Upcoming News:

Places are now being booked for the Daniel O’Leary Conference, November 15th 2008 and posters are available in Milltown, from Ms Sorcha Woods. The conference is based on his latest book entitled: Begin with the Heart: Recovering a Sacramental Vision for Pastoral ministry & Personal wholeness. (see details on website under Conferences)

NOTE: We apologise for the fact that the mobile phone has become inaccessible for the present.

 Please use the number 01 2776352 as an alternative.

Recent News
Pauline Campbell, accredited member of AISGA, is the Chairperson of the recently established Neighbourhood Retreat Movement. She has provided a brief outline of the ministry that she, Eilis Coe and others, religious and lay are developing, based in their office in All Hallows. It is hoped this initiative will attract AISGA members to work at fostering faith and life-sharing in local communities.   

Neighbourhood Retreat

Spiritual Development in the local Community

We are a committee of lay and religious people who have an office in All Hallows College. Our address is: Neighbourhood Retreat, Rm. 75, Senior House, All Hallows College, Grace Park Rd, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. We have used this office for the past few months, with the aim of building up the Body of Christ in local settings. We had our first Training of Readers in the Diocesan Centre, Limerick last weekend (Oct 3rd -5th). It’s wonderful to see how the Spirit is working there and the response of those involved in the training. We usually have one Leaders’ Training Workshop annually in Dublin, but now we hope to move out to the four corners of Ireland. We call ourselves: The Neighbourhood Retreat Movement which offers a unique opportunity for strengthening faith and deepening knowledge and love of God. The movement could benefit by the involvement of AISGA members, since it a combined Lay/ Married/ Religious Life initiative, where all pool expertise from all walks of life and work for the development of prayer initiative in local communities.  In this way we work at building up the Body of Christ.

Nov 14^th 2008 in Castelwellan, Co Down:  A follow up to last year’s Slieve Croob Conference entitled: Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction. AISGA members in the North of Ireland may find Castlewellan and this event more easily accessible. Facilitators include: Anne Codd, Jarlath Benson and the Oxford therapist/theologian/author, David Buckley whose book recently published by Karnac has received favourable reviews.

Unfortunately Gordon Graham and the Board of AISGA were unable to plan so that AISGA members could easily attend both events. This year they occur in very close proximity. Next year we hope to do better. (details of this event later)

AISGA Activity Reports

Some Reflections on the Third International Slieve Croob Conference:
Psychotherapy and Spirituality

The Conference was held on Friday 19th of October in the foothills of the beautiful Mourne Mountains.  Due to the initiative of Gordon Graham it was co-sponsored by the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations and AISGA.  Graham has the distinction of belonging to both associations and during the day used every opportunity to encourage participants to join AISGA and meet with Tom Cooney and Mary Cheyrou-Lagrèze.

Peter Tyler, lecturer at St Mary’s College, Strawberry Hill, registered psychologist, spiritual director, academic and author presented a paper entitled “Psyche and Spirit: reflections on the Relationship between Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction”. A copy of the paper was made available to the participants later in the day and continues to offer much food for reflection, prayer and action.  Naturally it is impossible to do justice to the scope and depth of Peter’s presentation in this very brief report and so I will merely touch on a couple of aspects which I found particularly challenging yet encouraging. They are the rising tide of spirituality and the characteristics of the spiritual elder.

Peter spoke of the “spirituality revolution” which David Tracey describes as “the emergence of the sacred as a leading force in contemporary society” which is not to be confused with “the rising tide of fundamentalism” (Tracey 2003:11). We (spiritual directors and psychotherapists) are part of the “motley crew” concerned with the care of souls; we too are immersed in the rising tide of spirituality and need to make some response to it.

Discerning a response for our time can be enlightened by following the “golden thread” emerging from the early Christian experience. Peter referred to the work of the Greek Orthodox Bishop Kallistros, who in drawing on the Patristic sources identified five characteristics of the spiritual elder: doctor, counsellor, intercessor, mediator and sponsor. Peter observed that to possess all these qualities is no easy task and “one allocated to very few”.

