Advanced Certificate in Spiritual Direction

The advanced certificate in spiritual direction program is designed to identify the participant's potential for becoming a spiritual director, to assist the participant in discerning a call to this ministry, to formulate a model of spiritual direction and chaplaincy, and to develop the specific skills required to serve as a spiritual director. Graduates of the program serve as high school and college campus ministers, retreat directors, and spiritual directors.

At a glance

  • Degree type: Advanced Certificate
  • Credit hours: 18
  • Cost per credit: $1,070
  • Duration: 1 year
  • Classes begin: Fall
  • Applications due: June 1
  • Location/Modality: Online/Lincoln Center
  • Full-time or part-time?: Full-time or part-time
  • Is there an accelerated option?: No

Program Highlights

  • Learn with our renowned faculty and international students from more than twenty countries.
  • Training features both cognitive and applied learning, and includes resource gathering, modeling, discerning, practicing, demonstrating, case preparation, mentoring, reflecting, researching, writing, and supervised fieldwork.

Program Basics

  • The curriculum requires satisfactory completion of 6 courses (18 semester credits).
  • All courses can be completed online, on campus, and hybrid.
  • See the full program requirements in the Fordham GSE Bulletin

Careers

  • Spiritual director or companion
  • Retreat Direction
  • Pastoral ministry
  • Chaplaincy
  • Prison Ministry
  • Campus ministry

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will demonstrate facilities with methods of research in specific theological disciplines for post-graduate and doctoral studies.
  2. Students will communicate the Christian story competently to make it accessible through a variety of means (e.g. teaching, writing, dialogue, personal consultation).
  3. Students will articulate the relationship between the Christian tradition and their professional practice and spiritual development.
  4. Students will articulate a well rounded knowledge and critical appropriation of Jesuit Spirituality and the Catholic intellectual tradition.
  5. Students will use tools of literary, cultural, historical, and social analysis in the interpretation of various cultures and their relationship to the Christian tradition.