FAQ’s

  • Great question! Once we get to know one another a little bit, we will discuss the types of practices and tools we might explore together to most benefit your spiritual exploration. Meditation, niggun (wordless melody), and sitting in silence are widely used practices to help set the space. We might also look at a teaching, poem, story, or contemplate words of Torah. The exact specifics of how we set the space for your session will evolve over time as we get more familiar with one another and you deepen an awareness of and sensitivity to your spiritual life.

  • Depends on what you are looking for. Spiritual Direction is usually a monthly practice to allow for some time and life experience to unfold along the way. If you are looking for more regular learning, spiritual practices, or rabbinic conversations, we can meet as frequently as you need. Schedule a time for an initial consultation and we can go from there!

  • Yes! I would be honored to work with you on guiding you through your life-cycle event and being your rabbi for these special moments in your life.

  • The going rate for a one-on-one Spiritual direction session is $175/hour. Depending on the frequency of our meetings and your financial situation, we can work together to create a schedule and payment plan that both provides you with the guiding, counseling, and spiritual care you need while recognizing the service and time being offered.

    Life cycle events, consulting projects, speaking engagements, and other specialized work that you might be looking for are determined based on various factors and proposed case by case.

What is Spiritual Direction?

In addition to the brief synopses of various types of services I offer for spiritual direction in the tabs above, I wanted to include some additional quotes, reflections, and perspectives to further convey the scope and depth of this work. These quotes are from across religious faith traditions. Each director brings their own unique selves, background, and expertise to their work and practice.

“Spiritual direction is difficult to define since the ministry has emerged in many contexts using language specific to particular cultural and spiritual traditions. It is easier to describe what spiritual direction does, using language from many traditions. Describing spiritual direction requires putting words to a process of fostering a transcendent experience that lies beyond all names and yet the experience longs to be articulated and made concrete in everyday living. Spiritual direction helps us learn how to live in peace, with compassion, promoting justice, as humble servants of that which lies beyond all names. “
(Liz Budd Ellmann, MDiv, Executive Director, Spiritual Directors International)”

“Spiritual direction is the contemplative practice of helping another person or group to awaken to the mystery called God in all of life, and to respond to that discovery in a growing relationship of freedom and commitment.”

(James Keegan, SJ, Roman Catholic, USA, on behalf of the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International)

“Spiritual direction can mean different things to different people. Some people understand it to be the art of listening carried out in the context of a trusting relationship. It is when one person is trained to be a competent guide who then “companions” another person, listening to that person's life story with an ear for the movement of the Holy, of the Divine.”

(Rev. Jeffery S. Gains, Presbyterian, USA)

“Spiritual guidance is being present in the moment, seeing and honoring the sacred mystery of the  soul of another. It is witnessing this mystery and reflecting it back in word, prayer, thought,  presence, and action. Spiritual guidance is modeling a deep relationship with the Divine and  standing in faith and love with the other as that relationship unfolds. Spiritual guidance is a  journey of deep healing and an affirmation of Holiness (wholeness), the Sacred, and the Mystery of all of life.”

(Carol A. Fournier, MS, NCC, Interfaith Spiritual Director/Guide, Silver Dove  Institute, Williston, Vermont, USA.) 

“The object of spiritual direction is to cultivate one’s ability to discern God’s presence in one’s life — to notice and appreciate moments of holiness, to maintain an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things, to explore ways to be open to the Blessed Holy One in challenging and difficult moments as well as in joyful ones. The director serves as a companion and witness, someone who helps you (sometimes with questions, sometimes just by listening) to discern the divine where you might have missed it and to integrate that awareness into your daily life, your tefillah (prayer), your tikkun olam (service) work, your study, your ritual practice. “

(Rabbi Jacob Staub, Jewish, USA)

“Spiritual direction is the contemplative practice of accompanying (or joining with) a person or group as they awaken to the spiritual in everyday life, and it is the shared intentions and supports for the directee to have a deeper relationship with spirit through all phases of life”.

(Dale Rhodes, Taoist, Enneagram Portland Oregon, USA)

“To live one’s life in union with the Divine and to realize the freedom of one’s highest Self is the ultimate goal of the Eastern philosophy of Yoga. Spiritual direction, from the perspective of Yoga, is founded on the understanding that God lives within the hearts of each of us and of all creation. The aim of spiritual direction is the formation of a partnership between God, the directee, and the director in a holy alchemy, which lovingly upholds the directee during exploration and deepening of one’s relationship with God, others, all creation, and the higher Self. Through deep listening, powerful questions, and reflection of the thoughts and feelings conveyed by the directee, spiritual direction provides an opportunity to regularly reflect on life’s events and circumstances from a spiritual perspective. Spiritual practices, including spiritual direction, have the ability to expand one’s inner awareness where stillness, peace, happiness, and joy reside; meditation, contemplation, chanting, or hatha yoga may be offered as tools to support the directee in experiencing God in every moment of this sacred dance called life. With grace, self-effort, and the support of a spiritual director, directees can fully awaken to their inner divinity and express their true natures of love, compassion, and service in their everyday lives.”

(Donna Woods, Philosophy of Yoga, USA)

What Spiritual Direction is NOT…

Spiritual direction is not counseling. 

Spiritual direction is not therapy. 

Spiritual direction is not financial advice. 

Like psychotherapy, it is often offered as a one-to-one or group experience in private sessions  with spiritual mentors who have most likely completed extensive formation for the ministry of  spiritual direction – it is up to you to choose a spiritual director who has the training, formation  and experience that suits your needs. Unlike therapy, it includes your deity or higher power as a  third partner in the process. While it may be appropriate at times to discuss personal and  relational struggles in the context of spiritual direction, a spiritual director is not a  psychotherapist, nor does the spiritual director provide such services. Similarly, you may discuss  financial issues in spiritual direction but a spiritual director does not offer financial advice and  any decisions and actions you may take in that regard are done without advice or  recommendation, and are purely your responsibility.