We are committed to spiritually accompanying community leaders and activists in pursuing their own missions for justice and peace.
The process of contemplative listening carried out in the context of a one-to-one trusting and confidential relationship. A trained spiritual director journeys with another person by listening to that person’s life story and experiences with an ear for the movement of the spirit, the presence of the sacred, and/or the insights that come from making deep meaningful connections. By offering supportive responses as appropriate and encouraging deepening reflection, clients can open up to new understandings and paths of growth. Spiritual accompaniment is typically conducted in monthly sessions that range from 45 - 60 minutes.
Our core team of spiritual directors and companions offer very accessible starting packages specifically for community leaders and activists rooted in social justice principles. If you are interested in exploring spiritual direction, we offer an introductory package of three sessions for $75 (a 75% discount from the market rate of $75 per session).
We believe that a long term spiritual companion provides a meaningful space to individuals engaged in activism and community service. For those who are committed to continuing in spiritual accompaniment beyond the three introductory sessions, we offer a sliding scale per session rate based on financial need. While we are thrilled that the philanthropic gifts that supports our work can allow us to offer discounts of up to 75%, we know that financial sustainability for our organization rests on those who can pay market rate doing so. As such, we offer a pay what you can per session option (from $75 to $25) for all sessions after the first three.
Lauren Spahn is a Still Harbor Senior Partner. She serves as lead administrator, facilitator and chaplain with Still Harbor and is also yoga teacher, birth doula, and writer. She is an avid reader, lifelong learner, world traveler, language enthusiast, and a "my home is your home"-style hostess. She has a background in facilitation and project development as well as non-profit communications and management. Lauren received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Spanish with a minor in Women's Studies. In 2015, after eight years of full-time non-profit work, she began teaching yoga and supporting justice-based non-profits (Still Harbor included) as a facilitator and writer. She stays tethered to her call to bring people together through shared dialogue and practice, and in doing so, she has discovered the healing and transformative power of community.
What happens after the first three sessions?
We will check in with you about how it is going and decide together whether it makes sense to continue into a longer term spiritual accompaniment relationship. It often does make sense! As part of this conversation, we will talk about rates and you will choose what you can pay for the sessions moving forward.
How can you offer such big discounts?
As a social justice organization committed to building spiritual accompaniment into the fabric of our social movements and grassroots direct service vocations, we fundraise to support our programing. So, it is thanks to the generosity of our funders that we are able to make our spiritual direction services so accessible. Given that, we ask that our clients support us by paying what they can and by helping us spread the word to potential funders and others who might be interested in our work.
Our core service is offered virtually with a preference for meeting via video chat (Skype, Zoom, FaceTime). This allows us to work with many more activists and community leaders around the world who are seeking spiritual accompaniment. There are also costs associated with renting space that we try to keep down given our global reach and desire to make the service accessible. If you happen to be local to your spiritual director and there is a place that you can agree upon for meetings, we leave it up to the two of you to decide!
No. Spiritual accompaniment can bring about beautiful kinds of spiritual healing, but it is not therapy. Our spiritual directors are trained as compassionate listeners for the sacred/spiritual elements of life that emerge through your stories and experiences. Our questions are intended to support you in deepening you own spiritual self-awareness, in uncovering your own inherent wisdom in connection to the sacred/spiritual/divine, and in developing your relationship with your spiritual beliefs and how they operate in your life.
Yes. Spiritual accompaniment is a confidential space for you to process and share. Our spiritual directors will be required to break confidentiality only in the event what you share indicates that you pose a direct threat to yourself or another or that you are aware of a child or elder being abused.