Spiritual Director Application Form

“When we find ourselves in a cave and want to get out, we go to a counsellor; but when we find ourselves in a cave and are ready to go deeper in, we go to a spiritual director.”
— Barbara Brown Taylor
Two people silhouetted against a starry night sky, with a telescope set up on a tripod, overlooking a cityscape with lights and distant mountains.

Become an ANSD Spiritual Director

Spiritual Direction should not be confused with counselling, where a client seeks help with particular issues or problems, often on a weekly basis. A well-trained spiritual director offers the same confidentiality and a safe space for sharing your experience, but more through reflective and gentle sacred listening to discern with you (not for you) where you are being led.

The focus is on your own journey and the resources you have within you. As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it in her book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, when we find ourselves in a cave and want to get out, we go to a counsellor; but when we find ourselves in a cave and are ready to go deeper in, we go to a spiritual director.

ANSD Spiritual Director Application Form

The inclusion of a member’s name on the ANSD website as a Spiritual Director is a service ANSD offers its members. The application process has been designed with specific legal advice with the view to minimising opportunities from harm. Once the initial application process has been completed, and your name has been included on the website, there will be an annual follow-up email for you to confirm there have been no changes.

View the AECSD Code of Ethics for Spiritual Directors.