WHAT IS NON-RELIGIOUS SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP?
Non-Religious Spiritual Companionship (also known as Non-Religious Spiritual Direction) “is a form of guidance that supports people in exploring their inner life, values, and sense of meaning—without relying on traditional religious frameworks or institutions. It’s especially resonant for those who are deconstructing inherited beliefs, recovering from religious trauma, or simply seeking a more personalized, nature-based, or justice-oriented spirituality.
Core Elements of Non-Religious Spiritual Direction include:
Companionship over conversion: The spiritual director acts as a witness and companion, not a teacher or authority figure.
Meaning-making beyond dogma: Focuses on personal experience, intuition, and embodied wisdom rather than prescribed doctrines.
Inclusive and pluralistic: Welcomes diverse worldviews—atheist, agnostic, spiritual-but-not-religious, animist, mystic, etc.
Trauma-informed: Often integrates somatic healing, interoception, and emotional safety, especially for those recovering from religious patriarchy or spiritual abuse.
Nature and creativity as sacred: Uses metaphors, archetypes, ritual design, and symbolic language drawn from nature, art, and everyday life.
What Non-Religious Spiritual Direction Looks Like in Practice:
Reflective conversations about purpose, identity, grief, or transformation
Co-creating rituals for healing, transition, or celebration
Mapping symbolic motifs or archetypes that resonate with your journey
Exploring practices like meditation, journaling, or nature immersion
Reconstructing a spiritual framework that aligns with your values and lived experience
Non-Religious Spiritual Direction often involves supporting people in their leaving-religion process, religious deconstruction work, healing and recovery from religious trauma, working through nihilism and existential crisis, addressing the harms of toxic religious patriarchy, and cultivating a liberating post-religion spirituality.”
(Jim Palmer, Mighty Network Community Announcement, August 28,2025)
WHY IS NON-RELIGIOUS SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP SO IMPORTANT?
It is estimated that one-third of US adults have experienced Religious Trauma at some point in their life [source] and studies show that one in five adults report leaving church due to Religious Trauma [source]. As the number of people leaving religion continues to increase [source], there has never been a more important time for post-religion care such as Non-Religious Spiritual Direction/Companionship.
WHAT QUALIFIES A PERSON TO BE A SPIRITUAL COMPANION?
As you determine what kind of person would make a good fit for the role of Spiritual Companion on your journey, I would like to present the following considerations:
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I have walked a similar path. I have been on the other side of the wall, stuck in a toxic/high-control religious environment. I know what it is like to deconstruct, reconstruct, question, and doubt. I have felt the pain and loss of rejection by religious community and loved ones. I am on the path of healing from religious trauma - both as a former pastor that caused it, and as a former layman that experienced it.
MY PROFESSIONAL TRAINING. In addition to personal experience, I have received formal training and obtained a Spiritual Direction Certification through the Center of Non-Religious Spirituality as well as a Trauma-Informed Coach Certification through The Centre for Healing. In an effort to grow in my capacity, I continually engage in other relevant training programs and educational courses, as well as a Spiritual Directors Mastermind Group for peer accountability, support, and development.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SESSION?
Our time together is sacred. It is set aside to reflect, with intention, on life experiences in relationship to religion and/or spirituality. During these times, you will take responsibility for the content and flow of the material shared; and I will fill the role of companion through listening with an open mind free of judgment, bearing witness to your journey with sincerity and curiosity, and maintaining respect for your freedom to find your own spiritual path. I will hold our conversations in strict confidence. This is a safe space for your story and your journey, and it is my joy to walk with you.