live the questions now.
— Rilke
meet your companion.
My name is Katie (she/her). I also go by Kate! I’m a writer, photographer, and bit of a mystic. I will complete a certificate in spiritual direction from United Theological Seminary this spring. I hope you’ll join me as I journey with clients for my practicum.
I specialize in accompanying people experiencing disenfranchised grief, ambiguous loss, infertility, and religious trauma. With over two decades of experience from retail and journalism to nonprofit and corporate settings, I also specialize in spiritual direction for the workplace, as well as for individuals seeking healing from workplace bullying.
what is spiritual direction?
I view spiritual direction/companionship as journeying with you as you live the questions now. And life is nothing if not a series of questions, big and small: Questions about meaning, God, vocation, why things happen the way they do, why things don’t happen the way we think they should. The list goes on and on.
A spiritual director is someone who accompanies you through these mysteries as you cultivate a rich inner life and journey closer to God or the Divine.
As a spiritual director, I believe this ordinary life with all of its questions is sacred. I offer 1:1 and group spiritual direction, where I listen without judgment and provide space and contemplative tools for you to live the questions now.
why spiritual direction?
I believe that healing is different than fixing and provide a space where you can explore what healing means for you. At Juniper House, you don't have to find a cure for what ails you, but you can find a little respite. A refuge. A stop on the journey to explore the sacred.
In spiritual direction, we get closer to inhabiting the uninhabitable through diving into our own sacred questions and stories. In so doing, we can find belonging, comfort, peace, and maybe even a little meaning.
grief demands space.
Spaces and ceremonies abound for what I call tangible loss. There are funerals, cemeteries, and memorials. And that matters because these spaces help us find meaning in our loss. In order to heal, we need to inhabit the uninhabitable.
This type of space can be hard to find for those experiencing disenfranchised grief and ambiguous loss, such as infertility, divorce, chronic pain, religious trauma, and so much more. It can also be fleeting for those who have experienced death loss.
Juniper House is a physical and metaphorical space offering spiritual direction and space to heal. When I look back on my own journey through loss, this is what was missing.
On my infertility journey, friends, church, and therapy were all there for me in different ways. But there were no spaces or people to simply be with me on my journey without answers, fixes, or opinions.
That’s exactly what spiritual direction provides, and it’s why I believe it has something to offer those experiencing grief and loss. As Francis Weller says in The Wild Edge of Sorrow: “Grief work is soul work.”
“Healing and places intertwine.” -- Esther M. Sternberg, M.D.
see the space.
Juniper House is located on Dakota land inside Saint Nicholas Episcopal Church in Richfield, Minnesota. Enjoy a mug of peppermint tea in our cozy seating area for 1:1 or group spiritual direction. Create healing art, practice meditation, walk the labyrinth, or add to our shared working memorial. Don’t live in the Twin Cities? We can create a healing space on Zoom.
