Spiritual Direction
Bev is a graduate of Capella University. Currently serving as a Faith Community Nurse Program Coordinator, she is a master-level prepared Registered Nurse and an Ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Experienced as a co-pastor with her husband, Bev has been involved in ministry for over 40 years.
Board-Certified in mental health coaching and trained in grief and trauma care, Bev's lived experience, makes her an effective speaker, consultant, mentor, and coach. With a desire to help, Bev founded Telos Whole-Person Wellness Coaching and Consulting.
Telos Whole-Person Wellness Coaching and Consulting exists to provide support to those who desire to successfully navigate life's experiences. Utilizing various methods, including The Murray Method and Brief Presenting Symptom Support Techniques, Bev strives to help clients reach their ultimate goals. (Telos is the root of the modern term teleology, the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions.)
Burns brings a variety of perspectives into the counseling relationship. He is an ordained Vocational/Permanent Deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. In this role, he has served churches in Franklin and Nashville where his work has largely focused on pastoral care. Burns is a graduate of the Education for Ministry program of the Episcopal Church, and has also completed two certificate programs in the Spirituality of the Enneagram with the Institute for Conscious Being. Burns is also certified as a spiritual director by the Metagem Institute.
Burns pursued a career in counseling after having worked in Public Health as an Epidemiologist for over 18 year. While studying counseling at Belmont University, Burns followed the Clinical Pastoral Therapy track. Burns is open to working with people of all faiths. He welcomes those of strong faith, questioning faith, or no faith at all and those who may have been hurt by organized religion or prefer to consider themselves spiritual rather than religious. Burns is open to working with clients with a wide variety of issues, but he particularly enjoys working with individuals experiencing anxiety and/or depression, those experiencing grief and loss, and providing premarital counseling to couples.
Carrie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Spiritual Director. She has worked in the recovery/substance use treatment field for over 25 years. She also specializes in working with people in the midst of life transitions. These transitions can include grief, depression, anxiety and seeking healing through therapy and/or developing spiritual practices. She also works alongside those who are experiencing professional development challenges and relationship issues. She offers in person and virtual sessions.
Courtney E. Hicks offers counseling-inspired spiritual direction that incorporates creative and contemplative spiritual practices, Jungian psychology, dreamwork, and the Enneagram into her work to lead directees on a journey towards self discovery and discernment. Courtney is a Christian mystic and contemplative activist and is certified in spiritual direction by The Haden Institute, a training program in the Jungian Mystical Christian Tradition in Asheville, NC. She earned her Masters of Education in Nonprofit Leadership and Bachelors of Science in Journalism and Religion from Belmont University. Prior to becoming a spiritual director, Courtney spent 15 years in the nonprofit sector doing community development work, specializing in marketing, development, and social enterprise. She resides on a homestead in Nashville, TN with her family, two doodle dogs, one wild tuxedo cat, and eight well-loved and named chickens. Courtney uses a sliding scale fee structure for individual spiritual direction and offers monthly sessions in person at her South Nashville office, virtually via Zoom, or walking spiritual direction at local Nashville parks. Courtney looks forward to connecting and potentially walking alongside you on your journey as you seek to live soulfully into your life's questions.
David is the founder of Living Water, LLC in North Canton, Ohio. He assists Christian leaders and churches across the globe to develop strengths, heal hurts and create positive change. To do this David uses Leadership Coaching, Christ-centered Spiritual Direction, Inner Healing and Freedom Encounter Deliverance. Prior to founding Living Water, David served churches in Ohio for nearly thirty years.
Deaconess Whitney R. Simpson is the Founder of Exploring Peace Ministries. She is a soul care practitioner, helping others reach their fullest human potential as they explore the gift of God’s peace. Whitney is a trained spiritual director, an experienced yoga and meditation teacher, and the author of Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit and Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Advent Devotional for the Whole Self. Whitney holds space for others to meet God through embodied spirituality and the ministry of spiritual formation. Discover more of her ministry offerings at ExploringPeace.com. You can connect with Whitney directly at WhitneyRSimpson.com.
