May 3, 2010
Revised, March, 2015

Chapter One: Roots and Branches
Overview: Spiritual direction as a profession has expanded and grown throughout the centuries and most spiritual lineages have directors, guides and/or soul friends to support the laity (Empereur, p. 23). As a field, it continues to grow and develop, adding the insights from other knowledge areas and expanding its reach to all spiritual paths. The work herein simply falls into that continued expansion by further exploring the integration of the understanding and research of adult developmental levels with spiritual direction practices.