School of Spiritual Direction (SOSD)

The School of Spiritual Direction is devoted to nurturing a culture of attentive listening to the Holy Spirit, fostering well-formed spiritual directors and supporting the Church’s mission of accompanying souls toward a deeper union with God. Whether you are beginning a journey of spiritual formation or discerning a call to serve others, the School welcomes you into a path of faithful discernment and service.

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  • Contact Information

    Program Director ✉ Maria Brackett
    For more information, contact Maria Brackett at: Call 703-348-8385

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    • Exciting news: We are launching the School of Spiritual Direction at Divine Mercy University in the summer of 2026!

    The School of Spiritual Direction at DMU is devoted to the ministry of spiritual direction in the following ways:

    1. We offer foundational courses, for preparing ourselves to deepen our relationship with the Holy Spirit: “Preparing our Hearts – Foundational Courses”
    2. We offer certificates for developing those who are called to the ministry as directors and/or as supervisors: “Certificates”
    3. We offer on-going support for spiritual direction supervision and related activities: “Ministry Support”

    Preparing our Hearts – Foundational Courses:

    Our foundational courses are open to anyone who is earnestly seeking to cultivate a relationship with God and deepen into their interior life to know him. There are no prerequisites beyond the understanding that these are graduate-level courses in their expectations for reading, writing, and group assignments, and 2 of these courses serve as pre-requisites for acceptance to the Spiritual Direction Certificate. These courses are intended to be taken in sequential order. The following are the foundational courses:

      • SOSD101: A Catholic Vision of Spiritual Maturity. Registration link coming soon! 
      • SDC100: Life in Christ and Spiritual Direction (Certificate prerequisite) registration link here: https://divinemercy.catalog.instructure.com/browse/sdc/courses/courses/sdc-100-su26
      • SDC200: Human Development for Spiritual Growth (Certificate prerequisite) Registration link will be provided directly to enrolled SDC100 students upon completion of the course.

    Certificates:

    The Spiritual Direction Certificate (SDC) offers 4 courses, 8-weeks each, for training to work with others in direction. The SDC will prepare those already in spiritual direction to accompany others. SDC100 and SDC200 are prerequisites to acceptance to the certificate. The requirements for acceptance are successful completion of the following items:

    1. Successful completion of SDC100 and 200
    2. Completed application
    3. Recommendations from a student’s current spiritual director
    4. Recommendation from parish priest or minister
    5. One peer recommendation 
    6. Group interview

    The Spiritual Direction Supervision Certificate (SDSC) is offered to support active and experienced spiritual directors to serve in a supervisor capacity to other directors. This is an 8-week online course with the following prerequisites:

    1. Completion of spiritual direction training (SDC or other) – proof of certificate required
    2. Experience providing spiritual direction for at least 3 years or having provided at least 200 hours of direction

    Ministry Support:

    Through our group supervision offering, all trained and certified spiritual directors may choose to continue with group supervision as offered by Divine Mercy University. Proof of spiritual direction certification is required to register for, and participate in, a group session. The course offering for group supervision is SDC701.