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It is a generally accepted phenomenon of contemporary society that many people experience a yearning for deeper meaning and purpose in their lives which can appropriately be called ‘spiritual’. It is increasingly common to hear comments such as: ‘I feel I am a spiritual person but I wouldn’t call myself religious’. With certain exceptions, it would seem that within the institutional churches and faith communities there is currently little resourcefulness for responding to such spiritual promptings and that classical ‘spiritual direction’ (where it exists) often fails to meet the need.

 In an attempt to respond to this widespread spiritual quest the Norwich Centre offers a  part-time training in spiritual accompaniment based on the person-centred tradition of Carl Rogers and drawing substantially on the writings of the fourteenth century mystic, Julian of Norwich, and the Jewish holocaust martyr, Etty Hillesum. The training is led by Professor Brian Thorne [author of “Infinitely Beloved” (DLT, 2003) and “The Mystical Power of Person-Centred Therapy” (Whurr, 2002)] with contributions from Christian, humanist and other world faith perspectives. The aim is to equip participants to accompany spiritual seekers who may or may not be members of religious bodies.

Following our first successful training course we shall be offering the course again in 2011-2012. 

Applications are invited from: 

i) Practising counsellors and psychotherapists with a commitment to spiritual exploration

ii) Laypersons and clergy with substantial experience of pastoral work and/or spiritual direction 

iii)   Teachers of religious education with a personal and professional commitment to spiritual development.

To download the 2011-2012 brochure click here