.
Begin in prayer. Think about your hopes for the spiritual
director relationship. Are you wanting a companion for your spiritual journey? Wanting assistance to develop your prayer life? Seeking assistance with vocational discernment or discernment of life choices? Wanting to deepen and strengthen your relationship with God?
You may want to interview several directors. Contact directors via email or phone and ask for a meeting. The first meeting is a time to get acquainted, talk about expectations, and begin to decide if this relationship is a “fit.” The director will probably have some questions for you:
• What are you seeking in spiritual direction?
• What is your background?
• Have you had experience with spiritual direction?
You will want to ask:
• The director’s training and area of interest
• The director’s understanding of the direction process
• Is there a fee and how much is it?
• You may want to know the director’s denominational affiliation, gender, whether they are lay or ordained, and perhaps
convince of location.
You and the director will need to establish:
• How often you will meet; time and length of meetings
• Exchange contact information
.
The interview is a time for getting to know each other and possibly creating a covenant between you and the director. You do not have to decide to continue the relationship during this meeting. If you need more time for prayer and consideration, say so. Once you agree to begin a relationship, agree upfront that there will be mutual evaluations of how it’s going after three of four sessions, and periodically after that.
Adapted from an article by Linda E. Katz, PhD