Spiritual Mentor

         There are many terms for people who assist others on the spiritual path, including: spiritual director, spiritual counselor, spiritual advisor, and spiritual coach. Some of these are offered by legitimate, experienced professionals and others border on the flakey. Spiritual direction has a long history in the Christian tradition, going back to the Desert fathers who advised disciples on how to live a spiritually based life.

         I chose the word Spiritual Mentor to describe the work I do with clients interested in their spiritual lives for several reasons. First, mentorship implies an open, warm and nurturing long term relationship. I care a great deal about my clients and part of what I bring to the work is a willingness to be transparent and share my own experience when I deem it to be in the interest of my client. Secondly, I wanted to differentiate this work from spiritual direction which traditionally eschews delving into a person¹s psychological issues. For me, there is no clear division between the psychological and the spiritual. I believe that this is an artificial barrier that developed as psychology was gradually separated from the tradition of pastoral care during the last two centuries. This differentiation has not always been good for either discipline and there are quite a number of eminent founders of modern psychology, including Carl Jung, Robert Assagioli, and William James who championed  an integration of the two fields.

Spiritual Psychotherapy

         Because of my deep background in Buddhist and Christian contemplative practices, I could have called myself a Buddhist therapist or a Christian therapist or counselor. I have not done this for a variety of reasons, the main one being that I don¹t wish to limit myself to just those people who would specifically wish for that kind of orientation. Another reason is the fear that some might have that I would impose my particular world view on them. I have no interest in converting clients to my religious orientation. My basic desire for clients is that they can become all that they were meant to be: to have meaningful work, rich relationships and that they find joy in serving the greater good. This seems to me to be the goal of all good therapy whether it be called spiritual or secular/ humanistic.

Vocational Mentor

         There are several different terms used for people working in this area, depending upon their focus. Vocational counselors are more involved in the nitty gritty of placing clients in actual jobs. They would have resources for job searches and would help clients to write resumes. They might also administer tests to assist someone in determining where their interests, skills and talents lay.
Many of these professionals are in school and college settings where they work with students. Vocational coaches generally work with upper management level individuals in the area of career development.

         I use the term vocational mentor to underscore that the mentoring relationship is a more personal engagement than these other examples.  In our work together we  would deal with personal, psychological, and spiritual issues as they apply. In my experience there are often psychological issues such as lack of confidence, relational issues, etc. that underlie vocational problems,  For me, vocation is a kind of spiritual calling and I would want to hear how your faith journey informs your sense of vocation.