What is a Spiritual Director?

A spiritual director accompanies and witnesses the spiritual unfolding of another person’s life. At the heart of this relationship is the directee’s relationship with God (or the Divine). While a healthy and trusting connection between director and directee is important, it is not the primary focus. The central relationship is always between the individual and the Holy.

What Happens in Spiritual Direction?

The Divine meets us in our everyday experiences—shaped by our personalities, cultures, and spiritual or religious backgrounds. Spiritual direction is the practice of paying attention to those experiences and discerning the movement of the Spirit within them. As a director, I listen deeply to your life—to the unfolding of your days and moments—helping you notice where the Holy One may be leading.

Spiritual direction typically involves regular one-on-one meetings, usually about an hour, once a month.

What Does Spiritual Direction Offer?

Liz Budd Ellmann of Spiritual Directors International offers this description:

“Spiritual direction explores a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human. Simply put, it helps people tell their sacred stories in everyday life.” It is often easier to describe what spiritual direction does than what it is. It invites us to name and make sense of experiences that are, by nature, beyond words—yet deeply felt and lived. Spiritual direction helps us learn to live with greater peace, compassion, and justice, as humble servants of that which lies beyond all names.

Understanding the Tradition

This reflection from SDI member Marian Cowan, CSJ, offers helpful context:

“Spiritual direction” is a time-honored term for a conversation—usually between two people—in which one seeks guidance from another who is more experienced in attending to the spiritual life. Together, they reflect on how God (or however one names the Divine) may be present and active in everyday experience.

Today, many people prefer terms like spiritual companionship or tending the holy, since “direction” can sound like giving instructions. Yet the essence remains the same: a shared conversation about life in the light of faith.

Though it may feel newly rediscovered, spiritual direction is an ancient practice. Across centuries and traditions, people have sought spiritual wisdom—from biblical figures to desert hermits, monastics, and mystics.

In our time, spiritual direction continues across many traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, Sufism, Buddhism, and others.

For more information, visit SDI World: What is Spiritual Direction?