SUPERVISION

Supervision

LCSD’s Code of Practice states that Spiritual Directors should “receive regular supervision (sufficient for their own practice and workload) to reflect on and develop their practice, and to be accountable.” To help you fulfil this we run a number of online Supervision Groups throughout the year, on different days and at different times. 

At LCSD we understand Supervision to be a process that is:*

  • Formative: growing in knowledge and insights, developing self-awareness and understanding.

  • Restorative: providing a space for acknowledging and releasing feelings.

  • Normative: understanding and ensuring good practice and ethical standards.

*adapted from Brigid Proctor’s Model of Supervision

We also provide Supervision that is:

  • Contemplative: discerning how and where God is, in a prayerful context.

  • Affirmative: supporting and encouraging.

“The overall goal of supervision is to help Spiritual Directors to grow in self awareness and interior freedom in order to stay with directees’ experiences and to be attentive to God during direction sessions.”
— Maureen Conroy

Supervision Groups

  • The Supervision Groups are for Community members. 

  • The groups have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 people. 

  • Supervisees sign up and commit to a group for a year in the spring, for a September start. 

  • Groups meet nine times per year (three times per term) for two hours.

  • Those joining a group are asked to make a commitment to attending for the whole of the academic year in which they join, if at all possible.

  • The cost to individuals is £252 (£28/session) for the year. There is a deposit of £21 to secure a place in the group and then termly payments of £77 or full payment upfront. 

  • Supervision Groups are facilitated by trained and experienced Supervisors, all of whom are members of the Community of Spiritual Directors.

“Supervision is a conversation between peers that ultimately fosters the wellbeing of an absent other.”
— Mary Rose Bumpus

Our Supervisors

  • DR ANTONIA LYNN

    I was formed as a Spiritual Director in the Ignatian tradition and have been giving the Spiritual Exercises in daily life for over 20 years. As well as accompanying others I have many years' experience of teaching Ignatian Spirituality and can offer supervision to those giving the Exercises. As a Spiritual Director, trainer, Supervisor and practical theologian I love working creatively with art, imagery, poetry, etc.

  • JUDY O’BRIEN

    Experiencing the Exercises of St Ignatius was transformational for me and a great help for discerning God’s will in my own life. I then trained as a Psychosynthesis therapist to MA standard before going back to my first love of Spiritual Direction and becoming a tutor on the ISC from 1999. Recently, I have been developing the 1-year Ignatian Enrichment course to enable trained Spiritual Directors to direct the full Exercises of St Ignatius. I have experienced working with dreams both in Spiritual Direction and in my own therapeutic work which has proved to be very fruitful.

  • JULIE LEGER DUNSTAN

    I have accompanied people for over 40 years in various roles including psychotherapy, Spiritual Direction and Supervision. I believe Supervision should be prayerful, professional, creative and supportive; a place to feel affirmed, restored and challenged.

  • SUE COOK

    I have 16 years’ experience working as a Supervisor in the psychotherapy field specialising in complex trauma and attachment disorders. I am passionate about quality Supervision being offered to Spiritual Directors. My main area of focus within Supervision is on process and inviting Directors to be curious about what might be going on for them and those they accompany in their sessions. I also believe that helping Spiritual Directors to be very focused regarding what help they need in Supervision is very important. I bring my love of poetry into group Supervision to illustrate issues that directees bring and to evoke a heartfelt response in the Director that helps them identify more closely with what needs exploring.

  • SUSANNE CARLSSON

    I am originally from Sweden, and a priest in the Church of England and the Spiritual Adviser for Rochester Diocese. I finished training with ISC in 2005 and have since been involved in giving the Spiritual Exercise of Ignatius of Loyola and teaching on various Spiritual Direction training courses in the UK and Scandinavia. I recently completed a Doctorate in Practical Theology researching ‘What is distinctive about Ignatian religious life and how can it be lived in the Anglican Church’.

  • TREVOR MAPSTONE

    I work in full time pastoral ministry and train Spiritual Directors on the Encounter Course at LCSD, as well as offering Spiritual Direction and Supervision. I enjoy working alongside Christians of many traditions, in different contexts for many years. I am a contemplative. I love to listen and am interested in spiritual growth and human flourishing.

Sign up to a Supervision Group

The dates shown below are the date of the first Supervision Group meeting. The other dates will be sent to you directly by your Supervisor, Once you pay your deposit, you will be invoiced for the remaining amount in September which can be paid in full or in installments.

These groups don’t work for you?

If you would like to join a Supervision Group and the groups above are full or the timings do not work for you, please get in touch.

Find a 1:1 Supervisor

Train as a supervisor

The Centre also runs four-day online training courses in Supervision skills for Spiritual Directors, usually in September each year with a follow-up day in March. We can also offer bespoke training and refresher courses for diocesan and other Spiritual Direction networks.

“The supervisory conversation has as its main purpose to lead supervisees further into the Mystery where the divine and the human kiss.”
— William Creed