52 Weeks to Deepen Your Practice

A Year of Weekly Emails

With Topics, Tools, & Tips

For Those Who Love Refining the Art & Craft of Spiritual Direction

This year-long email series is a celebration of the profession and work of Spiritual Direction.

If you are interested in 52 bite-size continuing education offerings, read on for 5 more reasons why this offering may be for you:

1. Learning enlivens our work.
   Spiritual direction is more meaningful—and more fun—when we’re learning new things and applying them with those we companion. Growth energizes our practices.

2. People are complex—and endlessly unique.
   Drawing from over 25 years of experience with clients, patients, spiritual directors, and chaplains, I’ll share practical tools and insights that meet the richness and diversity of real spiritual lives.

3. Spirituality is evolving.
   Our clients—and the spiritual landscape—are always changing. Together, we’ll explore emerging currents in spirituality and psychology that resonate with our work as directors.

4. New ideas shake us out of old ruts.
   It’s easy to fall into familiar patterns. Fresh perspectives and practices help us stay curious, responsive, and awake—benefiting both us and those we serve.

5. This is the most important work in the world.
   Deepening spiritual awareness isn’t just a personal journey—it’s a gift to our clients and a ripple of healing and meaning in our hurting world.

How It Works & An Example

1. Select below a rate that works for you:
   $1/week, $1.50/week, or $2/week.

2. Within 1–3 days, you'll receive a confirmation email. Once confirmed, your weekly emails will begin each Sunday.

3. Each Deepen Your Practice message includes a practical topic, tool, or tip to deepen your skill, expand your knowledge, and strengthen your presence as a spiritual guide.

Every email invites you to apply a specific technique or approach—either in your client sessions or in your own reflective practice.

For example, in Week 27:

The topic is The Crucial Art: Working with Client Resistance.

• You’ll be introduced to a strategy from a theory called Motivational Interviewing. When a client seems resistant to change, try a reflective, inverse approach:

• “Maybe this change isn’t so important. What happens if you don’t make this change?”

• This kind of question often helps surface the client’s own motivation and insight.

Over the course of the year, you’ll receive 52 thoughtful, practical installments—each one crafted to support your ongoing growth and engagement in the art of spiritual direction.

What Will We Explore? The Schedule of Topics, Tools, & Tips

(There may be slight alterations to these titles and topics)

Week 1: Welcome to the 52-Week Journey

A Year of Deepening Your Practice

Weeks 2-12: Spiritual Direction Practice Foundations 

The  Work of Spiritual Direction: Why It’s Time Has Come

The 7 Dimensions of Spiritual Direction: The I, We, & Thou

The 4 Stages of a Spiritual Direction Practice: From Novice to Seasoned Professional

The 3 Pillars of Spiritual Direction: The 3 X 3 Blueprint for a Practice

Defining Your Why - Following Your Deep Call

Defining Your Who - Identifying Your Ideal Client

Defining Your What - What Should You Actually Offer?

The 3 Phases & The Holding Phase

The Engaging Phase

The Guiding Phase

Help! I don't know enough! Beyond The Imposter Syndrome

Weeks 13-20: Deepening Your Awareness: Refining Your Inner Skills

Mastering the Still Point: Engaged Presence

The Golden Thread in Spiritual Direction: Tracking Awareness (The Awareness V Map)

The 3 Awareness Mindsets: To Me, By Me, Through Me

Exploring Forbidden Territories: Spiritual Direction Voices

Using the Body, Heart & Head in Spiritual Direction

The 4 S’s & The Importance of Skills

The Importance of Sass: Breaking the Trance of Safety

The Importance of Spirit: Beyond Functional Atheism

Weeks 21-41: Sharpening Your Outer Work: Enhancing Your Client Connections

Navigating the 3 Client Worlds: The Ego

Navigating the 3 Client Worlds: The Soul

Navigating the 3 Client Worlds: The Spirit

The Golden Tool in Spiritual Direction: Spiritual Assessment

Holding Up Mirrors to Your Clients: The Vitality Wheel

Juicing Up Your Practice: The Power of the Bizarre and the Taboo

The Crucial Art: Working with Client Resistance

Energy in Spiritual Direction: Freaky Frequencies

Power in Spiritual Direction: Why We Move Toward It

Boundaries in Spiritual Direction: Creating Containers of Safety

Working With Spiritual & Religious Diversity: Learning Through Unlearning

The Emerging Spiritualities: Following Spiritual Fascinations

Using the Enneagram in Spiritual Direction: Breaking Free from Ego Types

The Spiritual Practices Wheel: The Contemplative Corrections

Guiding Clients from Old to New Story Lines: Breaking Free from Problem-Saturated Narratives

Working with Trauma, Grief & Loss: A Few Crucial Do’s & Don’ts

Group Spiritual Direction: Models & Suggestions

Guiding Clients to Break Through Their Upper Limits: Finding the False Ceiling

Guiding Clients to Their Zone of Genius: The Power of Outrageous Openness

Helping Clients Practice Spiritual Practices: Spirituality as Lifestyle

Weeks 41-50: The Practice of Running a Spiritual Direction Practice

What it Means to Run a Spiritual Business: Remembering the Source

The Importance of Systems: From Default to Design Mode

Finding the Upper Limit of Your Practice

The Essentialism Mindset: Finding the One Thing

Finding Your Practice’s Zone of Genius

How Most Spiritual Directors Are Keeping Their Practices Small

The Mindset Shift: From Hobby to Business 

A Few Tools that Really Help

How To Market Your Practice Without Feeling Slimy

The Art of Inviting Clients to Work With You

Weeks 51-52: Reverencing the Sacred Work of Spiritual Direction

Letting Go Vs. Burning Out

The Harvest & the Thanksgiving

sign up for one of our three pricing options

and get your yearlong journey started!

Scott McRae

Scott has been doing various forms of spiritual guidance and mentoring for over 30 years, with over 560 individuals, and over 4800 hours of supervising spiritual work. He has diverse experience and education that includes:

• Over 26 years as a Spiritual Director

• Over 20 years as a teacher in Spiritual Direction training programs (Center for Spiritual Guidance & Sojourners Spiritual Direction Program)

• Founder of and lead teacher at Sojourners Institute

• A Certificate in Spiritual Direction through Center for Spiritual Guidance in St. Paul, MN

• Certification through the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education as a Certified Educator for chaplain training.

• Core Essential Coaching Certification through Corporate Coach University

• Professional experience as an ordained parish and campus pastor, director of a health system spiritual care department, chaplain educator (CPE supervisor) in four different health care settings.

• Certified Enneagram teacher (Full Circle Enneagram Training)

• Masters of Divinity degree from Yale University

• Author of the chapter on spiritual direction in the book Courageous Conversations: The Teaching and Learning of Pastoral Supervision

• Creator of a YouTube Learning Lab Channel that features videos on Spiritual Direction and on the Enneagram