Donna Nicolson at a glance
How we treat people matters. Period.
I believe that every single part of our journey is important and meaningful. There isn't a wasted season in life and I am driven by the exploration of these seasons and am encouraged by going deeper into them. Actually, I am fearless about it.
I am a graduate of Northwestern University, with an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. As a Licensed Professional Counselor I will do everything in my power to open conversations regarding mental health, to serve marginalized individuals, and to destigmatize seeking help.
I am in awe of the power of giving and of being humble enough to receive. My two young adult children help me navigate this as they embrace their burgeoning worlds. We continue venturing into new territories and to find new rhythms in our lives.
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I love road trips, monasteries and sunsets...and I think it's just about perfect when they all three align.
I also love books, gardening, mosaics, poetry and long conversations.
I am in continuous search of diverse spiritual practices so I can learn to be more present and discover God everywhere. This learning has become the desire of my heart.
Looking for a Spiritual Director?
My approach
"A contemplative practice is any act, habitually entered into with your whole heart, as a way of awakening, deepening, and sustaining a contemplative experience of the inherent holiness of the present moment" - James Finley
My approach to spiritual direction has a strong contemplative influence, which means that I will encourage you to do a lot of listening, paying attention, and being present to God in the normal and everyday events of your life. My hope is that through each conversation you will be able to see more clearly God in God, God in you, God in others, and God in your world. I believe that there is no time without God, no place without God, and no space without God. So most of our effort to encounter God is done as we learn to pay attention. My task during a Direction conversation is one of companionship and holder of a safe and open space.
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I have also been coaching in Spiritual Formation and teaching Enneagram classes for several years. While these areas have some natural overlap with Spiritual Direction, you and I will proceed in a mutually agreed upon format. Spiritual Direction is almost entirely a journey of companionship and walking together.
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Don’t hesitate to schedule an initial conversation - together we'll discern the best way to move forward.
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PATIENT TRUST
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
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-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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