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SPIRITUAL MENTORING CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

Registration for the Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program is closed.
Please connect with us to inquire about the program and future dates.


Spiritual Mentoring offers the opportunity to hold another in a space of love, compassion, and acceptance as they seek to align with their own inner Divinity. A spiritual mentor creates a space in which a mentee will be seen, heard, and guided on their spiritual journey. This profound opportunity to guide another makes the mentoring process a sacred opportunity to sit with another and experience the Divine Beloved within the mentee.

The Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program is a one-year program designed to provide the skills to provide the service of spiritual mentoring, also called spiritual direction or spiritual companioning.


The Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program is especially designed for those wanting to cultivate the inner presence and skills necessary for offering mentoring to those in need. This program is open to ordained clergy, seminarians in training, as well as to mental health counselors and other helping professionals who may desire to incorporate a spiritual focus into their practice. If you are interested in this program but do not find yourself in one of the above categories, please contact us to discuss your particular situation and, together, we can assess the appropriateness of this program for you.


The Goals of Spiritual Mentoring are to . . .

  • Create a safe container where the client can feel seen, heard, and honored.
  • Deepen and strengthen the client’s experience of and relationship to the Divine in a way that is authentic and meaningful to them.
  • Help the client to name, understand and work with the problems, blocks, and patterns in their life by using spiritual perspectives and practices.
  • Guide the client to assume self-responsibility, not for all that happens to them, but for how they choose to be with what happens.
  • Assist the client in remembering their Wholeness, integrating all aspects of the self - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
  • Support the client in the cultivation of compassion (heart), discernment (mind), and courage (action).



Sample Topics Covered in the Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program

  • Developing the mentor/client relationship - establishing trust
  • Deep listening - qualities of presence - skills of attunement
  • Basic skills: reflecting feelings, restating information, questioning, offering reflections
  • Identifying the core issue(s) - going beyond the “story”
  • The use of spiritual practices in the mentoring process, e.g. prayer, meditation, journaling
  • Cultural and identity awareness
  • Working with trauma, grief and loss
  • Understanding the spectrum of anxiety, depression, and addictions
  • Seeing the client as a mirror - ongoing self-awareness and growth
  • Scope of practice - knowing our limits - when and how to refer out
  • Ethical issues - confidentiality and boundaries
  • Self-care - exploring our personal practices
  • Envisioning your Spiritual Mentoring practice - professional and practical issues
  • Ongoing support for the mentor

Future sessions
We are in the process of reformatting the program. As one aspect, we are hoping to become more accessible for people in other time zones and/or people for whom synchronous class time is more difficult. Please use the form below to connect with us. We’ll set up a time to discuss what you are seeking and if our program would be a good fit for you, along with what logistics might work well for you.

Dates and Times
Pending for future sessions. We anticipate beginning the next session in fall 2025.

Format
The class will be structured to be primarily online via Zoom. There may be in-person opportunities if that is desired by the participants.

Cost
Pending for future sessions.


Program Guide / Facilitator

Carrie A. Ives is an interfaith minister and spiritual director with personal and professional experience working with chronic illnesses. She was ordained in 2013 by Tree of Life Interfaith Temple and certified as a spiritual director in 2015.

Her recent work explores the intersection of spirituality and chronic illness. She is trained in trauma and trauma-informed care, group spiritual direction, and spiritual direction supervision. Carrie serves as the website lead for Tree of Life Interfaith Temple in Amherst, NH, and recently earned a Master of Arts in Spirituality at Merrimack College, Andover, MA.

​Carrie is a longtime member of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Chelmsford, MA, where she lives with her partners John and Tiffany and their three fur-babies.

​Click here to email Carrie.

Advisory Board and Consultants

Rev. Ahjan Grossman, Presiding Minister of Tree of Life Interfaith Temple
Rev. Peggy Petahtegoose, Director of the Tree of Life Interfaith Seminary
Rev. Karen Manchester, Administrator & Treasurer of Tree of Life Interfaith Temple
Lynn Wahle, MA, MSEd, LMFT, Advisor to the Facilitator
Rev. Beth Cohen, Consultant and prior co-facilitator of the Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program
Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt, Founding Minister of Tree of Life Interfaith Temple and Seminary and creator of the original curriculum

Curriculum

This program, which is conferred by the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple, is based on the curriculum of the Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program created by Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt. The same curriculum was formerly offered through the Tree of Life School for Sacred Living, LLC, by Rev. Dr. Rutt.

For more information please fill out the questions and interest form below.






TREE OF LIFE INTERFAITH TEMPLE
5 Northern Blvd, Suite 8
Amherst, NH 03031-2330

603-732-0224


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