In this insightful interview, we delve into the world of spiritual direction with Jennifer Wannen, a compassionate and experienced guide on the path to inner peace and self-discovery. Discover how Jennifer found her calling, the unique services she offers, and the profound impact of spiritual direction on individuals seeking a deeper connection with themselves and the divine.
When did you first know that being a Spiritual Director was your calling and how did it come about?
Twelve years ago as I was going through a major life transition, I worked with an unconventional therapist who had previously been an ordained priest. He incorporated a lot of spiritual tools and language from a number of religions. When he left his practice, I didn’t feel the need to continue therapy, but I was still interested in the individual spiritual support. I was already part of a couple regular meditation meetings along with other spiritual groups. Still, I missed the spiritual mentoring. A friend referred me to her spiritual director, and I’ve seen that director ever since.
About five years into the process, I unexpectedly began feeling an insistent nudge toward doing spiritual direction myself. I’d done several years of individual coaching work at that point but hadn’t ever seen myself in this particular role. I I brushed off the thought for a few months, but the inner (and eventually outer) messages kept coming. At one point, I had three people in the space of a week suggest that I pursue spiritual direction professionally. It took a year before I was ready to discuss the possibility with my own spiritual director and then another year before I registered for a two-year training program for spiritual direction. Once I got to the program, I knew I was where I belonged, but I’m glad I took time to hear and discern the calling.
What services do you offer?
I offer spiritual direction for people looking to explore and deepen their personal relationship with God, Spirit, or the sacred, however they define that. As an interfaith and interspiritual director, I work with people of any and all—or no—particular faith or spiritual practice. I companion people in their stories, traditions, and questioning and hold space for their reflection. We often call this witness “holy listening” or “spiritual holding.”
For those interested in using creative modalities for spiritual deepening, I offer one-on-one creative guidance. Creative guidance, as I embrace it, blends the inquiry of traditional spiritual direction with the imaginative paths of creative arts.
Finally, I also do spiritual coaching, which I define as support for creating and implementing spiritually-minded goals. These goals could be personal or vocational in nature, but they will relate specifically to a person’s spiritual journey.
Could you tell us more about Creative Guidance and Spiritual Coaching?
Creative guidance, as I practice it, harnesses the imagination for spiritual exploration. It offers a playful container that helps many people take their inquiry to a deeper emotional place and one that can feel more authentic to their experience. Creativity can cast spiritual and emotional passages in a different light and can reveal new connections and patterns for spiritual reflection.
No artistic skill is required, and any creative modality can be used (e.g., creative writing, drawing, collage, ceramics, multimedia, etc.). Some people bring ideas they’d like to use, but we can also explore possibilities in our sessions. The focus is on the creative process and what it brings up in the client rather than the end physical product, so to speak.
Spiritual Coaching, the way I offer it, invites a client to focus on a particular project or goal that somehow relates to their spiritual values or development. Since the focus of spiritual direction is inquiry rather than objectives, I don’t typically include a coaching element into spiritual direction. However, some people might want coaching style support for particular goals they develop on their spiritual journeys—goals like an educational program, service work, or leadership commitments. The purpose of spiritual coaching is still to hold the bigger picture—in this case the goal or project—and to discern where and how the Spirit/sacred enters into the process.
What does it mean to be a Spiritual Director?
Let me say first that I don’t pretend to speak for the field of spiritual direction or anyone else in it, but I can say what it means to me in how I practice it. Other spiritual directors will have their own nuance based on their personal styles, training backgrounds, or religious traditions.
For me, being a spiritual director means helping clients step out of their everyday roles and logistical whirlwinds to get into a more soulful space. I tell people I invite them into their bigger “soul stories.” I want to give them space to sink into their lives as sacred callings. All of us have this calling, I think. We don’t need to be a faith leader or guru. Every person is called to live into spiritual gifts, and I don’t mean talents there. I mean what I would call holy aspects of the human experience—wonder, joy, connection, grief, creativity, growth, etc. We often associate “holy” with the language of organized religion, but in reality the word holy shares the same root as whole and health and healing. So, I’m talking here about the experiences that deepen, heal, and sustain us, that make us healthy, actualized, and soulful humans. It’s easy to lose sight of all this with the incessant demands of daily life. Spiritual direction welcomes us back to that deeper calling, a deeper part of ourselves.
As a spiritual director, it’s my job to trust in my client’s inherent sacredness, even when the client feels disconnected from it. I bring curiosity and compassion, along with the faith that every person’s story is a holy one. As I invite people into those bigger soul stories, I support them in observing where they’re at in their lives and where the God/Spirit/sacred of their understanding is meeting them in it.
In keeping with this, I think it’s important to say what being a spiritual director isn’t. I’m not a licensed therapist, and I don’t offer therapy, including art therapy. Spiritual direction and creative guidance can help people hold their life experiences differently, but it’s not a substitute for psychological therapy or trauma care when those supports are needed.
From a professional standpoint, part of offering my clients the best companioning I can is being clear about what my role is. I’m a member of Spiritual Directors International and follow their code of ethics, which includes continuing education and professional supervision. I also participate in ongoing spiritual direction myself.
What can a person expect from your sessions?
With the client’s permission, I like to begin the session with a minute or two of centering—a quiet time when we can settle into the space of the session and let go of whatever stress or busyness we might have been engaged in beforehand. From there, it really depends on what clients brings that day. Clients might share something they read that week or talk about an issue they’re trying to unpack. Depending on the circumstances, I might invite them into a visualization exercise or pose questions that help them either clarify their feelings or draw them into deeper reflection.
Whatever the specific topic of conversation, I prioritize holding a compassionate space and safe container. Spiritual direction, despite the name, is very non-directive. The client (sometimes called the directee) leads the way. I bring contemplative practices into the mix, supporting a client in accessing their heart space and inner knowing as well as their logical mind. I share this through very easy meditation exercises or imaginative prompts, and I always ask for the client’s consent in proposing these options.
What do you love most about your profession?
Many people come to spiritual direction feeling alone in their spiritual journeys, even if they belong to a close faith community. Having this space to share their personal experience, for all its discovery, doubt, grief, and joy, can be deeply transformative. I’ve seen people grow in confidence and in connection with their God or sacred source. They experience a new level of agency in their spiritual life as that sacred relationship deepens. Within this growth, some clients also feel a deeper sense of belonging to life and spirit.
As a spiritual director, my primary job is to listen and be present to what is unfolding for a person in our sessions, but there’s more to the picture. Spirit inhabits what we call “the third chair” of a session and acts as the true director. A spiritual direction session can be an alchemical space. Something happens for the client at times that’s bigger than the sum of the session’s parts. There are intriguing moments of serendipity or an unexpected “answer” that comes through between sessions. They’re inspiring reminders that this process—and profession—is bigger than me. I’m happy to be a witness to the greater mystery.
