AECSD believes that the ministry of spiritual direction is a sacred trust which calls for the highest standards of formation, practice and accountability. Life-giving, ethically responsible spiritual direction is fostered when spiritual directors have access to supervision. As stated in the AECSD Code of Ethics, supervision can support them to maintain a contemplative focus and attend to the needs of their directees. Supervision is not only a one-to-one encounter. “Supervision” encompasses individual, group and peer supervision.

The provision of appropriate, high-quality supervision for spiritual directors has been on AECSD’s radar for some years as the spiritual direction community has developed and in light of wider contextual factors. From 2018-2020 AECSD conducted a survey, forum and program mapping exercise (the Supervision Project) to identify the spiritual direction community’s evolving needs for supervision formation and provision. Two key needs emerged from the Supervision Project:

1) Provision of more formation options specific to the supervision of spiritual directors; and

2) A need to articulate the elements of a good formation program for supervisors of spiritual directors.

Responding to these needs, AECSD sought to develop Formation Guidelines for Supervisors of Spiritual Directors, along the lines of the existing Formation Guidelines for Spiritual Directors (2018). The Formation Guidelines for Supervisors of Spiritual Directors would contain program recognition criteria, grounded in a clear educational philosophy congruent with the field of spiritual direction, and would allow for flexibility in formation models. To develop the Formation Guidelines for Supervisors of Spiritual Directors, in late 2020 AECSD established a Supervision Guidelines Working Group, which reported regularly to the full Council and consulted with key stakeholders. Consultation with key stakeholders, including formation programs for spiritual director supervisors, and spiritual directors receiving supervision, will be critical to the relevance and uptake of the Guidelines.

The Guidelines are being created in a two-stage process. Firstly, draft initial Guidelines identified the attributes, training and experience the spiritual direction community expects supervisors of spiritual directors to have. The initial Guidelines were the focus of a formal consultation held in mid-2022. Secondly, after reflecting on the outcomes of the consultation, AECSD agreed that the second step of the process to develop Formation Guidelines for Supervisors of Spiritual Directors should focus on two main areas:

1)    Describing the various pathways taken towards becoming a supervisor of spiritual directors.

2)    Articulating distinctions around supervisory needs at different stages of a spiritual director's development.

2022 consultation on draft initial Guidelines

The purpose of the consultation was to hear the community’s response to the draft initial Guidelines, and to gather ideas about supervision formation pathways to help shape the next phase of the project. The online consultation was held over two half days on 3rd and 4th August 2022, facilitated by Carey McIver, former member of AECSD. 38 people attended day one, and 29 came to day two, with some participating in both days. There was good representation from diverse programs and from the AECSD.

The draft Guidelines were strongly endorsed. There was a good level of consensus or broad agreement on many areas, and the use of inclusive language was highly valued. Minor edits were made to the draft following the consultation. Articulating the recommended attributes of supervisors of spiritual directors was seen as a significant step forward for the spiritual direction community.

The consultation identified two major proposed changes to the draft Guidelines. It also led to a change of direction for the second phase of the project. The proposed changes were:

1.     Recommended Attributes 1.2: Recommend that only people who are spiritual directors should supervise spiritual directors. Remove the reference to lived experience of spiritual direction as a sufficient criterion for supervisors of spiritual directors. Although this view was not universally held in the community, it had strong support.

2.     Differentiate expectations of supervisors according to supervisee’s needs.

For example, spiritual direction students in formation have different needs than more experienced supervisees.

Participants wanted any program recognition criteria which are developed to not be too prescriptive, and to allow for a variety of pathways towards becoming a supervisor of spiritual directors. Another strong theme was that formation for supervision, including in academic programs, must include supervised practice. However, the primary need expressed by the community was for recognition of individual supervisors, rather than for Guidelines to inform program development and program recognition. Given that AECSD’s current role is to recognise (spiritual direction) formation programs, not individuals, this would entail a shift of role for AECSD, if AECSD took on this responsibility. AECSD did not hear a strong demand for program recognition criteria from the community at this stage.

Focus of the second stage

As previously stated, after reflecting on the outcomes of the consultation, AECSD agreed that the second step of the process to develop Formation Guidelines for Supervisors of Spiritual Directors should focus on two main areas:

1)    Describing the various pathways taken towards becoming a supervisor of spiritual directors.

2)    Articulating distinctions around supervisory needs at different stages of a spiritual director's development.

Criteria that can be used to recognise supervision formation programs remain a goal of this work over the longer term. These Guidelines will facilitate conversation in the spiritual direction community regarding appropriate recognition criteria. Currently there are very few programs offering formation specific to spiritual direction supervision. We hope that as the field develops, the Guidelines will inform and resource provider decisions about program design. As a living document, the Guidelines will evolve over time as they are used.

The draft Guidelines (coming soon) are the result of the second stage. They will be the focus of a consultation in July 2024, where the community will be invited to give feedback and to discuss how they will be used in practice.

Who will benefit from these Guidelines?

Spiritual directors seeking supervision will be able to see what the spiritual direction community expects of supervisors. Supervisees have different needs at different times, requiring different supervisory qualities. For example, a spiritual director working with a directee who has experienced sexual abuse may need supervision from someone with specialist expertise who is not necessarily a spiritual director. Spiritual directors in formation, and very experienced directors, also have different supervisory needs.

Supervisors/potential supervisors can use the Guidelines to reflect on their scope of practice, readiness to supervise, etc. The Guidelines name and affirm diverse formation pathways and articulate distinct forms of spiritual direction supervision.

Supervision formation programs (spiritual-direction-specific and more generic) will be able to use the Guidelines to better understand the spiritual direction community’s expectations regarding supervisors of spiritual directors. Ultimately, recognition criteria will provide more detail on the expected content of formation programs.