Dr. Karen Shields Wright
In the Ignatian Tradition
Accompanying Catholics in Leadership
Individualized accompaniment in discerning significant decisions involving career, leadership, vocation, retirement, and life transitions.
Ignatian discernment encourages attentiveness to the movements of the Holy Spirit, greater interior freedom, and thoughtful consideration of the moral and social dimensions of one's choices in light of Catholic teaching.
Retreats for Groups
and
Self-Directed Retreats
Following the Liturgical Year
Individually Directed
The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius is a school of prayer in which we progress toward living more intimately and consistently in the mystery of Christ’s love for us by coming to know who He is through His humanity and divinity.
It is a journey of conversion with experience that unfolds and emerges as we grow in the capacity to bear more grace (Sr. Janet Ruffing) and to be filled more with God. In this journey of transformation, we are gifted within this developmental mystical experience as the Spirit takes us to the next step of ongoing, successive transformations; nothing is ever the same again.
Spiritual Direction
It "addresses what is in one’s daily life as one prays their way through life’s complex decisions and interpretations of their spiritual experiences in those everyday life circumstances." Fr. Joseph Tetlow, SJ
Individual spiritual direction for attending to one's relationship with God, prayer, interior movements, and continuing spiritual formation
Ongoing formation for leaders and professionals seeking to live their vocation with greater knowledge, freedom, and purpose.
About
My approach to spiritual accompaniment integrates Catholic spirituality, Ignatian discernment, and the principles of Catholic Social Doctrine into personal, professional, and vocational life. I work with Catholic leaders in business, the professions, healthcare, religious life, and the clergy, supporting growth in faith, virtue, interior freedom, and the discernment of God's will in everyday decisions and responsibilities.
My services include individual discernment consultations, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and ongoing spiritual direction. I have maintained a private practice in spiritual direction since 2003, offering virtual accompaniment since 2011. I have also served at Fairfield University's Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality since 2017.
As a retired chiropractic physician and former hospital chaplain, I bring clinical experience and continuing studies in neuroscience, psychology, and spirituality to my understanding of the human person as an integrated unity of body, mind, and soul, who is created in the image and likeness of God.
My background in Catholic Social Doctrine includes leadership and teaching with CAPP-USA and its graduate-level Catholic Social Teaching Certificate Program, co-sponsored with The Catholic University of America. Dr. Karen is a Dame in the Order of Malta American Association.
Dr. Karen Shields Wright, MS, DC, DM