Welcome to Still Harbor
At Still Harbor, we invite you into a community dedicated to the sacred work of transformation. Our programs are designed for those who feel called to accompany others on their spiritual journeys — individuals seeking to deepen their capacity for presence, listening, and compassionate leadership.
We have a long tradition of working with people who hold underrepresented identities, honoring the wisdom, resilience, and sacred experiences that emerge from diverse communities and lived experiences.
A Certificate Program: Start Date for the certificate program, October 2026
In addition to our certificate program, there will be opportunities for supervision, webinars, and continuing education.
Spiritual direction is 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, listening to that person’s life story with attention to the movement of the spirit or sacred, offering supportive responses as appropriate, and encouraging reflection about new paths of growth and transformation.
Spiritual direction is not counseling or therapy; it is a sacred practice of accompaniment that invites deeper awareness of the divine, the sacred, or the animating presence in one’s life.
The Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum is for individuals who feel called to offer spiritual accompaniment to others. Our alumni include people from diverse spiritual, religious, and cultural backgrounds; community leaders, organizers, and activists seeking to integrate spirituality and justice work; clergy, chaplains, healers, and caregivers looking to deepen their spiritual presence; and those discerning a vocation in spiritual direction or seeking to strengthen their practice
Still Harbor’s program welcomes participants of all identities, with a particular commitment to those from underrepresented communities.
The Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum is a nine‑month virtual training program that teaches people how to be spiritual directors.
It focuses on equipping participants from many religious, spiritual, and community backgrounds with the practical skills needed to offer one‑on‑one and group spiritual direction and consultation to non-profit community programs. The curriculum includes readings, group discussion, written assignments, self‑reflection, contemplative practice, and supervision.
Still Harbor’s program is distinct for its practice‑based, experiential training model and an orientation toward and experience in accompanying those working for collective liberation.
The Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum is led by people who have marginalized identities.
Still Harbor centers queer and trans leadership to prioritize the spiritual care of queer and trans people and to resist anti-queer, anti‑trans rhetoric, policies, and spiritual abuse. This leadership commitment shapes the content we teach, the culture we strive to create, the style of pedagogy, and the type of community we seek to foster.
We will explore the use of learning in Affinity Groups
Affinity groups can be an integral part of the practicum. Each participant will join one of two learning communities:
A white accountability group
A BIPOC affinity group
These groups provide space for honest reflection, accountability, and growth in a supportive, identity-affirming environment.
The nine-month practicum consists of the following elements:
Live Virtual Classes: Twice‑monthly experiential sessions on Zoom, including small and large group work, contemplation and reflection, individual presentations, and one-on-one practice sessions.
Reflection: Course readings, a reflection paper on political and spiritual lineages, and two papers about practice sessions to help participants integrate experiential learning with other teachings.
Spiritual Practice: Ongoing development of a personal spiritual practice, ritual creation, and discernment of the call to the work of spiritual direction.
Supervision: Will meet regularly with a supervisor.
Quarterly workshops: Four workshops led by thought leaders to be held during the academic year.
Graduates of the Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum emerge prepared to:
Offer one‑on‑one spiritual direction grounded in contemplative listening, compassion, and discernment.
Integrate spiritual direction into their existing work as clergy, chaplains, healers, educators, or community leaders.
Facilitate spaces of spiritual reflection and accompaniment within their communities, non-profit organizations, or movements.
Engage spiritual direction as a practice of justice, healing, and collective liberation.
Continue developing their own contemplative and spiritual practices as a foundation for sustainable, spirit-led leadership.
Graduates receive a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Still Harbor, affirming their completion of a rigorous, practice-based formation process rooted in both spiritual depth and social transformation.