Spotlight on Spiritual Guidance
ITP is one of the few accredited institutions in the world that offer a broad range of Masters and Ph.D. level courses in various fields related to Transpersonal Psychology. Spiritual Guidance is one such area of study. The Institute's graduate level distance learning and residential degree programs often offer courses in Spiritual Guidance that are taught by ITP's distinguished faculty. This faculty includes professors who are nationally recognized leaders in their field of specialty.
The following is a list of Spiritual Guidance courses. Most of these classes have been offered in the past. The particular electives offered by the Institute vary at any given time. The School tries to be responsive to the particular interests of the current student body and aims to have the curriculum reflect those interests. The number of current classes that fall under the category of Spiritual Guidance depends on both teacher availability and student interest. Information on current classes can be found in the academic catalog.
Psychology of Spiritual Guidance
This course is for students who desire professional and academic training in spiritual guidance. The primary goal of this course is to explore the major processes and dynamics of spiritual guidance. The course will consist of lectures and discussion plus frequent experiential and small group work.
Course objectives are to:
- develop understanding of the distinctions between therapy, counseling, & spiritual guidance
- become familiar with basic approaches to spiritual development and spiritual guidance
- experience spiritual guidance in class practices
- work with meditation, prayer, and other spiritual exercises
- clarify for oneself the meaning and significance of becoming a spiritual guide
Spiritual Traditions and Practices
The class will explore the spiritual traditions that have inspired humanity, and which reflect transpersonal levels of value and being. We will give most time to these five: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. Some attention will be given to the Goddess, Taoism, and several modern developments. In their esoteric and symbolic forms, these traditions are transpersonal psychologies. As religions, they are the most influential social institutions on the planet. This course will provide:
- Basic beliefs and values for the tradition.
- The history and social form of the religion.
- The esoteric metaphysics and symbols.
- The experience of the practices and the path.
- Music, art, and creative expression.
- Attitudes of appreciation and acceptance for each form.
Group Spiritual Guidance
Come sit with me on this boulder. We will take turns boring the auger into stone. It is not such hard work when more than one is working. We will tell each other stories. We will help each other do the tasks of our lives. We will wear this stone away without violence. There has been enough violence.
We will talk to the granite.
We will not give up.
We will be like drops of water falling on a stone...
Course objective: This class will include the addition of Group Spiritual Guidance during the last half of class. All class members are required to participate. Group Spiritual Guidance is being offered as part of this practicum class as an invitation to students to sample a different form of group dynamics from what they might be familiar with in either group process or traditional group counseling/therapy.
This group is not based on any particular religious tradition although it's foundation is from the Christian tradition. You are invited to participate in a way that best meets your needs and that of any religious or spiritual tradition you might be practicing or not. The group offers an opportunity to learn from each other. This group experience is not intended to be therapy or some form of self-help or self-improvement group, although students might feel some therapeutic effects from their participation. The purpose of this group experience is to "help those gathered develop their relationship with the Divine as they perceive it, and at the same time discover new ways to inspire, encourage, and affirm one another. . . . to nourish the participants' spiritual development" (Brown, 2001, p 55, 57).
