What is spiritual accompaniment?

Spiritual direction, or accompaniment, has been defined as ‘help given by one Christian to another which enables the person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship.

’Willam A. Barry, SJ and William J. Connolly, SJ.

It is an ancient tradition, dating back to the desert fathers and mothers, in which your accompanier help you to discern where God is at work in your life and encourages you in your faith. Your accompanier’s focus is on  your relationship with God and can act as a sounding board to help you explore your faith.

What can I expect to happen in the meeting?

Your time may begin and end in prayer as your accompanier helps to bring the focus to God.  You have the opportunity to talk about what has been happening in your prayer life and relationship with God more generally, and your accompanier will ask questions and encourage you to reflect on where God has been at work in the experiences you have talked about. Your accompanier may give you an exercise to do or scripture passage to reflect on – this is to help you reflect on your experience of God, rather than an attempt to direct it.

How do I prepare for the meeting?

Since your accompanier guides you rather than directs you, the focus of the meeting will depend on what you bring to it. It is, therefore, important to prepare for your meeting by reflecting on your experience of God. Here are some questions that might be helpful:

• What has been your experience of prayer recently?

• Where have you noticed God in the world, in other people etc?

• How has God been communicating with you?

• Have any questions arisen since the last meeting?

• What in your life has been impacting your relationship with God?

• It is useful to keep a journal of your experiences and reflections, as this will be the source material for your next meeting.

Some practicalities

• Accompaniment sessions usually last just under an hour.

• May be in person or online. 

• It is advisable to meet regularly, every month or so. 

• Anything you say to your accompanier will be treated in confidence, with the exception of harm, self-harm or abuse.

• Our accompaniers participate in group supervision, but nothing that could reveal the identity of those being accompanied is revealed.

• Offerings for this service can be made to the Ignatian Spirituality Community in Geneva

The Ignatian Spirituality Community in Geneva has a number of trained spiritual accompaniers

 who are available to meet with people wishing to deepen their relationship with God.

If you would be interested in meeting with a spiritual accompanier, 

contact us at info@isc-geneva.ch

GPRL 2025 / 2026 Course resources