Accepting new directees

Sessions: About 50 minutes, usually once a month — more often in a season of particular intensity.
Where: By video from anywhere, or in person around Hillsboro and Portland, Oregon.
Cost: Sliding scale, $15–$100 per session. Pay what fits your life right now.
Approach: Trauma-informed, contemplative, queer-affirming. No doctrine required.
Formation: Chaplain in formation with the Order of Hildegard.

What drew me to spiritual direction was curiosity — the same thing that’s drawn me to most things worth doing. I came to it first as a directee, not knowing exactly what I was walking into. What I found was something I hadn’t expected: a space that felt like holy ground. Liminal. Slow. What the ancient texts call kairos — a different quality of time altogether.

I’ve never left that space unchanged.

What spiritual direction is

Spiritual direction is a conversation about questions. Not answering them — sitting with them. Learning to hold them differently, to resist the pull of rigid certainty, to ask better ones.

It is not therapy, though it can be deeply healing. It is not advice, though clarity often comes. It is careful, unhurried attention to what is already alive in you — the movement beneath the surface, the thing you keep circling back to, the place where something holy is trying to get your attention.

Every time I step into this space — as a directee or as a director — I feel it: holy ground. A threshold. The kind of time that doesn’t run on clocks.

Who this is for

People who have left the church but haven’t left the longing. Those in the middle of deconstruction who still sense something sacred beneath the rubble. Queer people who have been told their bodies are problems to be solved. Survivors of religious trauma who need someone who won’t flinch at their anger. People who don’t have a religious background at all but feel the weight of their own inner life and want a guide. Skeptics. Mystics. Everyone in between.

If you are somewhere in that territory, this may be for you.

How I work

My approach is trauma-informed and rooted in the contemplative tradition — Ignatian discernment, centering prayer, the practices of stillness that cross traditions. I draw on Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a framework for understanding the inner life. I work from a post-Christian, incarnational theology that takes the body seriously, honors lament, and refuses to spiritualize suffering away.

No correct doctrine is required. No belief you need to hold before you arrive. There is only the honest conversation about what is actually happening in you.

I’m a chaplain in formation with the Order of Hildegard, an interfaith community of practice for people who have been pushed to the margins of traditional religion. If you want a feel for how I think and write about all this, you might start with “The Trauma Informed Cross” at The Cluttered Mouth.

What to expect

Sessions are about 50 minutes, by video or in person, typically once a month — more often if you’re in a season of particular intensity. I am not here to fix you. I am here to sit with you while you find your own way.

Direction is offered on a sliding scale of $15–$100 per session. Choose the amount that fits your life right now.

It starts with a note. Tell me a little about where you are, and I’ll write back so we can find a time to talk.

Questions people ask

Do I need to be Christian, or religious at all?

No. No correct doctrine is required, and no belief you need to hold before you arrive. People who have left the church and people who never had one are equally welcome.

Is this therapy?

No. Spiritual direction is not therapy, though it can be deeply healing. It’s careful attention to your inner and spiritual life, and it can sit alongside therapy rather than replace it.

How often would we meet?

Usually once a month, for about 50 minutes. Some people meet more often during an intense season.

What does it cost?

Sessions are on a sliding scale from $15 to $100. Pick the number that fits your life right now.

Can we meet in person?

Yes — around Hillsboro and Portland, Oregon. Video works from anywhere.

Reach out

If you’re wondering whether direction might be the right thing for this season, reach out. No obligation. Tell me where you are. We’ll figure out the rest, together.

Prefer email? Write to contact@aaronjsmith.net.