Online SD

My spiritual direction practice is located in Bloomington, Illinois. If geographical distance or some other circumstance keeps you from meeting in person, I am available to meet via webcam, my preferential means for a long distance session due to the level of interaction and connection it offers.

Dynamics of meeting online

Distance does not need to hinder a spiritual direction relationship. The few challenges involved in meeting online are easily overcome through regular contact combined with open communication. A series of appointments will allow us to become acquainted and to learn to listen to God together with regards to your life and the Spirit's work in you. It takes time to build a relationship of trust and comfort, therefore after an initial complimentary session, I ask for a commitment of a series of 3 sessions.


Spiritual direction from a distance is easily facilitated by Skype, a program which you can download and use for free. The following Skype setup instructions will enable our online spiritual direction experience to have a smooth beginning. Please read and follow them carefully so to help us from spending time solving technical issues during meetings together.


It will also be helpful to review Part 2 of these notes again before we meet until you're familiar with the process.

For online sessions you may choose to pay with Paypal which I offer on this site. Simply scroll down the right hand side bar till you will find the Paypal button just after 'About Me' and just prior to the Franciscan Tau image.  The drop down menu allows payment for up to 3 sessions.

Skype setup

Part 1: One week prior to our first session:

  1. Check that you have an internet connection which is sufficient to handle a video conversation, preferably 512kb/s.


  1. Purchase a webcam.


  1. Download and install Skype (www.skype.com) by following the onscreen prompts.


  1. Set yourself up with a Skype account and username.


  1. Test out your webcam settings, ensuring that the audio and video settings are working properly. You can do this with the help of the Tools/Options tabs in the Skype program.


  1. Be in touch with me by email and include your Skype name. I will reply via email with my Skype name.


  1. To add me as a contact, enter my Skype name and send a request that I accept you as a contact. Do this a minimum of 2 days prior to our first session to avoid issues of delay in confirming our appointment. This will complete our Skype setup process.

Part 2: On the day of our session:

  1. Arrange for others in your house to refrain from using the internet during our call unless you know that your server can handle both connections without a problem.


  1. Before the session is set to begin, turn off any chat programs, email notifications or other items on your computer that could distract you.


  1. At the agreed upon time, be online and available to begin.


  1. I will initiate the call. To accept the call, click ‘answer video call.’ If for some reason our connection is interrupted, I will call again unless we have agreed otherwise.

  1. After we’ve ensured that the technical aspects are working for us, we’ll open our time by turning our focus to God. It may be helpful to review First Session and Rate page which will allow us to get off to a Spirit-filled start.

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