C5. Boundaries and Ethics for Spiritual Directors

Presenter: Paul B Macke, S.J., is a professional pastoral psychotherapist for over 30 years and trainer of spiritual directors. He currently serves as secretary for Pastoral Ministry and Jesuit Life at the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. He was the executive director of Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage, Alaska for six years.

The workshop will examine the intimacy required to be an effective spiritual director along with reflection on appropriate professional boundaries. It will study the Ethics for Spiritual Directors, published by Spiritual Directors International. While the presenter will bring cases for study, he encourages all participants to bring questions and cases, protecting always the privacy of the directee. Other issues to be considered are the importance of personal prayer and spiritual direction, supervision and consultation, fees, places for spiritual direction, frequency and length of session, dual relationships, common mistakes of beginning spiritual directors, and topics of interest to the participants.