Certificate in Spiritual Formation (Year One)

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of how images and language for God shape inner life, relationships, and worldview

• Explore names and images of the Unnamable within and beyond one’s religious context or familiarity

• Engage in soul-shaping conversations and spiritual practices that invite healing of inherited and personal stories of God

Course Objectives

• Understand the ancient roots, present expressions, purpose, and fruits of contemplative prayer and meditation

• Explore diverse contemplative practices integrating mind, body, spirit, imagination, community, and Creation

• Experience contemplative prayer and meditation practices from multiple spiritual traditions

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of stages and phases of spiritual growth in individuals and communities

• Study the insights, benefits, and limitations of various developmental frameworks

• Explore the relationship between spiritual growth, lived experience, and spiritual practice

Course Objectives

• Develop language and awareness of the True or Authentic Self

• Explore the inner work of transformation, including experiences such as the Dark Night of the Soul

• Engage practices and tools for self-discovery, including guided prayer, poetry, journaling, Sacred Naming, the Awareness Examen, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and the Enneagram

Course Objectives

• Understand the history, purpose, and distinguishing characteristics of spiritual direction

• Explore directive and non-directive approaches to shared silence and soul companionship

• Practice deep listening and hospitality for the soul with one’s whole being

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of Wisdom as collective, perennial, and relational

• Explore how Wisdom and Divine Presence manifest and how discernment is practiced

• Engage personal and communal practices of discernment

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of soul wounds affecting individuals, relationships, and communities

• Explore personal and cultural cycles of harm and pathways toward healing and wholeness

• Engage one’s own vulnerability in ways that cultivate compassionate, humble, and wise soul companionship

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of the personal, cultural, and communal contexts shaping both director and directee

• Explore contextual and systemic perspectives that inform compassionate, wise soul companionship

• Engage spiritual direction through the lived experiences and voices of marginalized spiritual directors and directees

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of the symbolic language of the soul as expressed in dreams and waking images

• Explore approaches to dreamwork and visioning that unlock wisdom for everyday life

• Engage practices for working with one’s own dreams and for companioning others through both formal and informal dreamwork

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of group dynamics present in group spiritual direction and dreamwork settings

• Explore paradigms and models of group spiritual direction and group dreamwork

• Experience the power of collective wisdom as it emerges within communal spiritual practice

Course Objectives

• Develop awareness of the need for contemplative retreats and their transformative potential in contemporary life

• Explore elements of retreat design that create space for silence, solitude, rest, play, beauty, awe, and delight

• Experience facilitation of an in-person and/or online contemplative retreat incorporating mindful relaxation, imagination, and silence*

Spiritual formation is about tending the roots—becoming more present, grounded, self-aware, and compassionate. Through contemplative practices drawn from across traditions, reflective learning, and shared community, participants cultivate the capacity to listen deeply: to themselves, to others, and to the Divine Mystery (or Life itself).

This inward work forms the soil from which wise spiritual accompaniment grows. Before one can companion others with care and discernment through spiritual direction, one must first learn to notice, tend, and befriend their own inner landscape. We might also describe this as deepening & expanding your inner hospitality.

Spiritual formation is meaningful whether or not you identify with a particular faith tradition, and it provides the grounding necessary for the outward practice of spiritual direction.

Every Spiritual Formation & Spiritual Direction training program has its own focus, such as Ignatian Spiritual Direction or training within a particular religious tradition. Being Wisdom-based means we're focusing on the vast ways Wisdom manifests in and around us, which includes all of life.  From nighttime dreams to poetry, from the physical body to the soul wounds in our stories, from Jesus to Lao Tzu, we listen for ways of Wisdom (Divine Love) arising in, for, through, and on behalf of a person, group, and our planet.

Wisdom is more than good decision-making. Yes, it is a way of wisely moving through life, but Wisdom is also the Source of all Life (and all wisdom).  So in this program, we cultivate our relationship with and follow ways of Wisdom.

Our roots are in contemplative Christianity. Most of us have grown up and/or worked in the United Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Nazarene, Baptist, and Nondenominational traditions. Many of us have stepped outside of or are found at "the edge of the inside" of institutional religion. Believing all authentic spirituality and wisdom to be universal, we appreciate and incorporate authentic spirituality and wisdom wherever it is found, including in religious traditions other than our own. 

No. While Wisdom Tree Collective is rooted in contemplative Christian wisdom, we are open to wisdom flowing through all of Creation, —all times, traditions, people, and places. Our participants come from a wide range of spiritual backgrounds. The program welcomes those who are spiritually curious, reflective, and open to depth—whether inside or outside traditional religious structures. You will not be asked to adopt specific beliefs or language.

A poll of our graduates in Year One revealed that they spent between 15-20 hours per month on reading, writing, engaging the class video, participating in the 2-hour video call, and contributing to the online Communal Conversation. Nearly 80% of our current students have full-time jobs. Says one student, “The key to success is to make your reading and writing routines habitual.” Year Two is less hours per month depending on one's chosen Integrative Wisdom Project.

No. This program values lived experience and multiple ways of learning. Reading, reflection, writing, and creative expression are held flexibly and supported with care. We have a Writing Instructor available to provide help and gentle feedback.

One student entered our program after decades away from school saying that he hated reading and writing. By the end of Year One, he discovered he actually loved reading and writing and surprised all of us when he announced that his Year Two Integrative Wisdom Project was going to be writing a book!

Year One is a complete certificate in Spiritual Formation. Participants leave with tools for contemplative practice, deep listening, and spiritual self-awareness that can be applied personally, professionally, and in community settings.

Year Two (Certificate in Spiritual Direction) builds on the formation of Year One and invites participants onto the path of accompanying others. Entry into Year Two is by mutual discernment and includes individual and group supervision, focused teaching on the spiritual direction relationship, continued engagement with your cohort community, and an Integrative Wisdom Project with mentor support.

Learn more about Year Two here.

All students will be required to read these prior to September:

Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy Lee

“We Are Cells of the Living Planet: An Interview with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi,” Presence, Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 6

Foundations in Spiritual Direction: Sharing the Sacred Across Traditions by Beverly Lanzetta 

Some want to explore even further so here's some optional reading for the journey: 

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield

Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill

Spirituality: A Very Short Introduction by Philip Sheldrake

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (also free online)

The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham 

The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence by Henri Nouwen

Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton

Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can’t Be Taught (And Why That’s Okay) by Carl McColman

Waking Up to This Day: Seeing the Beauty Right Before Us by Paula D'Arcy