Guests on other people’s journeys

31 Aug 2016

By The Record

Marist priest Father Stephen Truscott and former midwife Celia Joyce describe spiritual direction as a vocation, rather than a job. They established the Fullness of Life Centre in Nedlands in 1988. Photo: Rachel Curry

By Rachel Curry

“The privilege of it is to be invited into the sacred space of people’s lives in all its messiness.”

It was the profound experience of his own spiritual journey that prompted Marist priest Father Stephen Truscott to set up the Fullness of Life Centre, where he has been helping people find their own paths for almost 30 years.

Fr Truscott works alongside his Co-Director Celia Joyce at their office in Nedlands to promote the holistic development of individuals, groups and organisations.

The Fullness of Life Centre was founded by the pair in 1988 and offers spiritual accompaniment, counselling, professional supervision, staff development, retreats and workshops and employee assistance programs.

Fr Truscott said he worked in three different parishes when he was a young priest, and although he enjoyed the experience, he felt called to another purpose.

“I wanted to find ways to be more directly involved in the spiritual growth of people, so that’s when I went and trained as a spiritual director,” he said.

“My ministry as a priest had been focused in that area for a long time. My own spiritual journey has always been important to me; I found the value of someone being a spiritual accompanier was helpful in my journey so I felt drawn to assist other people on their journeys.”

Fr Truscott’s extensive qualifications include a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago and a PhD from Murdoch University examining the developmental influences that shape the practice of contemporary spiritual directors.

He acknowledged his day-to-day work was somewhat unusual for a priest, recalling with a smile the conversations he would often have with strangers.

“If I ever go to a parish function, people say to me, ‘What parish are you in?’ I say I haven’t worked in a parish since 1983 and they give me a confused look,” he said.

However, Fr Truscott said there was no line of work in which he would rather be.

“The privilege of it is to be invited into the sacred space of people’s lives in all its messiness,” he said.

“Sometimes people come in because they’ve had a critical incident in their life that they want to explore and sometimes there’s not a critical incident, but they simply want to deepen their spirituality.

“For some people, it’s short term. For other people, we can be invited to accompany them over many years.”

Like Fr Truscott, Ms Joyce was also called to spiritual direction after working in another setting – in her case as a nurse and midwife.

During the decades she spent as a healthcare professional, she said she became aware of a lack of services for people who just wanted someone to listen to them.

“I loved my nursing, but the busyness of nursing meant there wasn’t always the appropriate care given to people,” she said.

“Often when people come to hospital, they become more aware of the reality that hits them.”

Ms Joyce undertook Clinical Pastoral Education at Royal Perth Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and later established the Pastoral Care Department at Mercy Hospital, now St John of God Mt Lawley.

She still wasn’t satisfied, so she studied for her Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago, before starting full time work in spiritual direction.

Ms Joyce said that as a former midwife, she now “gives birth to people’s lives in another way”.

“It’s not so much that we have the answers, but we can work together with people to discern God’s call or their way of being in the world,” she said.

“A truth told is never the same as a truth discovered.”

 

Although Fr Truscott and Ms Joyce are both Catholics, the Fullness of Life Centre welcomes people of all religious faiths.

As a not-for-profit organisation, it also offers its services to people from a variety of financial circumstances.

“We try to make it available to all people, particularly people in marginalised settings,” Fr Truscott said.

“We don’t have any funding but we have a sliding scale of fees that endeavours to make our services available to everyone.”

The centre has also moved into the 21st century, with secure video conferencing offered for people in regional and remote areas, a phenomenon that Fr Truscott calls an emerging trend.

Above all, the Fullness of Life Centre aims to provide a supportive environment to encourage personal and spiritual growth, he said.

“It’s not preachy. At the end of the day, we’re guests on other people’s journeys as they try to discern God’s presence in their lives,” he said.

For more information, visit www.fullnessoflife.org.

 

From pages 23 and 24 from Issue 4: ‘Health’ of The Record Magazine