Jackie Halstead, Ph.D., LMFT, MDiv, is the CEO of Selah Center for Spiritual Formation located in Nashville, Tennessee. This non-profit offers a certificate program in Spiritual Direction and online courses in the Christian Spiritual Disciplines and other spiritual topics. Jackie is on the faculty with Abilene Christian University’s online Marriage and Family Therapy program.
Dr. Halstead has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for the past thirty-five years—specializing in ministers and their families--and a Spiritual Director for twenty years. She speaks frequently on the topics of contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, and relationships at the national and international levels.
As Spiritual Companions, our role is to serve as a guide to those who are seeking the holy. To create a brave space where we can meet together to listen for the still, small voice of the Divine in our lives. To be present and to assist in the manifesting of God in each of our directees. Jason will be present and serve as a guide when someone is discovering the image of God that lies within them. He wants to help them to see that “God is in everything and everything in is God.”
Jason is a Spiritual Companion who lives in Nashville, TN. He earned his BA in Religion from Samford University and the Master of Theological Studies from The Boston University School of Theology. He completed a Spiritual Direction Training program through the Haden Institute. Jason has experience in Spiritual Direction, dreamwork, and the Enneagram. Jason is available to meet with you individually, either in person or remotely. He is also available to lead retreats or workshops.
Jennie Schut is an award-winning artist, author of Waking Up Grey: An Exploration of Creative Awakening and certified Enneagram Applications Professional. She is founder of Fly Forward, an organization that aids creative and spiritual exploration, awakening and flourishing through educational materials, small groups, retreats, workshops, individual art instruction, creative direction and leadership training. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Middle Tennessee State University and a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Selah Center for Spiritual Formation. She works primarily with oils and encaustic, a wax-based medium. See her work here.
Prior to moving to Mt. Juliet (near Nashville, TN) in 2008, Kasey (she/her) spent five years in Washington where she earned a Masters of Divinity and Certificate in Spiritual Direction at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. She grew up in Ohio and was a youth pastor in the United Methodist Church for five years in Missouri before heading to the Seattle-area.
Being drawn to Spiritual Direction began after finding herself in the middle of burnout in a growing ministry. While God’s invitation had been there for a long time, it was during a week at a contemplative retreat for youth pastors she became passionate about Spiritual Direction and its practices. Realizing she had spent way too many hours “doing” things for and in the name of God and not much time simply “being” with God, she was excited to find a seminary that offered a 2-year Certificate in Spiritual Direction in addition to the MDiv.
She continues to learn much about offering hospitality for the soul from her own Spiritual Director, Sister Maria Edwards at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Hendersonville, TN and her Spiritual Direction Supervisor, Sister Mary Rose Bumpus of the South Central Community Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont, North Carolina.
From pastors to physicists, stay-at-home parents to school teachers, religious to nonreligious, Kasey helps others discover the Wisdom within as they get in touch with God and their Authentic Self.
Besides Spiritual Direction, she also offers retreats and classes and is a Level III Reiki Therapist. Currently, she is putting together an online Wisdom-based Spiritual Direction Certification program, the first cohort beginning fall 2021.
In all that occurs in our life – from the mundane to the extraordinary, in the joys and in the sorrows – God is present with us and is drawing us into closer communion with himself. Kendra is a certified spiritual director and brings to her practice over twenty years of experience as a licensed professional counselor and psychotherapist. She most enjoys her work at the intersection of mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Whether in a therapeutic relationship or one of spiritual companioning (or a combination of the two) she sees this work as cultivating a depth of soul.
At its foundation a relationship of spiritual direction is an invitation to be still and attentive to God in all the moments of our lives. As a spiritual companion, Kendra invites you into the sacred space where, together, we can explore your relationship with the Divine. This may include guiding you in creating a rule of life, practicing discernment, or learning a new spiritual practice. She also finds the use of poetry, art, and the exploration of dreams help connect us more deeply with God. Additionally, she has been studying the Enneagram for over fifteen years and has found it to be an incredibly helpful tool in understanding self and others better.
