Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction & Holistic Healing Program

Application open for Spring 2027

Program begins January 2027

Please contact Dr. Dave Janvier for questions at janviercounseling@gmail.com or complete the inquiry form below.

Apply to Program

If you would like to express your interest, have questions or desire to meet with Dr. Dave, complete the inquiry form below:

Program Overview:

The Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction & Holistic Healing Certification program offers a comprehensive training experience that integrates the components of the SIIMDA Soul Care approach that include trauma processing, holistic healing practices, neuroscience, body-oriented approaches, and spiritual formation. Students will also have the option to choose a specialization track. This program is designed for individuals called to Jesus’ healing ministry and who desire to foster spaces of safety and healing for individuals working through trauma, emotional pain, and spiritual wounding. The inclusion of holistic healing components brings a particular focus on addressing emotional wounds, finding freedom, and reconciling broken areas of the heart and soul.

Renowned psychologist and trauma expert Diane Langberg emphatically proclaimed that "Trauma is the mission field of our day." We live in a world fractured by deep emotional pain, systemic heartbreak, and spiritual wounding.

Traditional spiritual direction programs often do not equip directors with the awareness or skills to address trauma or the neurological frameworks required to safely hold space for a survivor’s shattered reality. As a result, can inadvertently trigger a dysregulated nervous system, causing further harm.

The SIIMDA Soul Care Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction & Holistic Healing Program is uniquely set apart to meet this precise cultural and spiritual moment. It does not treat spiritual formation and psychological trauma as separate domains; instead, it integrates them to form a robust, modern ecosystem for deep soul companionship.

You cannot accompany a soul if you ignore the body it inhabits. Students learn how trauma impacts the brain, locks itself in the nervous system, and alters a person's window of tolerance—their capacity to process stress and emotion without shutting down or panicking. One cannot discern God’s presence in this nervous state. By understanding the neurobiology, SIIMDA-trained directors learn to guide directees using somatic awareness, ensuring that spiritual practices expand a person's capacity for God rather than triggering a trauma response.

A Deep Focus on Complex and Specialized Wounds

Trauma is not a monolith. The SIIMDA Soul Care curriculum recognizes that entering "the mission field of our day" requires highly specialized maps. The program moves far beyond generalized spiritual direction by offering advanced specialization tracks and dedicated modules to address the most devastating, hidden wounds of our culture:

  • Spiritual Abuse & Church Trauma: Healing the deep rift that occurs when the character of God is distorted by religious systems or leaders.

  • Sexual Betrayal Trauma & Abuse: Navigating the complex trauma of broken attachments, exploitation, and marital violation.

  • Addiction & Compulsivity: Understanding the intersection of emotional pain, coping mechanisms, and spiritual enslavement.

OBJECTIVES

Participants will gain skills in trauma-informed spiritual care, deep listening, and discernment while integrating therapeutic and spiritual holistic healing practices like contemplative prayer, emotional processing, and healing through the presence of God.

Focused Objectives:

  • Establish Identity as a Trauma-Informed Spiritual Director

  • Develop Advanced Listening Skills

  • Cultivate Discernment and Wisdom

  • Understand Trauma and Trauma-Focused Approaches

  • Engage Experiential Practices for Healing and Integration

  • Learn and Apply Gestalt Theory and Practice

  • Integrate Body-Oriented Approaches

  • Facilitate Holistic Healing Practices

Program Features

  1. Expert Faculty:
    Led by experienced spiritual directors, trauma therapists, and Gestalt practitioners who bring a unique blend of trauma-informed care, spiritual formation, and Gestalt theory.

  2. Gestalt and Inner Healing Focus:
    Special emphasis on combining Gestalt theory’s experiential approach with inner healing prayer to create a powerful process of emotional and spiritual transformation.

  3. Practical Application:
    Includes role-playing, experiential workshops, group dialogues, retreats, and supervised practicum sessions that focus on integrating trauma-informed, spiritual, and Gestalt practices.

  4. Community and Support:
    Ongoing peer discussions, group supervision, and mentorship to foster growth and support participants in their own healing journeys.

  5. Program Duration:
    The program is a two-year program that consists of a total of 150 hours. However, modules are being developed to be taken as standalone courses if you do not need the credential or entire program.

  6. Format:
    Blended learning model (in-person and online sessions), including live webinars, in-person retreats, experiential practices, and independent study. (modules can be taken as standalone courses)

  7. Specializations:
    (These areas are specific specializations that students can choose, which will result in an additional certification)

    Sexual Addiction/Compulsivity

    Sexual Betrayal Trauma

    Sexual Abuse

    Spiritual Abuse/Trauma

  8. Eligible for Independent practice as a Spiritual Director

Certificate and Certification Requirements

  1. Completion of all core modules and readings.

  2. Participation in experiential practices, retreats, and peer supervision.

  3. Completion of 150 hours for total program including 10 hours of supervised practicum in trauma-informed spiritual direction and holistic healing practices.

  4. Completion of two writing assignments demonstrating practical and theoretical understanding of the program.

  5. All students completing the program will receive a Certificate in Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction. Students who complete the specialization in sexual addiction/Sexual Betrayal will also be Certified as a SIIMDA Soul Care Practitioner.

Full Curriculum
Course Schedule (coming soon for 2027)

Program Time Commitment & Structure:

The program requires space for reflection, integration, and community support. Our curriculum is structured to honor your capacity while building a rigorous, grounded, and personally sustaining practice. It is estimated to plan for an average of 5-10 hours of week.

As a participant, your commitment includes:

  • Live Cohort Gatherings: Meet twice monthly for 90 minutes on Zoom for real-time connection, practical skill-building, and peer community.

