Anne Lawrence, Ph.D.
I support individuals and groups in exploring the meaningful depths of their life experiences. I offer compassionate listening, supportive questions, and intuitive guidance. I also design and guide creative workshops and retreats that help participants to reconnect with their inner wisdom through transformative practices with nature and the expressive arts. I share with others the life-giving practices that have healed me.

MY LIFE-GIVING PRACTICES
A long-term practitioner of contemplative Christian spirituality, I am Episcopalian and an active member of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg, FL. Currently, I am a doctoral student in Christian spirituality at Virginia Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary. My research focuses on creative practices that enhance holistic spirituality, including imaginative prayer, artistic expression, and reverential experiences with nature.
Similarly, I have completed the Center for Action and Contemplation's Living School, a two-year program of study on contemplative spirituality, Christian mysticism, and compassionate service. During this transformative experience, I studied with the program's founder, Richard Rohr, with core faculty Cynthia Bourgeault, James Finley, and Barbara Holmes, and with visiting teachers, including Ilia Delio and Mirabai Starr. I have also participated in Cynthia Bourgeault's Wisdom School.
In addition, I graduated from the Haden Institute's two-year training program in Jungian dreamwork. Likewise, I have studied Dream Tending with depth psychologist Stephen Aizenstat. As a spiritual director, I facilitate both individual and group dreamwork and offer dream-centered workshops and retreats. I offer participants creative activities that help them to explore their richly meaningful dreams and to receive healing guidance for their lives.
Moreover, I have completed a two-year certification program in focusing through The International Focusing Institute, under the supervision of Beth Mahler and Maria Skoufas. Developed by Eugene Gendlin, focusing is an intuitive meditation practice for accessing the wisdom of the body to enhance self-awareness, healing, relationships, communication, creativity, dreamwork, and spirituality. I integrate focusing in my offerings for both individuals and groups: for example, in guided meditations. I have also studied Gendlin's Thinking at the Edge (TAE) with Beatrice Blake. Currently, Beth Mahler and I are offering a Two-Year Focusing Training and Certification program.
LABYRINTH
I am also a certified labyrinth facilitator, trained by Lauren Artress through her non-profit organization, Veriditas. I design and lead creative and contemplative labyrinth walks, including online gatherings in which participants trace a handheld labyrinth.
In addition, I am a trained facilitator of SoulCollage®. Created by Seena Frost, SoulCollage® is an arts-based practice of self-exploration and integration, in which participants combine found images and personal photographs to create visual collages on cards. Making and dialoguing with the energies evoked by your cards is an opportunity for healing self-reflection. I offer SoulCollage® workshops for groups, provide one-to-one support for deepening the practice, and guide personalized SoulCollage®-centered retreats at home.
I have also completed a two-year certification program in contemplative Christian spiritual direction through Oasis, under the supervision of Glenn Mitchell, followed by an additional year of advanced training and a nine-month certification program to offer the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. With Oasis, I served for three years as a teacher/supervisor for prospective spiritual directors. Through my private practice, The Soul Companion, LLC, I offer both individual and group spiritual direction and guide the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, a thirty-week extended personal retreat at home.
WRITING
In addition, I earned a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Writing from Michigan State University and an M.A. in Educational Studies: Literacy, Language, and Culture from the University of Michigan. I have worked as a writing professor, a literacy education researcher, a writing teacher educator, an academic writing coach for faculty and graduate students, and an English language teacher for multilingual adults, adolescents, and children. In my current workshops and retreats, I offer reflective-writing activities that help participants to discover their deepest intuitions, to express their inner wisdom, and to explore possible responses to growth opportunities.
