What is the difference between Spiritual Counseling and Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual Counseling is often a single visit, or perhaps a couple of visits. It is when a person brings a question, issue, struggle, or inquiry to the Spiritual Father or Mother to get a spiritual perspective on how to approach the question at hand. It is a beautiful way to get guidance on something that a person has not had to deal with before, or to get an opinion from a trusted spiritual guide.
Spiritual Direction is intentional monthly meetings (for example, 6 months in a row), in which a person sits with a trusted Spiritual Director who listens with open ears and heart, both of them being open to the voice or stirrings of God in that person’s life. Spiritual Direction is more open-ended than simply finding an answer to a question or addressing an issue. While answers are often revealed, Spiritual Direction is primarily time taken over a period of many months to find or deepen one’s awareness of the presence of God in one’s life.