Spiritual Counseling is a type of therapy in which I offer guidance and support based on spiritual principles.  I also encourage clients to seek guidance from their Higher Self or inner divine wisdom. Spiritual counseling encourages the examination of deeply held beliefs and commitment or re-commitment to the spiritual values that are important to the individual. 

In Spiritual Counseling, the focus is on clarifying, grappling with, deepening and strengthening your connection to Spirit or Higher Power in whatever form the divine speaks to you. The ultimate goal is to help clients find the meaning in life, find a source of comfort and power during difficult times, and a set of moral guidelines that the individual can use to guide decision-making in any circumstance. Even those with little interest in spirituality can still benefit from asking themselves honest questions and learning to be more mindful.  

Spiritual Counseling Offers:

• Loving support for creating a heart-centered life steeped in presence and wisdom
• Guidance in distinguishing the voice of Ego from the voice of Spirit
• The opportunity to cultivate the Witness Self to lessen reactivity and increase genuine choice and freedom
• Tools to detach from self-limiting stories and conditioned patterns, allowing one to more consistently experience a life led by Spirit
• Companionship on the spiritual journey, and a safe place to explore your relationship with your own Higher Self
• The cultivation of wisdom, compassion, inner peace and equanimity

Important Differences between Spirituality and Religion

Religion and spirituality both address beliefs about the nature of the universe and our place in it.  But religion also has specific sets of beliefs regarding creation, particular moral codes, set of rituals and observances. 

Spirituality is an umbrella term that encompasses all religions as well as independent beliefs regarding a transcendent search for meaning and purpose. 

The Benefits of Spiritual Counseling in Healing from Addiction

Spiritual Counseling helps those in recovery accomplish goals by reinforcing that there is a power greater than themselves.  It can help recovering persons grow in ways that they may have previously believed impossible.  Recognizing this often leads a person to understand that they may be more successful if they partner with a power greater than themselves, instead of believing they must carry all their troubles and stresses on their own. 

What is involved in Spiritual Counseling?

If you choose to participate in Spiritual Counseling you can be sure that you will not be shamed into behaving/believing in a certain way, but will be encouraged to look within yourself with complete honesty to find the spiritual answers you seek. Practices and guidance we cultivate in Spiritual Counseling are:

1. Mindfulness – the practice of staying in the moment
2. The power of acceptance
3. The cultivation of gratitude
4. Taking responsibility for one’s emotions and associated actions
5. Discovery of a Higher Power
6. The futility of life run on self-will
7. Beginning a practice of prayer and meditation

How much does Spiritual Counseling cost?

For a 60-minute Spiritual Counseling session the cost ranges between $20 – $75. Acceptable payment methods are cash, check and credit cards. No insurances accepted.

Where do we meet for Spiritual Counseling?

We meet for Spiritual Counseling in my office which is located at: Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main St. Suite 1208, Pawtucket, RI. 02860. There is parking on the street as well as several lots. Enter the building at the 1005 entrance, go up the stairs to the 2nd floor and then turn right. My office is the 1st office on the right. Sessions are also held online via Zoom.

To schedule an appointment for Spiritual Counseling call/text 401-782-7899 or email me at paulasmith@post.harvard.edu.

My Story

I grew up in New Orleans and am the oldest of eight children. After high school, I attended Xavier University of New Orleans for three years but then I decided to join the Navy. After basic training, I was sent to Newport, Rhode Island; Naval Education and Training Center (NETC). Unfortunately, my Naval career and plans were interrupted because I had developed a problem with alcohol and became an alcoholic. Fortunately, through the grace of a Higher Power, I began recovery after several attempts. Today, I am grateful and humbled to have been in recovery from addiction for over thirty years. I hold the belief that it was and has been through relationships, unconditional loving support, mentorship, and 12-step principles and spirituality that I was able to turn my life around. Much of what I teach in my counseling, coaching, psychotherapy practice and workshops I had to learn myself.

Spiritual Counseling Training

While 12-step spirituality is my foundation I also pursued graduate and post-graduate studies at the prestigious Harvard Divinity School where I majored in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy and Religion and earned a Master of Divinity Degree. While studying at Harvard Divinity I completed Pastoral and Chaplaincy work at Brigham & Women Hospital in Boston, MA, Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, and Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, CA. During my training and internship I worked as member of an interdisciplinary team providing spiritual and pastoral care and support to patients and their families, including those in Hospice care. In 2005 I was ordained as an Interfaith Chaplain and Certified as a Spiritual Counseling (universal and non-denomination perspectives). In 2007 I became an Adjunct faculty member at Harvard Divinity School where my scholarly work is an integration of Applied Psychology, Religion and Contemporary Culture. I am the co-author of the article Marriage & Family Therapy Training Programs and Their Integration of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities published in the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy and author of Post Katrina Theology published in Harvard Divinity Magazine.