The Good News of Supervision
by Nancy Small
This year marks thirty years since the publication of Looking Into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors by Maureen Conroy, RSM. Used extensively by spiritual directors, supervisors and in formation programs, this book has shaped and formed an entire generation of supervisors and spiritual directors. It has raised awareness among spiritual directors about the importance of supervision within their spiritual direction practice. It has helped set the standard about how to engage in the ministry of supervision, provided invaluable tools for supervisors and guided those discerning a possible call to the ministry of supervision.
Yet even in the face of all the growth this book has inspired there are mixed feelings today among spiritual directors about supervision. Some welcome it, embrace it and consider it integral to their spiritual direction ministry. Others have never tried it and find themselves reluctant to do so. Some had a negative experience of supervision and turned away from it. Still others don’t believe it’s warranted or worthwhile because they accompany a small number of directees.
Sr. Conroy makes a compelling case for the necessity of supervision.
“Spiritual Directors are companions with others on their journey to God,” she writes. “As companions, they share in the struggles and joys. They are not detached bystanders. Spiritual directors serve as a resting place for those who want to savor God’s loving presence and explore God’s seeming absence…
Because spiritual directors are intimately involved with others’ life and religious experience, they need others to accompany them as they help and support their directees. Since they experience various interior movements while directing they need the caring presence of another person to explore these movements.”
This is the stuff of supervision.
This year the Ignatian Spiritual Direction Initiative will be honoring the field of supervision by sharing good news stories. These stories from spiritual directors and supervisors alike will offer personal experiences of supervision and how it helps to ground spiritual directors, guide them to greater interior freedom and inspire personal and professional growth.
I’m delighted to share with you the first story in our good news series, written by Martha Corkery, who writes, “I cannot imagine doing the work of spiritual direction or companioning someone through the Spiritual Exercises without supervision.” Click here to read her full story.
If you have a good news story about supervision you would like to share. please contact nsmall@jesuits.org. We’re also open to your questions and your “not so good” stories of supervision. Do you have questions about what supervision is and what it asks of you and offers you? Are you discerning a call to the ministry of supervision? Have you experienced difficulties in supervision? Have you had a desire to pursue supervision but encountered barriers in your pursuit of it? If so, please contact nsmall@jesuits.org
If you wish to submit a referral request for individual/group supervision, please click here.
To purchase a copy of Looking Into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors please click here.