

At the moment, in England, Wales and Scotland, there is no form of accreditation for spiritual directors. Other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Ireland do have accrediting bodies that can set standards and offer some form of public accountability. In Canada spiritual directors have a path of certification by a state regulating body. In England, however, anyone can call themselves a spiritual director, whether they have received some form of training or not. Altho

Finding a Spiritual Director has not always been that easy in the UK. As I discuss in my article Contemporary Trends in Spiritual Direction , historically this ancient ministry has been rather hidden away, available only to those in the know within the Church, such as priests and monastics. You can find out more about this, and contemporary changes, in my article on The History of Spiritual Direction . In recent years things have begun to open up much more. More people have b

Today, around the world and across traditions, the ancient spiritual practice of meeting regularly with a spiritual director is growing and developing. Here, I explore 6 key contemporary trends based on my own experience, and drawing on recent comments by Liz Budd Ellmann (executive director of Spiritual Director's International)* and reflections from a recent Retreat Association conference of those across the UK involved in running training Courses in Spiritual Direction.

Are you wondering what the similarities and differences are between counselling or therapy, and spiritual direction? After all, they both use many of the same active listening skills in working with people. Both offer a safe and supportive space for the person to talk about their lives. Indeed, they both can cover very similar ground in that in spiritual direction the person can share anything from their life experience that is with them at this time, not just their prayer o

What is spiritual direction? The first thing to say about spiritual direction is that it's not about telling people what to do, but rather about helping people find and follow their spiritual direction in life. Sometimes it is called spiritual accompaniment or spiritual companioning, or even spiritual mentoring. Sometimes people refer to themselves as 'soul friends' of another - 'anam cara' in the Christian Celtic tradition. Below, I have gathered together a wide range of p