We believe that mental health and spiritual health are closely connected. It is common for a person to identify a spiritual issue while working through treatment for an addiction or emotional difficulty. It is also common for a person to experience a block in his or her spiritual life and then discover some psychological difficulty or relationship issue that is contributing to it.

Spiritual Direction is a great Catholic tradition that offers each of us a companion for life’s journey and an opportunity to:

• See God’s presence in your life
• Identify and trust your own experience of God
• Integrate spirituality into your daily activities
• Discern and make choices while looking for God’s will in your life
• Share hurts and search for meaning and healing
• Talk about losses and move toward forgiveness
• Discuss spiritual struggles and look for courage and grace
• Benefit from learning new ways to pray and growing closer to God

Spiritual Direction is a private and confidential one-on-one meeting, similar to counseling in this way. Sessions are generally 60 to 90 minutes long, once a month, at a conveniently planned time and date. Spiritual Direction can be a few consultations or last many years. There are some similarities to counseling, but the focus is on spiritual matters. We believe that spiritual growth/healing and psychological growth/healing do overlap.

Some people contact Gratia Plena and begin counseling but then move to a spiritual direction after the counseling issues are resolved. Others start with spiritual Direction and realize the need for counseling as issues are discussed. Some clients meet with a counselor and a spiritual director on alternating visits.