Intro to Spiritual Direction Certificate Praxis for Contextual Ed
Designed particularly for Spiritual Direction Certificate students, IPS 585 launches a year-long praxis sequence focused on building competency and experience in the practice of offering spiritual direction. Through an eight-week, 1.5-credit online seminar, students establish a learning plan, form supervision agreements, and begin recruiting, screening, and meeting with directees in a manner consistent with professional and ethical standards. Students engage in guided practice, peer learning, and structured reflection (including verbatim work) while developing an initial plan for a silent or spiritual direction retreat that will be implemented during the fall-spring course sequence.
Outcomes: Design a personalized praxis plan (learning plan) that identifies formation goals, supervision arrangements, and benchmarks for progress across the year-long sequence; Demonstrate foundational spiritual direction session practices (eg, attentive listening, discernment-oriented questioning, and session structure) in initial directee encounters; Apply ethical and professional standards for spiritual direction practice, including confidentiality, boundaries, documentation, and appropriate referral; Analyze sessions using verbatim reporting and reflective writing to evaluate personal strengths, growth edges, and next steps for competency development; Develop a feasible retreat concept note and preliminary retreat plan (purpose, structure, logistics, and evaluation approach) aligned with program expectations.
Outcomes: Design a personalized praxis plan (learning plan) that identifies formation goals, supervision arrangements, and benchmarks for progress across the year-long sequence; Demonstrate foundational spiritual direction session practices (eg, attentive listening, discernment-oriented questioning, and session structure) in initial directee encounters; Apply ethical and professional standards for spiritual direction practice, including confidentiality, boundaries, documentation, and appropriate referral; Analyze sessions using verbatim reporting and reflective writing to evaluate personal strengths, growth edges, and next steps for competency development; Develop a feasible retreat concept note and preliminary retreat plan (purpose, structure, logistics, and evaluation approach) aligned with program expectations.