In her work as a therapist Kendra's approach is psychodynamic, which means there is value placed on your early life experiences and family relationships and how those experiences are impacting your current behaviors and relationships. Her style is insight-oriented and relational, emphasizing the value of a safe and trustworthy therapeutic relationship. Kendra believes psychotherapy is a collaborative process where her clients can learn to cope with their current struggles while also fostering a curiosity about their deeper selves. Kendra is a certified EMDR practitioner and incorporates Internal Family Systems work as well as practices based on Interpersonal Neurobiology when appropriate.
In all of these endeavors she seeks to help others awaken to their truest self.
Leigh Ann is the vice president and co-founder of Circle Center Consulting, LLC, With the Circle Center, Leigh Ann serves as a development professional for leaders in the healthcare and technology industries in Middle Tennessee.
The Circle Center provides group coaching and team facilitation using a process known as the Circle Process- an ancient method for group consensus building and community. This process has been used in restorative justice work for years and the Circle Center has the privilege of supporting organizations who are interested in harnessing the cognitive diversity found in groups for the innovation and collaboration needed to solve big problems in the world.
Using the Circle Process, Leigh Ann and other Circle Center facilitators are able to support the resilience and development of participating leaders and professionals, while also increasing the confidence and skill of those same leaders as they endeavor to lead their own teams in collaborative conversations.
Leigh Ann provides coaching for executives and mid-management professionals in both for profit and not for profit organizations experiencing rapid growth and/or unrelenting change. Leigh Ann has been a civil mediator for 22 years, holding memberships and leadership positions in such organizations as the Association for Conflict Resolution, the Tennessee Association for Professional Mediators and the Tennessee Human Rights Commission. In addition to her years of experience and recognition as an attorney and mediator, Leigh Ann Roberts is a well-known speaker and trainer in the field of leadership and workplace culture development. Leigh Ann provides expert knowledge and feedback to her audiences on topics that shape the culture of both small and large organizations. Drawing on her years of experience as a legal and conflict management advisor in a variety of industries, Leigh Ann is passionate about helping leaders and professionals create intentional shifts in personal mastery and organizational culture. Leigh Ann was raised in Jackson, Mississippi.
She completed her undergraduate and law degrees at The University of Mississippi where she met Tracy, her husband and business partner. Leigh Ann lives near Radnor Lake where she loves to hike, be in nature and learn about plants. Leigh Ann is a Reiki III Level practitioner, an End of Life Coach and Death Doula and is continuing her study and practice in the field of spiritual direction.
Rev. Dr. Michelle Pederson is a community minister affiliated with Greater Nashville Unitarian Universalist Congregation (GNUUC) and is a Spiritual Director in private practice. She received training from Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, AZ and a Master of Divinity degree from Meadville Lombard Theological school in Chicago. Previously, she earend a doctorate in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago in 2006. More information about Rev. Dr. Michelle and her ministry can be found at Spirit Space Nashville (www.spiritspacenashville.com).
Phil uses a dynamic approach to help his clients recover their hearts and redeem their stories. His therapeutic approach is grounded in the Spiritual Root System™, and is informed by the work of Irvin Yalom, Curt Thompson, Dan Siegel, and Dan Allender. He also integrates perspectives from Judeo-Christian traditions, existential philosophy, and pastoral care. Phil works with individuals who have lost their way through addiction, anxiety, depression, struggles with spirituality, or burnout to walk them through the tumultuous and scary times that are so common to the human experience.
Phil worked in the trucking business through college and after college until finally realizing his true passion was helping people walk through difficulties and heartache. He completed graduate school in 1992 with a Master of Arts degree in counseling and religious education.
He served as a pastor in Texas for 15 years until joining the Center for Professional Excellence in 2005 where he served as Clinical Director until 2020. Phil became the Clinical Director and co-owner of (what is now) River Tree in 2020 and loves his role in developing, encouraging, and equipping the staff as they walk with people through their life journeys.
