You are invited to a professionally unique experience of connection, community and collaboration amongst an invested group of caretakers. Here you are welcome and encouraged to bring all facets of who you are and what you hold professionally, personally, relationally and spiritually. Our greatest commitment to one another will be as honoring witnesses, providing a caring, grace-filled and intentional presence to one another’s unique stories of life and work. The hopes you hold and the goals you wish to work toward in your time with the group will be attended to with utmost presence and support.
Mental health clinicians, spiritual directors and ministry leaders bear heavy burdens. They also live lives full of ups and downs, dreams and devastations, stressors, challenges, triumphs and joys. This will be a place to share those stories in order to be deeply known, to lessen the load, and to increase hope in the presence of caring colleagues. This is more than a self-of-therapist time, more expansive than a colleague consultation group, more professional than a therapeutic support group, more collegial and intentionally caring than a networking group, though elements of each may be experienced.
What you may decide to bring to this group (a few ideas, but not limited to…)
We welcome all clinicians, licensed or associate licensed, supervisors, spiritual directors and ministry leaders at any age or stage of your career, from new graduates to seasoned professionals, those who are just beginning, those whom have retired, those who are in the thick of their work or facing a transition, those from all faith traditions, community based clinics, group practice, or solo practice.
Presence Groups will be cultivated as a reliable presence woven into the rhythms of everyday life. We will meet with regularity three sessions per month with a beginning and ending retreat. The heart of our work and worlds will unfold in these sacred moments of regular commitment to be with and care for one another. Space will be limited to a small group of curated sojourners to maximize depth, trust and connection. Specifc dates and schedules are in the applications.
For our beginning, we will bring our stories to an initial gathering. We will meet to go over the structure and format for creating an intentional experience together, get to know one another, and lay a solid foundation of trust, care, and attunement for our time ahead. We will establish safety, community, and the beginning elements of cultivating sacred care.
All gatherings are purposefully and intentionally curated, with retreats and online gatherings. Thorough time, effort, care and planning will go into each and every gathering. Therefore, each person is registering for the full experience, regardless of their ability to attend each session, and asked to prioritize attendance at each gathering to the best of their ability. Your presence will be of such high value and will be a gift to you as well. Sessions will not be recorded nor will any recording devices allowed. Retreats are carefully planned out for your deep presence and connection with the group so please be sure to plan ahead and prioritize the time away to be unplugged and away from all work and responsibilities. You will not regret the care you will experience and the replenishment you will receive.
Please fill out the application form. You will then be contacted to schedule a 15 minute intake session.
Presence groups are an integration of several decades of developing, leading, and teaching group therapy, theological study, relational gatherings, and ministry experiences.
“There is no greater gift of humanity than the loving presence of others—those who hold our pain, share our joys, and walk with us through everything we face in life. Research in psychology and neuroscience consistently highlights the transformative power of human connection. Studies by Dr. Brené Brown emphasize the role of vulnerability and empathy in fostering meaningful relationships, while research from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest studies of its kind, reveals that close relationships are the strongest predictors of happiness and health across a lifetime. Additionally, findings in social neuroscience, such as those by Dr. Naomi Eisenberger, show that social support mitigates physical and emotional pain by activating brain regions associated with comfort and safety. These studies collectively underscore how the presence of loving, supportive others is not only a gift but a cornerstone of our resilience and well-being.” Heather Sund, Founder of Sacred Presence Group
