InterSpiritual Mentor Training

Certification to Help Others Create their Own
7-Step ISM Practice and Spiritual Path
Begins July 5, 4:30-6:00pm PDT

About the Program

The InterSpiritual Mentor Training program is designed for those who wish to enrich their own practice and to help others in both InterSpiritual Meditation and the InterSpiritual Mandala process. (We will consider modifying the start time that will work best for everyone.)

Trainees will join a mutually supportive cohort and be mentored by Certified Mentors and Dr. Ed Bastian. They will learn to use our books and website content, profile instruments, custom search engine, journals  and methodologies to help others to create their own spiritual paths and contemplative practices.

The length of this training process is six months. Mentors-in-training can begin after completing the InterSpiritual Meditation (ISM) course and the InterSpiritual Mandala Course. 

Please click the APPLY link to complete your application.  When accepted, you will receive a code for enrolling. 

Who is the Mentor Training Program for?

This course will teach a mentoring process and skill set for helping  friends, family, spiritual companions, mental health clients, students, coaching clients, professional colleagues, members of your congregation and book club.   

Requirements

  • The InterSpiritual Meditation (ISM) 8-Week Course (synchronous or asynchronous).
  • The InterSpiritual Mandala 8-Week Course (synchronous or asynchronous).
  • Approved application & papers.
  • 13 live Zoom sessions over 6 months (July-December), meeting every other week. Begins July 5, 4:30-6:00pm PDT / 7:30-9:00pm EDT.
  • Meet with a Dyad Partner on alternate weeks.
  • Final capstone presentations in Session 13.
  • Practicum – Supervised mentoring of external mentees.
  • Practicum – Practice Mentoring with cohort members.
  • Certification to use website to mentor others.
  • Ongoing Site Membership.
  • Ongoing support sessions with other Certified Mentors.
APPLY
Acceptance Code is required
for enrollment
$25/mo. for 6 months
ENROLL

1. The InterSpiritual Meditation (ISM) Course

This course is a prerequisite for the Mentor training program.  It is a nine-session online course that includes weekly 90-minute live ZOOM calls led by Certified Mentors and Ed Bastian. These include guided meditation, teaching, Q/A and breakout group discussions. Candidates for mentor training certification are required to participate in each of the eight-week course sessions (live and asynchronously).

In this course, a prospective mentor will use our Styles Profile Instrument, custom search engine, journal worksheets and community practice circles to (1) learn how each of the seven steps are defined in diverse Spiritual and secular traditions, and (2) refining their practice of each of the seven steps. In so doing, they will create their own InterSpiritual Meditation Mandala that summarizes their learning and practice.

This course begins by completing the Spiritual Styles Instrument. This instrument helps each student to harness their archetypal styles in order refine their personal approach to each of the seven steps based on the wisdom of their chosen spiritual and secular sources and their own life experience. They will learn to practice the seven-step InterSpiritual Meditation to cultivate health, happiness, gratitude, transformation, love, mindfulness, wisdom and service to others.

Reflection Paper or Project: Those who wish to qualify for the mentor training program will need to attend the weekly online course sessions, actively utilize our learning tools and content, and complete a reflection paper or project. This paper or project will summarize the wisdom gained from at least three spiritual/secular sources for each step, summarize at least three spiritual styles they have harnessed and balanced, and summarize the contemplative practice they have developed for each of the seven steps.

2. The InterSpiritual Mandala Course

This course is a prerequisite for the Mentor Training program.  It is a nine-session online course that includes a 90-minute live ZOOM call, led by mentors and Ed Bastian, that will include guided meditation, teaching, Q/A and breakout group discussions. Candidates for mentor training certification will attend each session in the nine-week course (live and asynchronously).

In this course, our prospective mentor will use our Styles Profile Instrument, custom search engine, journaling worksheets and community practice circles help each participant to define their own spiritual path and meditation practice by drawing on the wisdom of the world’s great spiritual and secular traditions. They create their personal InterSpiritual Mandala that contains the wisdom and practices defining their personal spiritual path.

This course engages prospective mentors in an exploration each of the 12 families of spiritual styles, questions and traditions outlined in the InterSpiritual Mandala. We begin with the Spiritual Styles and Questions Profile instruments for self-assessing and harnessing individual learning/practice archetypes to find answers and practices that define our spiritual paths. Participants explore and share their personal styles and questions and develop a long-term process for spiritual and meditative fulfillment. They also engage in the seven steps of InterSpiritual Meditation to cultivate health, happiness, gratitude, transformation, love, mindfulness, wisdom and service to others.

Reflection Paper or Project: Those who wish to qualify for the mentor training program will need to attend the weekly online course sessions, and complete a 1,000 word minimum capstone paper or a project combined with an explanatory paper. This paper/project will draw from their journal writing on a minimum of three styles, three questions and three sources. The answers do not need to be final, but they should describe the process and sources leading to a present state of knowing.

3. Cohort Zoom Sessions

During the training period, there will be 13 biweekly, 90-minute ZOOM sessions over a period of 6 months. Each session will include mentor lead discussions with the trainees (on meditations, styles, and questions), practical advice from Certified Mentors and Ed Bastian, and case studies presentations/discussions based on the trainees’ experiences working with their practicum mentees.

4. Practicum Mentoring with Cohort Members and External Mentees.

Each trainee will work individually or as a dyad partner with one of our cohort members. These sessions can include (1) personal work and (2) trainees’ work with their own clients.

  1. Personal Work
    Here, trainees will share journal writings and insights on each of the 12 styles, questions and sources, and on each step of InterSpiritual Meditation.
  2. Practicum with New Mentees
    Here, trainees work with new students with periodic check ins with course cohort members and instructor. New mentees will need to become members of our website and use the books, styles profile, custom search engine, journals and website content to enrich their process of learning and practice.

5. A Capstone Paper or Project

Each mentor trainee will complete a capstone at the conclusion of the Mentor Course. This will involve either writing an extensive paper or developing a creative project.

Capstone Paper

The Capstone Paper should be a 2,500-word paper that includes a summary of:

  1. How your work helps other mentees to learn and practice ISM.
  2. How three spiritual/secular sources have helped you to find your personal answers to your top three spiritual questions at this stage in your spiritual journey.
  3. How you harness and harmonize at least three of your spiritual styles as you seek your personal answers.
  4. The contemplative/meditative practice you have developed for each of the ISM seven steps.
  5. How you will continue your own personal practice.
  6. How you will continue to integrate this into your work, service, or mentoring others (e.g., helping friends, family, spiritual companions, mental health clients, students, coaching clients, professional colleagues, or members of your congregation).

Creative Project

The Creative Project should be a substantial creative opportunity for you to express how you have internalized and practiced the goals of the Mentor Program.  This should be accompanied by a written overview and rationale. Please either include the 6 topics of the Capstone Paper above or summarize them in your written statement accompanying the project.

6. Mentor Retreats

Our hope is to hold an in-person retreat each year for mentors-in-training to get to know each other, to share their styles, questions, sources and meditations, to share their experiences working with clients, and to engage in meditations, rituals and creative expressions of our combined work. These retreats might include graduation ceremonies for those who have completed the program.

7. Certification to Use the Website and Workbooks

After successfully completing the mentor training process, a certificate will be awarded to each graduate to use the books, workbooks, and Spiritual Paths website for working with their own mentees. They will be expected to continue communicating with each other, following the ethical and discussion guidelines when working with their students, and sharing experiences and best practices for InterSpiritual Mentoring with their fellow Mentors.

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