You are standing at the crossroads in your internal landscape, realizing that the way you have been managing your life just doesn’t work anymore. You could be facing scarcity, loss, anxiety or anger and you’re looking for a way through the resulting labyrinth. Or you could be facing such abundance that you need to find a way to manage it all well and maintain a healthy balance in your life.

When you can’t see your proverbial forest for the trees, it is time to bring in some help. You could go for counseling or coaching or you could take this opportunity to head in a spiritual direction. Supportive professionals are available to help with your transition into a more spiritual life.

Connect with a Spiritual Director

You can connect with a counselor or spiritual director in your neighborhood; if you can find one that works for you. Because of the mainstreaming of technology you can also extend your search to include the internet. There is now easy access to counseling that can provide you with options and possibilities that may not be available locally. If you live rurally, the local options available may appear archaic to your needs. If you live in another country, you may not be able to find the counseling you need locally because the culture doesn’t support the kind of spiritual growth that you are looking for. If you live in an urban area you may want a perspective from someone who is successfully living in a quieter environment, which would be inaccessible to you locally.

How do I choose one that is right for me?

There are some things to consider when you choose to enter into counseling or spiritual direction over the phone or online. It may be a challenge for you to relax into counseling on the phone. There has been a strong cultural bias toward face-to-face sessions with counselors and there are certainly reasons for this. On-line counseling using products like Skype or Google Hangout can help you bridge easily into an on-line experience since video communication is becoming more and more of a solid valid option, though it still sometimes doesn’t work!

Phone counseling, because your guide is not watching you as you speak, can let you off the hook if you choose not to pay attention to the messages that your body is sending. On the other hand, deepening into your personal inquiry from your own home gives you an opportunity to explore, free from being seen, and can allow you to discover a deeper level of self-awareness.

An additional question to consider when preparing for a phone session is whether you are able to create the boundaries you need in order to get the most out of your session time. Can you allow yourself to shut the door and take the time for yourself, even when distractions may await you in the next room?

Given that, online counseling may not be for everyone. If the answer to the above question is ‘no’, it might be better in the current situation to seek out counseling outside of the personal environment. There are also situations and stages of life that benefit greatly from a face to face counseling experience; one that takes place in an environment that is not your own. This can provide you with an opportunity to see your everyday machinations from a different perspective.

You may be facing the daunting challenge of creating ways to manage your precious life that work for you. These new nurturing tools you create that fit you may not fit well with the beliefs of those around you. The way your parents, peers, neighbors or coworkers live in the world may not be working for you and you have struggled to bring a spiritual practice into your life that is meaningful – and supported. You may have to reach outside the box. Scheduling a series of on-line sessions may be a perfect place to begin the deep personal inquiry that you are looking for; the kind of journey that will lead you into fuller connection to yourself and others – no matter where you are. There is someone on the other end of the line waiting to hear from you….to support you….to invite you into your next unfolding.