Becoming a Member

What Makes a Spiritual Companion

For millennia people have turned to one another for spiritual guidance, direction, and companionship. Spiritual companions, guides, elders or directors come from a variety of backgrounds and types of spiritual formation. Seekers (directees) ultimately determine who is right for them. The process of becoming a professional offering spiritual direction work is a particular kind of spiritual formation, and is ongoing for as long as one serves in that role.  

We UUSDN members agree that spiritual companions:

• are good listeners

• accompany the seeker, rather than imposing their own agendas

• are comfortable with a variety of spiritual experiences, paths, and language

• attend to and are grounded in their own relationship with spirit

• attend to their own ongoing formation as spiritual companions and in their own spiritual lives

• act ethically (UUSDN members agree to follow the SDI Guidelines for Ethical Conduct) https://www.sdicompanions.org/media/guidelines-for-ethical-conduct/

Who are members of UUSDN

We are Unitarian Universalist religious professionals and lay people who take many different paths into spiritual direction. We want to assure those looking for companions within our network that our companions have been formed for spiritual direction work, continue to grow, and are accountable both to their seekers and to one another. 

How to become a member of UUSDN

We know there are many paths through formation to offer spiritual direction work, so we want to be in conversation with you about your formation. We expect our UUSDN spiritual companions to have completed training, be engaged in an ongoing formation process, and have a level of readiness needed for ethical and skillful professionalism. We expect our UUSDN members to be grounded in UU communities and literate in the breadth and diversity of our UU theologies and practices, recognizing we cannot be proficient in all of them. The profession does not yet have an accrediting body, so UUSDN has established the following path toward membership.  

While in Formation: 

• Be 'in care' during formation, Get in touch! 

• If the form doesn't work for you, you can email directly by contacting UUSDNMembershipTeam@gmail.com

Ready to be a full member:

• To express interest in being a UUSDN member Complete the membership form, (you may ask a membership guide at UUSDNMembershipTeam@gmail.com to assist you in filling out the form) to describe your training and experience. 

• We will connect you with a membership guide to talk about your preparation and readiness.

• The membership guide will have a conversation with the membership committee offering a recommendation, and after consultation will reply to you about your path forward into UUSDN, which could include a recommendation for additional training, formation, or supervised praxis. 

• Once you have been welcomed into membership, participate in a “Welcome to UUSDN Membership” orientation.

We think that essential components of a path to being an ethical, prepared, spiritual companion are training, formation, supervised praxis, and Accountability. We are also are aware that there are many forms of solid preparation. Here is a path many of our members have taken, equivalent paths are also welcome:

Training: 

• Training in a spiritual direction program and/or continuing education over a period of at least 18 months (or equivalent*) 

(Very partial list of Training programs our members have found worthwhile. If your program is not on the list, we will look at the program description on their website, or you can ask a program representative to send your membership guide a description of your program. We hope your program includes:

• At least 180 classroom hours (in a program or with a program plus continuing education)

• Some interactive training (e.g., not entirely asynchronous.)

• Training includes two or more leaders/teachers, who have several years of experience as professionals in spiritual direction and/or supervision training.

• We recommend that the program be accountable to a religious organization, spiritual community, or academic institution and/or have ongoing oversight from a board of directors (where that board contains professional spiritual companions.)

*Your membership guide will help you discern what might be equivalent.

Formation:

• At least 2 years participation in individual spiritual direction

Supervised Praxis:

• At least 18 supervised seeker-hours working with at least 2 different seekers or small groups over at least 6 months (or equivalent*) 

Accountability (To stay in membership you must affirm your commitment to the below, annually):

• Be in spiritual direction (tending to our own spiritual lives)

• Be in supervision (tending to our role as companions) Supervision can be individual or a facilitated peer group. We recommend also participating in a cooperative peer group for consulting and collegial support.

• Be in a collegial group accountable to ethical standards and right relations according ot UU values [currently UU Ministers Association (UUMA), Liberal Religious Educator’s Association (LREDA), UU Society for Community Ministers (UUSCM), or another equivalent group - please inquire]

• Follow the SDI Guidelines for Ethical Conduct

Completed your training? Congratulations! APPLY for membership NOW

To suggest changes or corrections, please email us at: UUSDNMembershipTeam@gmail.com