Supervision

A few weeks ago, when directors of our Spiritual Exercises group participated in supervision, the presenter had been struggling with over-directing her retreatant. We listened to her presentation and challenged her, affirmed her, and prayed with her. By the end of the hour-long session, she said, "I came here with a nervous stomach, a bit concerned about the process - as usual - because it is so revealing. But wow, God sure worked through this. I'm feeling much better about letting go of my own objectives and allowing God to work through me."

THE POINT OF SUPERVISION
Supervision is a process that was extracted from the psychological community. It helps directors look inward. Supervision is vital for every spiritual director (whether new or experienced) because it provides a way in which the director can uncover and explore prayerfully any personality traits or issues that might interfere with direction. It also provides a means to explore grace filled moments so that we can rejoice in the times we recognize and experience God's grace.

INNER MOVEMENTS
Supervision deals with the inner movements of director - not the directed. The director and supervisor contemplatively listen together to God and what has been going on what is inside the directee while he/she is listening to another. In supervision we take time to notice and savor our affect. During supervision, both supervised and supervisors explore where God seems present and where God seems absent.

EFFECTS OF SUPERVISION
Supervision has many benefits. Here are just a few.

• Softens the heart of the supervisee so that he or she is more open to God, to self, and to the directee.
• Enables the director to expand in inner freedom and become more transparent
• Improves a director's ability to concentrate on the movements within the directee
• develops self-awareness and listening skills
• Enables the director to become more God-centered

YOUR OPINION COUNTS - TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
I'd like to hear from you about your supervising experience (or lack of it). To get you started, I'm proposing several questions on the subject (but you can comment on anything).

1. Do you provide supervision for your group? If so, is it individual or group?
2. What works in your supervision? What do you struggle with?
3. What kind of training, if any, do you have in supervision ?
4. What instructional materials on supervision have you found helpful? What is lacking?
5. What would you like to see discussed on this blog?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.