MENTOR COHORT
These highly qualified and experience individuals have been working closely together and training with Ed to complete the InterSpiritual Mentoring certification course based on InterSpiritual Meditation and the Mandala Process. Some of them will be helping to mentor new students in our online courses.
Juliet Rohde-Brown, Ph.D.
Juliet Rohde-Brown, Ph.D. is a psychologist and educator. She is a core faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute where she has been serving as Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical program and is currently moving into a Chair position for the Depth Psychology: Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices program. Prior to this, she served in similar roles for the doctoral program in clinical psychology at Antioch University, Santa Barbara. She has a very small private psychotherapy practice as well. Her book is entitled Imagine Forgiveness and she has contributed guided visualization pieces on such CD’s as Feel Forgiveness Now, which won an award in the self-help category for the Just Plain Folks Music Awards based in Nashville, TN. She has volunteered with inmates at Corcoran Prison focusing on facilitating imagery, compassion and somatically based experience, education about trauma, and role-play while her co-facilitator emphasized training in restorative justice practices. She is a past president of Imagery International, an organization that works toward augmenting public perceptions about the value of the imagination in meaning-making and health and which offers continuing education to nurses, psychotherapists, body workers, and those working in inter-spiritual and energy medicine venues. She is also a founding board member of the Sacred Earth Foundation, which invites indigenous elders to share their wisdom with spiritual seekers. She has been engaging in mindfulness meditation practice since the 1990’s and occasionally co-facilitates retreats and workshops that focus on such topics as, but not limited to, forgiveness, imagery, and meditation. She deeply appreciates her participation with the Spiritual Paths Foundation. In her free time, she enjoys contemplative photography, being in the natural environment, nurturing her relationships, and engaging in all of the art forms, such as writing and singing sacred songs. She is married to artist, James-Paul Brown, and lives in Carpinteria.
David Wali Waugh, RPC (Registered Professional Counsellor)
David is a Midlife Awakening Specialist, Sufi Healer and has trained in the art of interspiritual guidance. He is the director of Elements Counselling in Vancouver BC, Canada and Cofounder of The Natural Gifts Society. He has over twenty years training and experience in wholistic development. His private practice includes one-to-one, couple and small group work for people interested in transformation, psychospiritual development and relationship work. His general orientation is to assist people in accessing their inner resources in order to develop more conscious choice in their lives, and thereby foster the potential for growth in their evolution of consciousness. This often unfolds as one develops an aware ego process that leads to greater individuation, while contributing their gifts to their community and the world. He believes that if we want meaningful change to happen in others, we must first learn to practice living the perspective that Gandhi espoused, “becoming the change that we seek in the world.”
davewaugh1@gmail.com; www.davewaugh.net; www.naturalgiftssociety.org
Rev. Judith Liro, MDiv
Judith is an Episcopal priest called to recreate the Christian church responsive to the sacred feminine, open to the wisdom of earth’s diverse spiritual traditions and the evolving creativity of the universe. Her work centers in deepening spiritual community that is transformative personally and societally. She co-founded and continues to co-lead and teach in The Servant Leadership School of Austin (Texas). She co-founded and leads St. Hildegard’s Community, a contemplative-active faith community. Since 1992 The Servant Leadership School has offered classes and retreats to support participants in seeking what makes them come alive. For twenty years St. Hildegard’s Community has sung justice: celebrating intimate weekly Eucharists with eclectic songs and dancing, with inclusive liturgical language, creative ritual, and thoughtful sermons. The contemplative life is nourished with silent retreats and accountability for spiritual practices. Each person is encouraged to discover his/her own path and serve from the heart. Both St. Hildegard’s and the SLS provide a generous space for those seeking spiritual authenticity and she has mentored those on an interspiritual path for many years.
Judith’s marriage to Joe for more than fifty years, the joy and challenges of being mother and grandmother, and the grief of a stillborn child have been significant for her spiritual life. She did Jungian analysis for many years and dreams are a source of guidance. Centering Prayer, QiGong and yoga are longtime practices that continue. Judith is nourished by the mystics (especially Hildegard and Julian), poets, Celtic spirituality, the wisdom of Thomas Berry and especially by delighting daily in the Earth Community. She is involved in local efforts to address climate change, immigration and racism. She currently serves on the board of Equity for Women in the Church, an ecumenical Christian organization. She is included in two books by Jann Aldredge-Clanton: She Lives: Sophia Wisdom Works in the World and Changing Church: Stories of Liberating Ministers.
Margaret Northall
Margaret Northall is a Registered Nurse, Interfaith Minister and Chaplain and Spiritual Director. Born in South Africa, I learned early on to live in cultural diversity, spiritual diversity and the importance of community. Fueled by creativity, my life has been mixed with a sense of humor, adventure and deepening interfaith spiritual exploration. As an Interfaith Minister and Chaplain, Spiritual Director and Registered Nurse, I find my roleas a healer, through spiritual practices, ritual and ceremonies. As a mystic I engage in writing sacred poetry, soul art and dance, meditation and hiking as I seek Wisdom from the natural world. I draw from several traditions and I believe every spiritual tradition is valid, as well as those with no tradition or spiritual path. In the name of Interfaith Ministry, I am called to conscientiously help others in their awakening journey, communicating with love, compassion and understanding.
Spirituality is best expressed for me in the words of Rumi:
“All religions
all this singing
is one song
The differences are just
illusion and vanity…”
John Wilde
Spiritual Practice has been a major focus for as long as I can remember. Although I am a representative of a traditional religious institution, I am very sympathetic to the growing trend of people identifying themselves as spiritual and not religious. But I do see the need to be grounded in a particular wisdom tradition. I continue to appreciate the teachings, the rituals and the relationships which have come through my life-long commitment to Christianity.
Nevertheless, the teachings of other wisdom traditions are very appealing to me and have been for most of my life. You can see this very clearly if you visit the website I have worked on since 1999: www.abundancetrek.com.
Alex Warden
Alex is a mystic devoted to answering the call of her heart: to experience the essential oneness of life with others. Her work focuses on the development of relational consciousness, an awareness born from the primordial feminine knowing of unity and interrelatedness. A mother, spiritual director, and founder of Essential Oneness, Alex speaks and leads workshops and retreats internationally on spirituality, sacred feminine, spiritual ecology and dream-studies. She is the author of El Llamado de mi Corazón (The Call of my Heart). Alex has extensive experience in Christian and Sufi mysticism and the Great Mother tradition. www.essentialoneness.org.