Appreciative Soul Friending

In this training program participants will view the work of Soul Friending or Spiritual Direction as it was commonly known from the positive perspective of Appreciative Inquiry and the work of Milton Erickson and his students.

Appreciative Soul Friending

In many traditional forms of Spiritual Direction the process has been oriented to removing sin or obstacles to God's presence in a person's life. From an Appreciative perspective we focus attention on growing in love and grace, knowing that these will dissolve barriers to an awareness of God's presence.
For Example in traditional Spiritual Direction the Directee may be given the discipline of examining the Ten Commandments to identify where they have failed to keep them. In an appreciative approach the person would not meditate on how they have failed to keep the commandment, but rather how keeping the commandment has been a blessing in their life.

Creating healing or transformative parables is another aspect of this training.  While considerable time has been given in theological training to studying Jesus' parables, it is surprising that little attention is given to the skill of creating parables given that it is one of Jesus' most common forms of spiritual intervention. 

Some of the topics covered in this program are:

• Knowing Yourself as a Soul Friend
• Compassion as the Agent of Transformation
• Discerning Human Motivation: Political, Economic, Emotional or Spiritual
• Alienation the Core Injury of the Human Soul
• Divine Acceptance the Source of all Healing
• Living in the Blessing not the Curse of Human Existence
• Growing from Fear to Love
• Dealing with the Stuck Times
     Creating Ambiguous Function Exercises
     Creating Healing Parables
• Practical Forgiveness

Eligibility

This program is built on the core understanding of Appreciative Inquiry and is open to all those who have completed the Clergy Leadership Institute Appreciative Inquiry training.

While primarily oriented toward clergy this program is also open to those who have substantial experience as a Soul Friend and can reflect theologically and psychologically on their ministry.

Workshop Format

The workshop will typically be conducted in a retreat setting with:

• Didactic presentations
• Personal practice and experience of appreciative soul friending
• Bible Study and Corporate prayer
• Time for personal reflection and meditation

Costs

Typical Workshop Schedule:

The following is a typical workshop schedule. Depending on location, the workshop schedule may vary with respect to starting and finishing times and the exact number of continuing education contact hours. On the training schedule page you can download a flyer for each specific program with its specific dates and continuing education contact hours. When you register for a specific program you will also receive a confirmation email that will have the dates and schedule with starting and finishing times for that program.

This program usually starts after lunch on the third day of the appreciative inquiry training.

Day 3:
1:30-3:00 pm     Session 8
3:30-4:00 pm     Walking Meditation and Reflection
5:00-7:00 pm     Supper
7:00-9:00 pm     Session 9

Day 4:
9:00-12:00        Session 10
12:00-1:30 pm   Lunch
1:30-3:00 pm     Session 11
3:30-4:00 pm     Walking Meditation and Reflection
5:00-7:00 pm     Session 12
    No Evening Session

Day 5:
9:00-12:00        Session 13

Specific times and costs may vary depending on the sponsoring organization.

Please check the schedule and registration page for additional workshop specific information.

Note: The above schedule includes meals for commuters. When residential accommodation is provided, residential participants will also be provided with Breakfast and Supper during the course of the week.

Accommodation

Accommodation is dependent on the training locations and will be specified on the registration forms.
When provided accommodation for participants is generally on a first come first served basis with a commuter rates also being available.
Accommodation prices vary depending on location and are available on the schedule and registration page.

Presenter

Rob Voyle is an ordained Episcopal priest, psychologist, and coach. He is the Director of the Clergy Leadership Institute. Rob was an original faculty member, and taught for five years at the College of Executive Coaching where he taught and coached hundreds of personal and executive coaches how to use appreciative inquiry as a basis for their coaching work.

Registration for Workshop

To register for the workshop please go to the training schedule and select register for the appropriate workshop. For additional information please contact Rob Voyle