Conference for Spiritual Directors

Voices, visions and dreams are part of the lived Christian experience. Scripture is abundant with such accounts. Mystics, saints and theologians add to this canon of mystical experience, showing us the explicit and intimate presence of God in their lives.

In the contemporary world encounter with the Divine is sometimes approached with caution. Is this person well? Are these voices real? What alternative explanations may there be for such visions and dreams? But what if God really does speak to those who might be willing to listen? What happens if we acknowledge that God is not an abstract concept, but a real presence in our everyday lives? What happens (to paraphrase Robert Marsh) if we offer Spiritual Accompaniment ‘as if God were real’?

This conference invites Spiritual Directors to explore how voices, vision and dreams ‘show up’ in Spiritual Accompaniment. We will consider our disposition to mystical experiences and how we might invite these into the conversation. With creative approaches and expert speakers including Rev Prof Chris Cook, Dr Lisa Cornwell, Dr Michael Hahn and Bruce Stanley we will explore how we can safely navigate dialogue that enables individuals to explore and make sense of their inner world and encounters with the Divine as a natural and enriching part of their Christian life.

Schedule

The conference begins at 14.00 on Monday 17th May 2027, arrivals from 12.30 and lunch is at 13.00. There are breaks and opportunities for networking, the sessions will go into the evening and the conference finishes at 14.00 after lunch on Wednesday 19th May 2027.

Key themes

Session 1
Hearing voices: Voices 1 – Rev Prof Chris Cook 
The session will include a short account of the phenomenology and theological/psychiatric significance of voice hearing and its relationship to spiritual/religious/mystical experiences. This will lead on to a consideration of processes of discernment of the meaning of voices. Clinical and historical examples will be used to explore the theme.

Session 2
Voices case studies: Voices 2 – Rev Prof Chris Cook
The session will draw on 2 or 3 case studies provided by the tutor and organiser, as well as cases brought by participants from their own experience and practice. There will be opportunity for discussion in small groups and in plenary.

Session 3
Spiritual Direction Shared Experiences

Session 4
Working with Dreams in Spiritual Direction 1 – Lisa Cornwell

Session 5
Working with Dreams in Spiritual Direction 2 – Lisa Cornwell

Session 6
Boundaries and referrals – Prof Chris Cook
The interface between mental health and spiritual direction will be explored. Firstly, the need for spiritual direction for those with mental illness will be considered. Secondly, the professional boundaries of spiritual direction will be examined, with indications for when referrals to mental health professionals are appropriate.

Session 7
Into the Question: A Guided Visualisation – Bruce Stanley
At the end of a full conference day, you will be invited into a guided visualisation designed to quiet analytical effort and make room for imagination, connection and unexpected insight. There will be time to notice and record what emerges, without needing to explain or interpret it immediately. You will also be picking up simple techniques you can reuse.

Session 8
Mystics, visions and dreams – Dr Michael Hahn

Session 9
Making Space for Insight: Questions, Incubation and Discernment – Bruce Stanley
In this practical session, we will reflect on the previous evening and explore how insight can be prepared for without being forced. We will consider the creative process, the difference between questions best approached analytically and those that benefit from incubation and the value of becoming comfortable with not yet knowing.

You will explore ways to prime a question, dreaming dreams, use cognitive excursion activities and changes of setting, recognise when a directee is thinking deeply, and allow work begun in a session to continue between meetings. We will also consider how distance from immediate emotion can support refinement and discernment. We will put all of this into practice with participatory exercise, you will devise questions and interventions that can be adapted for one-to-one spiritual direction.

For the full schedule please go to Spiritual Direction Conference Schedule 2027

Keynote Speakers

Chris Cook is an Anglican priest and retired consultant psychiatrist whose vocation has been to engage with challenges of mental health in the Church and spirituality in clinical practice in psychiatry. In 2020 he was awarded the Canterbury Cross by the Archbishop of Canterbury for his work on theology and psychiatry. He is Emeritus Professor in Spirituality, Theology and Health in the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University, and Honorary Chaplain for Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. He has served two terms as Chair of the Spirituality & Psychiatry Special Interest Group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and was Co-Chair of the Section on Religion & Spirituality at the World Psychiatric Association from 2022-2023. His book publications include: Spirituality in Mind (2026), Hearing Voices, Demonic and Divine (2018), (as co-author) Struggling with God (2023), and (as co-editor) The Bible and Mental Health (2020).

Michael Hahn leads the postgraduate programmes in Christian Spirituality at Sarum College. He gained degrees in theology and ecclesiastical history from the Universities of St Andrews and Oxford, including a PhD on early Franciscan mystical theology from St Andrews in January 2020. Before working at Sarum, Michael taught at the universities of St Andrews, York St John, Toronto and London in theology and medieval studies. Michael is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham and an Associate Research Fellow at the Ruusbroec Institute, University of Antwerp. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Assessment in Higher Education from York St John University which granted him Associate Fellowship of Advance:HE.
As of April 2024, Michael has been Senior Editor of the journal Franciscan Studies.

Bruce Stanley ran away from the circus in his twenties to get involved in things even more creative. He trained as a spiritual director around the same time, and since then his work has wandered through design, adult education, coaching, positive psychology, innovation and spiritual formation – sometimes all in the same afternoon. He pioneered the Forest Church movement and is the founder of Spiritual Direction UK, a public doorway into one-to-one spiritual accompaniment. He also created Day Crafting, a practical methodology for treating the good life as a daily practice rather than a distant destination, and has written five workbooks on the subject. Bruce lives with his wife Sara on a hill farm in the Cambrian Mountains, where they are growing a permaculture forest garden. He is particularly interested in questions, imagination, nature and the strange conditions in which useful insights decide to arrive.

Hosted by

Dr Pollyanna Magne, a National Teaching Fellow (NTF) leads the programme in Spiritual Direction and offers Spiritual Accompaniment, Individually Guided Retreats (IGRs) and Supervision. She also leads sessions on Masters modules and the Short Courses at Sarum College.

Polly is passionate about spirituality, faith and education. Her role as Director and ministry in Spiritual Accompaniment is built on the desire to enable others to explore their spirituality, deepen their faith and enrich their relationship with God.