Joe McHugh + Associates: Spiritual Direction, Learning, Coaching

joe mchugh + associatesspiritual direction / learning / coaching

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Bio

Spiritual Direction

Programs

Leadership Coaching

Home Welcome to the joe mchugh + associates website ! Take a look at what's here. We work hard to produce services that are vital to people who want to grow spiritually. We're proud of what we do, and we do it well.Our Mission To teach people how to grow down into their deepest roots, where God lurks and true growth and nourishment happen. It's where our heart's desire meets God. I've worked hard to talk in plain language here - you won't find lots of ethereal or pious talk here. We'd rather illuminate than confuse. Real stuff for real people. (scroll down for more)Our clients - those engaged in spiritual direction, retreats, or coaching - aren't satisfied any longer to know about God. They want to know God for themselves, for real.We do this through spiritual direction, learning (retreats and programs) and leadership coaching. Our lifeline is the spirituality of Ignatius Loyola, which has the flexibility to be adapted for those from Catholic and Protestant traditions. Check out our sections on Learning and my blog. We don't force you through our door. Instead we help you find your own door to God, your personal way to grow down. That's what Ignatian spirituality does. Among our clients are individuals and groups who are serious about growing down into deeper life with God. Quite frankly, many of them are struggling with institutional churches. In many cases, we can supplement what folks can't get from their Churches. We've also proved a helpful resource for LGBT folks looking for welcoming spiritual guidance.We're based in St. Paul and Minneapolis, but have clients nationwide. We use technology to connect with individuals creatively and effectively.Contact me and let us help you see what joe mchugh + associates can and will do for you to connect with God below the surface, down in the roots.
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I've been a Methodist minister for over forty years, but I have to say that Joe helped me a great deal. He has a gift of helping people connect the dots. He's also pretty funny." -Arkansas

"Joe has a gift of simplifying complicated and mysterious subjects. Plus, I enjoyed his sense of humor." -Texas

You've learned how to grow up. We teach you how to grow down.

Bio

Joe McHugh is a seasoned spiritual director and leadership coach with a unique blend of experience in religious, educational, consulting and corporate environments. He has a reputation for insight, great presentations and an even greater sense of humor. Joe began his career as a Jesuit priest and has been doing spiritual direction and retreats for over thirty years, learning the art mainly from many of the most respected Jesuit directors in the United States.As a result, he knows Ignatian spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola from the inside. (scroll down for more)Besides his long tenure with the Jesuits, Joe was also a member of the Trappist community at Gethsemani Abbey, the home of Thomas Merton. He learned monastic spirituality from the late Francis Kline, OCSO - mentor and friend. Joe served as an educational administrator and held senior positions with two global consulting and leadership coaching organizations where he worked with thousands of people undergoing significant personal and career transitions.Most recently, Joe was Executive Director of Loyola Spirituality Center in St Paul, MN. But right now he feels good not spending the bulk of his time with budgets, financial models, and keeping an organization alive. Joe is now doing what he does best - direction, retreats, and coaching. Direct contact.Joe also teaches in the spiritual direction program at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. During the year he is frequently asked to do in-service work with aspiring spiritual directors around the country.

" Joe is a thoughtful guide, an intense person of prayer and a joyful spirit with an amazing ability to connect scripture to current day life questions." -Texas

" I was at a real turning point in my ministerial career when I met Joe. Actually, I was in turmoil. Joe was able to gently present me with simple questions that helped me see my path. He made it seem so easy." -Minnesota

