Formation in Soul Care

An online program Addressing the needs of anyone

• Called to the ministry of spiritual direction

• Desiring to serve and companion people in poverty or

• Seeking renewal in their service of others

Soul Care is about the whole person. It goes by many different names, including spiritual direction, spiritual companioning, spiritual friendship, and soul care mentoring.  We use these terms interchangeably.  

Soul Care responds to the need for life purpose and meaning.  It is concerned with the integration of all of one’s life, physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally.  It attends to healing and calling; interior life and relationships; family and community; sabbath and work; service and social justice.

In a time marked by constant change, discernment becomes increasingly important, and spiritual companionship helps in the recognition of what is enduring.  External pressures focus on productivity and constant innovation.  So many people live day-to-day reacting to the latest stress and are depleted.  Soul care fosters spiritual thriving, not just survival.   It enables an individual to explore a core foundation in their relationship with the divine.

We have been involved in the preparation and support of spiritual directors and all those who serve on the margins for 35 years, training more than 650 individuals on 6 continents. Program graduates, in addition to being from many parts of the U.S., are found in China, South Korea, Macao, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Colombia, Guyana, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Spain, Armenia, Sweden, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, and Nova Scotia.

Individual graduates provide soul care in all types of environments. Many of our graduates are providing soul care for unsheltered people, justice-involved people, refugees and migrants, survivors of trafficking, terminally ill people, indigent people, survivors of abuse, elderly homebound individuals, and wounded veterans.

The history of spiritual direction and our own experience have taught us a great deal about the mutual transformation that results from being in relationship with people in poverty. We are constantly renewed and facilitate opportunities for participants to learn from and discover the spiritual insights of marginalized people. We exist as a program to ensure soul care and spiritual presence for those who are most neglected. We recognize that not every person is called to accompany those who have been marginalized, but we provide the structure for participants to discover their own way to living in solidarity with others.

Formation is focused on the continued spiritual growth of the individual soul care provider, especially in the practice of discernment.  Training is concerned with knowledge and skills development.  Our program embraces both but emphasizes the significance of the individual soul care provider’s growth in the ways of the Spirit, development of a discerning heart, and orientation to God’s activity in everyday human experience.  Knowledge and skills practice are highly valued in our program, but never substitute for a spiritual director’s continued maturing in the spiritual life.

Animated by the spirit of Vincent de Paul, we seek to walk with, reflect with, and be inclusive of perspectives from marginalized people, especially those in poverty.  We are committed to ensuring soul care and retreat opportunities for those who typically do not have access to these opportunities.  Brothers and sisters who are marginalized are not objects of our charity, but gifted neighbors who can teach us a great deal about our own need and lack of interior freedom. Every person has a spiritual life and their spiritual growth unfolds and is fostered through relationships and in the midst of ordinary moments.

• Supporting the continued spiritual growth of each participant

• Individualized attention to the learning goals of each participant

• Integration of a mature and informed spirituality with the Christian spiritual tradition, mental health perspectives (including trauma-informed care), human biology, and the social sciences

• Opportunities to companion, share in and appreciate the spiritual life of marginalized people

• Exposure to various models of group spiritual direction and their practical application

• Focus on discernment, its practice, and its significance for spiritual companioning

• In-depth supervision that fosters the interior freedom of the soul care provider and also provides opportunities to explore methods and skills practice for effective service

facilitation team

Vie Thorgren, D.Min. is a skilled spiritual director and retreat leader.  She developed the Formation Program in 1987 at the request of the Vincentian Fathers and flowing from her awareness of the needs of marginalized people for spiritual direction and retreat services. Vie’s background in education, counseling psychology, and spiritual theology along with her multi-cultural and ecumenical experience has fostered her integrative thinking.  She has mission experience in South Korea and Kenya, facilitated programs on the parish and diocesan level, served on the faculty at St. Thomas Theological Seminary for 10 years, and is the founder of Restoring Connections.  Her best teachers have been the justice-involved women, unsheltered people, and at-risk youth she has companioned for 40 years.  She is an associate of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth and of Nazareth and an affiliate of the Vincentian Priests and Brothers. Vie is married and a mother who especially enjoys her additional vocation of grandparenting.