Day 1: September 4th 2025
Day 2: September 25th 2025
As a spiritual retreat facilitator, you design and lead retreats that nurture faith, contemplation, and personal transformation. To do this, you will create sacred spaces for reflection, and prayer, guide participants with structures and processes, manage group dynamics and foster a welcoming, inclusive environment. Balancing structure with the movement of the Spirit, you will also be mindful of your own self-care to maintain a deep listening stance.
In this workshop, you will learn some foundations of spiritual retreat facilitation through the understanding of the purpose and impact of spiritual retreats, the role of a facilitator as a guide, not a teacher and achieving positive outcomes through working with the core spiritual themes of contemplation, discernment, and inner transformation.
You will learn hands-on practices by guiding discussions, leading workshops and sessions, soliciting feedback and providing mentorship to participants. There will also be space for personal reflection on your vocation and calling as a facilitator. These learnings will build upon and strengthen your existing unique talent and skills.
To reinforce the theoretical learnings, you will design, plan and lead your own retreat and implement it before session 2. By the end of both workshops, you will have developed practical skills in facilitation and nurturing communities in their formation and growth.
About the facilitators
Therese Carroll – Spiritual Director SOSJ
Therese Carroll is a Sister of Saint Joseph and lives in Sydney. Her current ministries include spiritual direction and leading retreats, facilitation of religious congregational chapters and various groups, pastoral supervision, leadership development and formation for religious life. Therese has many years of experience in Aged Care/Health management and governance including Chair of Catholic Health Australia and is involved with Discerning Leadership (Rome) and continuing to develop international connections in Ignatian Spirituality. Her qualifications include RN, CM, Dip Teach Nursing (SCAE), BHSc (Sturt Uni Bathurst), MEd (ACU), MMgtCmty (Uni Technology, Sydney), MA Theology (CIS, Sydney), MAICD, ANSD, Pastoral Supervision, Spiritual Direction, Benedictine Abbey, Colorado, Member ANSD, AAOS, AICD.
Dean Mason – Spiritual Director JLSA Campion
Dean Mason is a deeply experienced spiritual director, leadership coach, and facilitator whose ministry is rooted in the Ignatian tradition. With a long-standing commitment to accompanying others in their growth, Dean offers spiritual direction in various forms, including the Full Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola. As a member of the Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality Australia (JISA) team at Campion Centre in Melbourne, they regularly facilitate public and in-house retreats for individuals and groups, including school leadership teams.
Dean is also part of the international Discerning Leadership Accompaniment Network based in Rome, supporting senior Church leaders in their ongoing formation. Their work is shaped by a passion for creating spaces of reflection, discernment, and renewal, where people are invited to listen deeply and respond to the movement of the Spirit in their lives.