I feel that many of the participants sensed that a new dimension was opening up not only for seekers within the Christian faith tradition and that the “golden thread” from apostolic times, which never neglects the heart and the spirit, will guide men and women in a possible post-Christian society.       

After Peter’s presentation, thoughtful discussion was fostered in groups facilitated by Anne M. Codd and Jarlath J. Benson. The two groups each of approximately 17 members were diverse in terms of gender, professional background, religious and faith traditions. A number of participants were both psychotherapists and spiritual directors and the sharing of perspectives helped to clarify some of the over-laps. Both spirituality and psychotherapy are client led; neither is value free; unequal power is a feature of the relationship; boundaries exist and norms of good practice apply... 
The limitations and possibilities implied in the term spiritual “direction” were touched upon. It was acknowledged that some form of catechetical input may be appropriate for directees who have had little education in the faith or have distanced themselves from their tradition. However, the term “spirituality” was regarded as a word of blessing and of welcome which allows for inclusiveness.  It was agreed that spiritual directors and psychotherapists should be familiar with the major world religions so that they can support the person in search of a spiritual home. A few psychotherapists voiced concerns around instances when they feel it might be appropriate to direct a client to a spiritual director but are unaware of how and to whom the referral can be made.  AISGA was proposed as a reliable source of information.

Rosaleen Mac Mahon DC

An Introduction to Gatherings of the AISGA South County Dublin Group, contributed by Éibhlís NicUaithuas

At the AISGA meeting on 5 November 2005 the afternoon session was given over to exploring possibilities around regionalisation.  Our discussion during that session took part in regional groups and the feedback included the name of a possible contact person for the group.  Those of us who formed the ‘South County Dublin’ group, ie Dublin 16, 18, Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire, etc, on that day, like most of those present expressed an interest in regionalisation, but in such a way as not to add additional stress to those involved.  In particular we were interested in coming together to reflect and share, finishing with a cuppa!  I agreed to be the contact person for the group and as the Provincial House where I live is fairly central to the area involved and could accommodate the group we would meet there.  We further agreed that we would begin these meetings in December.

I contacted the others suggesting possible dates and we went with the one that suited most.  Of the original group of six who met in November three met in December.  We realised that December was not such a good idea for a gathering!  We then decided to meet again on 21 March 2006 and in the meantime I sought a list of the members in order to include all in the area.  Despite the fact that I only received the list on 15 March those who were free increased our numbers considerably and others expressed an interest in attending future gatherings.  We met again in June and October.  Each time we have met I have suggested a number of days and dates and we have gone with the one most are available for.

The format of our gatherings has more or less followed the pattern of a seasonal reflective input followed by quiet time and sharing, for instance when we met in the December our focus was on Christmas and in March on Annunciation.  When we met in the June, because we planned further sharing on the Elizabeth Liebert Discernment workshop, the Holy Spirit was our focus and in October transformation and thanksgiving.  On each occasion the sharing after the quiet time has led into further sharing, be it of other seminars we have attended or books, etc we have read.

Our most recent gathering was on 18 October and our sharing was mainly focussed on our experience of the gatherings, with this article in mind.  For all of us that experience has been positive and something we value, both for the quiet reflective time and rich sharing.  It is a gentle way of giving support to one another and keeping our individual ministry within the embrace of church in its widest sense.  It is not peer or group supervision  -  some of those present are also part of peer or group supervision groups.  We are conscious that it is next to impossible to choose an evening to suit everyone.  Also, recently approaches have been made by some other members of AISGA who are outside the ‘catchment’ area.  With both of these in mind we wondered about the possibility of meetings being held on different nights of the week in different parts of Dublin, eg in addition to ours on the Southside, one on the Northside and one to the West, so that everyone would have the option of attending if they wished.  We plan to meet again in February.  However, we would also suggest that time be given at the 1 December AISGA meeting to explore how what we have done be replicated in other areas, both of Dublin and in the country generally.

Éibhlís NicUaithuas DC
on behalf of the South County Dublin Group.