This course focuses on the spiritual direction process and the Christian tradition of theology/spirituality. Students receive an in-depth exposure to the topic of "what is spiritual direction?" and an explanation of "The director-directee-God relationship." Each class includes an introduction to and practice of the Christian methods of prayer, small process groups, community-building processes and personal sharing by the students of God's dynamic action in their lives. Serious attention is given to psychological and ethical issues. Through the Christian praxis of learning, the students integrate the new content with their own experience.

A variety of different traditions is presented to illustrate the history of Christian spirituality from the first to 21st century: spirituality in sacred scripture; the spirituality of the early church and patristic periods; the spirituality of the medieval, reformation, counter-reformation, and modern periods; Celtic, Incarnation spirituality and the spirituality of the Christian mystics. Attention will continue to be given to developing the skills needed for spiritual direction as well as to psychological and ethical issues. Students continue to integrate the new content with their own experience.

This course assists students in developing theological and psychological understanding of graced human development and its relationship to the spiritual direction process. They become acquainted with an understanding of the human persona according to the concepts of Christian anthropology, the stages of human development and the contributions of modern psychology. Individuals work toward greater self-awareness and psychological maturity, growth in prayer and increased skill and sensitivity in guiding others in their spiritual growth. Students continue to integrate the new content with their own experience.

Theology, spirituality, methods, and practice of discerning will be examined through listening skills, the exploration of a variety of tools such as the Myers-Briggs inventory, the Enneagram, the 12 Step Spirituality and their use in greater self-knowledge and in spiritual direction. The students will read several spiritual classics. They engage in spiritual direction and are guided in their own personal discernment of their gifts and call to the ministry of spiritual direction. Students continue to integrate the new content with their own experience.

This course provides an integration of actual experience in the ministry of spiritual direction. The practicum employs both a theoretical as well as an experiential perspective while focusing on the student's own person as an instrument of spiritual direction. This extended-length class consists of nine months of spiritual direction given to at least two directees under the supervision of a trained supervisor. The student meets regularly with a supervisor to share their verbatim and to explore their responses and reaction to their directees. The supervisor helps the student to deal with obstacles within themselves as a spiritual direction minister.