Selah Monthly Verbatim Instructions

SELAH MONTHLY VERBATIM INSTRUCTIONS

Please complete the Monthly Verbatim at the beginning of the month, and email a copy to your Supervisor. [due 6x per program year]

Purpose

The Verbatim is a tool designed to capture a few minutes of experience during a session with a directee.

General notes

For your Selah coursework, you are only required to write up and submit approximately 1 Verbatim per month, 6 times per program year (see Monthly Course Log). However, writing a Verbatim after each session has great benefits, especially during this time of training as a spiritual director. Here are a few:

1. You will develop greater discernment by regularly reflecting on your direction sessions.

2. You will notice themes and patterns you might not otherwise notice.

3. You will have more content to explore in Supervision.

As with all of your Selah coursework, allow the process of writing a Verbatim to be a prayerful one. What is the Holy Spirit bringing to your attention as you prepare the Verbatim? An enormous amount of interaction might happen in any one session. However, the aim is not to write a transcript. The aim is to arrive at a particular point of focus within the session, that you sense the Lord is drawing to your attention. Record what happened just before (context), and what happened during these few minutes of the session. This point of focus might initially seem to be a rather insignificant part of your session; however, as you submit to prayerful reflection, you may find that the Lord encourages you to explore these moments more deeply. Other times, you will be keenly aware of a moment in the session you want to revisit with prayerful focus. For example, it might be a moment of particular awkwardness, tension or resistance; or it might be a moment of particular grace, beauty or joy.

Preparing to write a Verbatim

1. First prayerfully review your recent session with the directee. This is most effectively done immediately following your time together.

2. In your prayer, notice if the Holy Spirit brings to mind a particular few minutes within that session that seem especially significant.

Writing the Verbatim

Use the columns of the Verbatim Form to jot down what you remember from those few minutes within the session. You do not need to write complete sentences; bullet points and phrases are fine. The goal is to record notes that will be effective in helping you remember what happened in your session with the directee.

1. Directee says or does...

Record what the directee did or said in the moment.

2. My awareness in the moment...

As you consider "1," what were you aware of in that moment? What did you notice externally (were tears welling up? did the directee seem peaceful, rushed, distracted, etc. in this moment?) and interiorly (within yourself, did you notice reactions, feelings, thoughts, images, prayers, etc.?)? Jot down a few words or phrases that describe what you were aware of in response to "1."

(Note: This is different from what you are aware of now as you look back. Save your present awareness for the last column.)

3. My response...

How did you respond in the session, especially as a result of your awareness in the moment? Jot down some notes in the column to describe your response. For instance, did you ask a question or make a statement? Did you pause or return to silence?

4. My awareness now, as I prayerfully reflect...

As you record your Verbatim now, what is your reaction? Are you aware of anything now in this process of reflection and review? Jot down some notes in the column to describe your awareness now as you prepare your Verbatim.

5. Return to the "Directee says or does... " column to record what happened next and repeat the process as needed, jotting notes from left to right and returning to the left column and working to the right again until you have recorded the few minutes of the session that are in focus for this Verbatim. Some Verbatims may have 1 or 2 notes in the first column, followed by notes in the columns to the right. Other Verbatims may record 4 or 5 notes in the first column, followed by notes in the columns to the right.

Supervision

Prayerfully consider whether this is a Verbatim that you would like to explore in your next meeting with your Supervisor.