Anne Solomon
BA MA CPsychol AFBPsS
Anne Solomon
I am an experienced spiritual director working in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. I am also a Chartered Psychologist and have an MA (distinction) in Religion and Society, focussing principally on Christian theology and spirituality. Over the years I have found people seeking me out to share their questions and travails in their spiritual journey, which led me to gain formal training in the art of offering spiritual direction. I subsequently worked as a tutor on the Gloucestershire Spiritual Direction Course for over 10 years, and now act as a course consultant and guest teacher. I am also a foundation trustee of the Gloucestershire Spiritual Direction Trust.
I have been involved in lay leadership in the Christian tradition for many years, but have also enjoyed time on a Hindu ashram in India, connecting with followers of Islam in mosques in the Middle East and joining with Buddhists in interfaith meditation retreats. I derive great benefit from following practices of Christian contemplative prayer and meditation. From a theologically conservative background, my own faith journey has developed in a more contemplative direction. However, I deeply value and can connect to all expressions of the Christian faith. And, whilst I clearly identify myself as Christian, I am committed to exploring with my clients their inner journey in whatever direction or whatever nature that may be.
I work from the conviction that what is deepest in us is the presence... spirit... breath of God, and seek to invite you in our work to connect to that spacious, clear numinous ground from which illimitable love and wisdom emerges, and to your heart-felt sense of sacred Source at the core of your being. As a wife and mother of two adult children, having had an early career in the City, I am someone who has struggled with the grounded realities of prayer and life. Drawing on both Christian wisdom and contemporary psychological insight, I have developed an under-standing of the kinds of process people involved in spiritual journeys will go through - the ups and downs of the spiritual path as it unfolds in people's lives.
'You have within yourself the answer to every question you propose - if you only knew how to look for it.'
Anthony de Mello
I offer compassionate support to hold this process and enable your individual journey. My aim is to come alongside you in finding and maintaining a spiritual connection that underpins your visions and values in the whole of life, and to both support, encourage and resource you to be true to your innermost sense of truth.
People come to me from a wide field beyond Gloucestershire including Bristol, Oxford, Wales and Worcestershire. Indeed, it can be very helpful to take a little time away to see someone completely apart from your usual life and networks. I happily work via Zoom for those who live some distance away and also enjoy running training workshops for experienced spiritual directors this way.
To keep myself centered I go on regular retreats which, for me, are about silence and solitude. I take seriously my on-going professional development through attending workshops, supervision and in-depth study and reflection. I am on the ecumenical list of directors for Gloucestershire, the UK Community of Spiritual Directors with the London Centre for Spiritual Direction, the Clifton Diocese Spiritual Direction Network and listed as a director for the WCCM. I am a member of The Retreat Association and Spiritual Directors International, and follow their guidelines on professional and ethical practice.