The Practicum in Spiritual Direction and Directed Retreats: A Student’s Guide: Volume I: Pre-Practicum Course (Spiritual Direction and Retreat Courses Books)

This handbook for students in Spiritual Direction is intended to introduce and support the development and discernment of a spiritual direction vocation. It provides the coursework for the Pre-Practicum that includes the skills, theory, and material necessary for entering into a supervised practicum for spiritual direction and directed retreats, as well as practice for developing a greater contemplative disposition necessary for spiritual directors. It is designed to be used with the handbook developed for the subsequent Post-Practicum course and provides useful reference material for ongoing work in the ministry of spiritual direction and directed retreats. This pre-practicum coursework has been developed and tested through four decades of practical application in various programs, including Creighton University’s Christian Spirituality Program, the Sisters of Mercy’s Upper Room, and others. It is well-founded in The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and draws from the works of Maureen Conroy, RSM, William A. Barry, William J. Connolly, and other renowned teachers of spiritual direction.