Joe McHugh

MA, MDiv

Spiritual Direction

In general terms, spiritual direction has four moments: stopping, listening, looking, and acting.It's "spiritual conversation" in which one person helps the other start to stop or slow down and get comfortable with silence - the silence in our hearts and the silence that's also part of the more active moments in our lives. We can then begin to look or observe our experience from the point of view of God's graced offer of new life - "everlasting life" - the kind of living that is grounded in God's personal love for us and is completed in the deeds of greater faith, hope and love. We also need to listen for God's call to grow in being more fully alive and act on this call in more faithful discipleship. (scroll down for more)Lots of times, spiritual direction starts with almost an intuitive insight that praying isn't only "saying' prayers. But there's also a more contemplative tradition in Christianity that few even know about. Prayer and spiritual direction are often less about what we do or the prayers we say. It's more about what God does for and with us. This requires a more receptive stance in our prayer. There are lots of ways of doing spiritual direction. Traditionally it's done face to face. But distance has challenges that technology can often help us manage. Joe does direction with people by phone and Skype.He has also become the champion of another traditional way of doing spirtual direction - by letter. Only today it's done by email.Call or email today to arrange a time to talk about how spiritual direction can impact your life.

Pricing

We will not refuse service to an individual if they are unable to pay our normal charge. Our expectation is that people will honestly pay what they can. Bring this up with Joe if it is a factor in your decision.

Individual Contact:

One Hour $100

15-Minute Segment $25 per Segment

Programs

Our learning opportunities can be done as a retreat or as a program.Retreats - time apart - are sustained periods of prayer that can last for a morning all the way to thirty days. Programs are time of teaching, discussion and learning, typically around a topic or theme.Retreats concentrate on growing down through sustained periods of prayer. Learning experiences focus more on understanding more deeply - they're more content focused. (scroll down for more)Our retreats can be individually directed retreats or a group retreat around a theme that Joe typically tries to identify by a serious conversation with the retreat organizers. We'll do our best to meet your real needs. The retreats Joe puts together with you are based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Here are some of the retreats and programs that Joe has done during the past year. This may help give you ideas: *Introduction to Spirituality in Language People Can Understand *Beginning to Pray: An Introduction to Three Useful Prayer Forms *Holy Listening: A Way to Live and Pray *Is There Life after Success; A Retreat to Explore the Rest of My LifeThese are just samples of group retreats and programs. Joe would like to talk about your needs. He'll try his best to tailor-make something to meet your personal needs.Remember that he can also do individual retreats with people by phone, Skype, and even mail.PricingAll charges for retreats (individual and group) and programs are individually negotiated.

Retreats and Programs joe mchugh + associates have done during the past year:

*Introduction to Spirituality in Language People Can Understand *Holy Listening: A Way to Live and Pray

*Beginning to Pray: An Introduction to Three Useful Prayer Forms *Is There Life after Success; A Retreat to Explore the Rest of My Life

This may help give you ideas!

Leadership Coaching

Identify & Achieve Personal Goals !Joe includes coaching as a service, mainly because he has been trained as an executive coach and over the years, he's literally helped thousands of people work through life - and work-related transitions, career changes, personal and professional "reinventions," and navigating the opportunities of life after retiring from one set of life's challenges. You can see how lots of these topics move between coaching and spiritual direction - at least the way Joe does them. He works with religious and non-profit leaders to help them increase their confidence and effectiveness.(scroll down for more)Coaching usually starts by determining the objective of the process - what does the person want or need to be different in their leadership practice. Often appropriate assessments are by one of the associates, a professional psychologist, to get a snapshot of the situation from both inside and outside.The real business of coaching is the plans with behavioral targets that follow initial steps. Here's where you and Joe will work together to measure progress toward your targets.Real coaching isn't "charm school." Even less is it a visit to "the last resort." At best, cocaching is about developing and strengthening leadership skills needed in a particular context. Few of us are able to grow if the only thing that's ever pointed out to us is "what is wrong with us."One of Joe's best friends came to him not long ago to say that he needed to keep coaching, "Because you know how to bring out the best in people."Contact Joe and he'll determine how he can help you perform more confidently, creatively, and effectively.

"Joe has the keen insight to discern the needs of people in a spiritual direction and of groups. He can be firm, but he's always gentle and respectful." -Texas

Pricing

Individual Contact:

One Hour $100

15-Minute Segment $25 per Segment