  • Core Reading: 1–3 required books per module, weaving together program courses and materials.

  • Self-Paced Content: Engaging video lessons and thoughtful online discussion boards to deepen your reflections between live calls.

  • Personal & Spiritual Formation: You will develop and follow a personal Rule of Life, alongside implementing consistent, grounding and spiritual practices to sustain your well-being and spiritual presence.

Click buttons to download an overview of the full curriculum and course schedule:

Program Costs

  • Program Tuition Costs are based on specific modules, in-person intensives, and supervision.

  • Tuition is $2,000* per semester or $8,000* for all four semesters (costs are consistent with comparable programs).

    A $500 nonrefundable deposit is required prior to the start of the first semester.

    *Current pricing includes all tuition fees, lodging, & meals for the in-person immersive retreats. This cost is set at current rates and additional costs may be added for the in-person immersives as lodging and food rates increase. Payment plans are available. See financial assistance statement below.

  • Additional costs: learning materials, retreat participation, travel, lodging, and supervision.

  • Payment plans and limited financial aid are available.* Please ask!

    *FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: We are committed to making this program as accessible as possible. While we do have a small fund dedicated to financial aid, our resources are extremely limited, and we are only able to offer partial, supplemental support to a select number of students. If tuition costs are a barrier to your participation, please reach out to discuss your situation; we would be happy to review your application for the available funds

  • If you are not interested in the entire program, but would like to take modules independently as a standalone course, pricing for each course will be listed on the course platform.

How to Apply

Application

Who Should Attend

  • Individuals who are passionate about guiding others through emotional, spiritual, and holistic healing.

  • Spiritual Directors seeking to expand their skills in trauma-informed care, Gestalt theory/techniques, and holistic healing.

  • Therapists, counselors, clergy, chaplains, church leaders, and pastoral care providers called to cultivate healing spaces and guide others in God’s healing presence.

Ideal Candidates:

  • Feel called to provide trauma-informed spiritual companionship and holistic healing. This involves specifically focusing on one's own healing process as well as accompanying others in theirs.

  • Have experienced a validation of this call as others have come to them for spiritual counsel.

  • Have experienced their own spiritual formation/healing with a spiritual director, companion, or therapist.

  • Have evidence of their faith community’s support for their ministry of spiritual direction.

  • Have psychological strength—meaning their mental health is stable and they are able to engage in healthy processes with those they companion, doing no harm.  

Dates/Time Commitment

The Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction & Holistic Healing Program (TISD) is a two-year program that consists of 12 foundational modules and additional electives including in-person intensives. The program consists of a total of 150 hours.

  • Course begin January 2027

  • Hybrid Format

  • In-Person Immersive Experiences Dates:

    • The first of three in-person immersives is being planned for late April beginning of May 2027

  • The In-person Immersive Experiences locations TBD

  • Virtual gatherings twice a month

Meet Your Instructors:

Dr. Dave Janvier, LPC

Alexandra MacCracken

Linda Lehman Thomas

Dave’s passion to bring Jesus’ healing ministry to those hurting has led him to integrate psychology and counseling modalities with theology and spiritual formation approaches for over two decades. He views himself as a spiritual companion to those who are in need of deep healing from devastating trauma, profound suffering and enslaving addictions. To effectively do this, Dave acquired further training and certifications in trauma therapy, sex therapy, gestalt therapy, spiritual direction/formation. His dissertation was a process of fine-tuning the SIIMDA Soul Care holistic model he developed.

Credentials:

  • Doctorate degree in Spiritual Direction and Formation

  • Master’s of Arts Degree in Professional Counseling

  • Licensed Professional Counselor

  • Certified Sex Therapist

  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professional

  • SIIMDA Soul Care Founder

  • Published an article in the American Psychological Association (APA) academic journal, Psychotherapy

  • Authored a book chapter in an APA edited book: “Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies.”

Alexandra is passionate about supporting people to embrace and love all aspects of their authentic self in accordance with the Two Great Commandments. In recovery for over 30 years, she first experienced powerful healing through the 12 Steps (where she discovered Jesus was her Higher Power), and then through spiritually-integrated Gestalt work. As a result of receiving this gift of healing, she experienced God’s Call to offer this gift to others. This led her to advance her Gestalt training and ultimately create a synthesis comprised of coaching principles, 12-Step wisdom, and the aesthetic sensibilities gained from a career in music performance. All of these blended elements have equipped her to offer a unique perspective and an in-depth approach for accessing and supporting inner healing and growth. Alexandra calls her model “Gestalt Soul Care.” 

Credentials:

  • Master’s Degree in Fine Arts

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Education

  • Instructor at University of Virginia

  • Artistic Director and Founder of Ensemble Gaudior

  • Graduate of Gestalt International Study Center

  • Certified ICF-ACC Coach

  • Extensive training in spiritually-integrated gestalt as a practitioner and trainer

  • Certified Gestalt Soul Care Mentor and Trainer

  • Presenter at International Conferences

Linda views her ministry as one of accompanying those who find themselves in pain and difficulty and who are seeking God’s healing presence—more specifically those who are in need of healing from trauma, grief, and harm caused by the church. Linda has extensive training and experience, not only an ordained minister and spiritual director, but as practitioner of spiritually integrated gestalt modalities. She has utilized her training and gifting for the healing work she has provided through Pathways Retreat Center in Goshen, IN, in which she co-founded.

Credentials:

  • Graduate of Goshen College

  • MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

  • Ordained Minister by Mennonite Church USA

  • Spiritual Director

  • Certified as a TRE Trauma Provider

  • Extensive training in spiritually integrated gestalt as a practitioner and trainer