Phil lives in Murfreesboro with his wife Sheila and they have one son, Luke.
Bev is a graduate of Capella University. Currently serving as a Faith Community Nurse Program Coordinator, she is a master-level prepared Registered Nurse and an Ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Experienced as a co-pastor with her husband, Bev has been involved in ministry for over 40 years.
Board-Certified in mental health coaching and trained in grief and trauma care, Bev's lived experience, makes her an effective speaker, consultant, mentor, and coach. With a desire to help, Bev founded Telos Whole-Person Wellness Coaching and Consulting.
Telos Whole-Person Wellness Coaching and Consulting exists to provide support to those who desire to successfully navigate life's experiences. Utilizing various methods, including The Murray Method and Brief Presenting Symptom Support Techniques, Bev strives to help clients reach their ultimate goals. (Telos is the root of the modern term teleology, the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions.)
As a former PK (preacher’s kid), Sally has a heart for all who are involved in ministry in any shape or form, as well as a passion for guiding others in the journey toward healing and wholeness as they learn to rest in God’s unconditional love and grace. She has received certificates in spiritual direction and Ignatian spiritual direction (Spiritual Exercises) from the Selah Center for Spiritual Formation (Nashville, TN), whose foundational focus is God as love through the lens of Christ and the tools of the Christian contemplative traditions.
Believing that all people long to be seen, known, and loved, Sally provides a safe space for others to share their stories, explore their relationship with God, and seek a deeper connection with the One who knows them best and loves them most. Areas of interest include contemplative prayer practices, Ignatian spirituality, spiritual discernment, journaling, healing through story, the Enneagram, and inner healing (Internal Family Systems and HeartSync prayer). In addition to offering in-person and online spiritual direction and facilitating workshops and retreats, Sally is certified to guide individuals and groups through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises (19th and 18th annotations). She also partners with her husband, Neil, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to lead classes, seminars, and retreats on inner healing, relationships, marriage, and parenting. They are the parents of two young adult daughters and live in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.
A practicing Spiritual Director since 2013, Scott received his certification in Spiritual Direction from Perkins School of Theology in October 2014. Scott, his wife Tara, and son, JT attend Providence United Methodist Church in Mt. Juliet, TN. Scott also serves as Director for the VBS team at the UMPH.
Scott regularly facilitates groups such as “Walking as a Spiritual Practice” meeting at least one Saturday morning each month and “Breathing Under Water,” a study of the Spirituality of the Twelve Steps based on Richard Rohr’s book of the same title. Scott has also led Group Spiritual Direction and Discernment for Men and Dreamwork groups.
Scott enjoys audio books, movies, songwriter driven music, walking his dog, and biking.
For Scott, Spiritual Direction is a time when “two or three are gathered in God’s name”
Matthew 18:20, intent on awareness of God’s presence, word and guidance. The true
Director of these sessions is the Holy Spirit. The Spiritual Director is simply a
companion on the journey or “the two” for one seeking direction.
After experiencing her own soul renewal through the ministry of spiritual direction, Tiffany Bird received rigorous training as a spiritual director and has been offering spiritual direction and soul care for Christian leaders for the past decade. She received a Masters in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from Biola University, and further training in Ignatian Spirituality from Lispcomb University's Institute for Christian Spirituality.
Tiffany has also completed Sage Hill's Relationship Centered Training as well as trainings in several forms of healing prayer. For several years she served with a non-profit that sought to prevent burnout in pastors, missionaries, and non-profit leaders, offering soul-care coaching, sabbatical planning, and day retreats on a variety of spiritual formation topics. Tiffany enjoys hosting her directees in her home office in Franklin, TN or around the globe via Zoom. She is also privileged to train counselors, pastors, and other leaders in the ministry of spiritual direction through Lispcomb University. You can read more about her practice at therestednest.org.