Decision

I have made the decision to resume my private practice of spiritual direction.

Years ago I served as a doula-- a woman who attends and encourages women in childbirth.   In significant ways, that work laid the groundwork for my work as a "spiritual doula."  When I was 29 years old, after having given birth twice myself and endured and survived a frighteningly dark period in my life, I wrote the following lines:

A woman should never be left to labor alone,
No person should ever be forced to labor alone.
She should be able to look about her and see and touch
A woman who has labored and birthed and survived.
Every laboring person needs to see and know at least one survivor.
Some day, someone in heavy labor will look up and see me, and
I will giver her hope, and
She will continue on, to the finish, to the new beginning...

Spiritual growth and development can be as frightening, arduous and last much longer than labor and childbirth.  It is immeasurably comforting to have someone hold your hand and whisper words of encouragement who absolutely believes that all will turn out well.  A spiritual doula has utter faith in the process and in God, Love, Allah, The Force, Life, the Nameless.

I am not a psychotherapist, coach, nor ordained clergy.  I am a fellow pilgrim who has battled through several spiritual crises, a seeker my entire life.  I also discovered years ago a trustworthy inner voice that I rely on and share with others.

My work takes various forms: individual sessions, meditation instruction, Spiritspeak poems, small group experiences, and contemplative retreats.  My background and tradition is Christian, the language I am most familiar with, yet I respect all religious traditions as well as agnosticism and atheism.  I have studied A Course in Miracles for more than 20 years, and have benefitted from 24 years of membership in AlAnon.

There is nothing I would rather do than befriend someone who is struggling to achieve authenticity, trust and faith,  in large part out of gratitude for the dear souls who have befriended me over the years.