Spiritual Direction for Women’s Liberation Across Traditions

The practice of spiritual direction has surged in popularity in recent years as individuals seek to integrate their personal beliefs with the lives they lead in modern society. More and more women are serving as spiritual directors now that they are seen to be offering a vital ministry; more and more women from various religious traditions (and none) also find themselves seeking out spiritual directors. How can various practices in spiritual direction support women’s liberation and empowerment? As women work to reform patriarchal faith traditions or else decide to leave those, they need spiritual support and witnessing. This session seeks to equip spiritual directors, religious leaders, and helping professionals with a theoretical framework and a skill set that will allow them to meet women’s needs. Women can become better able to identify those God images and foremothers who have made the Sacred appear more immediate to them—and they can be invited to see their holiness and humanity truly mirrored. This session seeks to protect and uphold the dignity and humanity of women who inhabit religious landscapes and a global climate that is so often hostile to their lived realities and unique spiritual needs.