What is Spiritual Direction?
Click here for descriptions from our Executive Director, Debonee Morgan.
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Click here to learn more from our professional organization, Spiritual Directors International.
Zeitgeist is home to an amazing cadre of Spiritual Directors. We partner with our SD Training Program and The Spiritual Directors of Atlanta to connect you with someone who will be a perfect companion for your spiritual journey.

You can also contact our Executive Director, Debonee Morgan for a referral. ​deb@zgatl.org or 949 293 4797
Melissa Holland Lerner, MDiv, CSD
melissahlerner@gmail.com
678 662-6416
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director offering spiritual companionship to those who are seeking spiritual growth and wholeness…
    • while navigating through difficult relationships.
    • while struggling with doubts and fears.
    • through recognizing experiences in the Divine.
    • through vocational discernment processes.
    • while existing in a pandemic world.
  • In the midst of serving on staff at two different Methodist churches, I became more and more curious in a Universal Truth that was living in me, through me and around me. I then took an academic route and received a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology which inspired my spiritual curiosity beyond that of head knowledge. My curiosity in this Universal Truth lies in the experiences of knowing true Wholeness and Belonging.
  • What do I think is really cool in this world? We all Belong. All sentient beings are interconnected through an energy that is defined, experienced and named in different ways and exists in a past, present and future that folds in on one another. We all Belong.
Katie Pedersen, CSD
The Blue Rudder: Guidance for the Spiritually Adrift
 BlueRudderGuidance@gmail.com
404 490 2294
BlueRudderGuidance
I offer spiritual companionship for: 
  • the spiritually curious, 
  • folks who feel disconnected from, or disenchanted with, traditional religious practices,
  • those who feel like God might be missing from church or, 
  • people who feel like they can’t ask questions in church, and 
  • those who seek to explore ideas and feelings about a connection with the divine, the sacred and transcendent aspects of human experience
  • I am particularly interested in working with teens and young adults 
I am an ordained Holy Rascal. I was raised as a Christian protestant, but have experience with and interest in, a variety of religious and meditative practices.
I am a firm believer that many paths lead to one truth. I am fascinated by that indescribable thing that tugs inside us and calls us to draw closer to the divine. It is ancient. It is an experience found all around the world and it manifests in so many different and wonderful ways. Let’s talk about how it might be calling to you.
Ashley Buffington, LPC, CSD
Be Still and Know.
Ashley@ashleybuffingtonlpc.com
404 647 4808
www.ashleybuffingtonlpc.com
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director, offering spiritual companionship to those who are struggling to see God as a truly loving Presence
  • My professional experience as a counselor helps me integrate issues like anxiety into Spiritual Direction work. I offer an ongoing group for people to find support, "Be Still and Know".
  • I have experience doing this with individuals, groups, and in my blogging.
  • This is what I think is cool in the world…that warm feeling and sensation that time has stopped, when I have dinner with those I love and cherish. As well as that time I saw a rabbit sitting between two cherry blossoms with fire flies beaming around it… And not long after, seeing a cardinal perched high in a tree that shimmered of gold from the sunset… Shall I go on? 😊 
Mitch Cohen, MA, CSD
Rabbi of the Rejected
mcohen5@comcast.net
404 452 8438
www.tiferetolam.com
  • I refer to myself as the “Rabbi of the Rejected,” offering spiritual companionship to those who are spiritually independent, looking for a spiritual path that is beyond the confines of religion and based on the teachings of perennial wisdom.
  • I have experience supporting others with their grief work, difficult life transitions, religious trauma (early life religious experiences that were deeply hurtful) and creating spiritual pathways not limited to traditional  religion.  Some of the tools used include dreamwork and working with The Enneagram personality assessment.
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director.   I was certified in 2002 as a Life Coach by the Center for Leadership Design.
  • This is what I think is cool in the world:  that we are all One, connected by a Universal Soul (which some might call the Collective Unconscious) and that we are all Divine manifestations, on a journey of meaning making, derived from experiences – even the painful ones- and drawing from common wisdom taught by all spiritual paths.  I also believe that music is the language of the Soul and is a form of worship.
Mitch completed 40-hour training at the Atlanta Center for Wellness, in association with Enneagram Georgia and was recognized as a Riso-Hudson Enneagram Applications Certified Professional to support people in their daily lives, spiritual lives and in the workplace.  Mitch also studied independently with Dr. Jerome Lubbe, author of "Whole Identity: A Brain -Based Enneagram Model for Wholistic Human Thriving". Mitch applies the profile developed by Jerome Lubbe and the Riso-Hudson model of assessing client personality preferences, growth behaviors, ego-fixated behaviors, levels of development and the movement of spiritual growth by applying the virtue behaviors which allow clients to get closer to their Inner Divine Truth.
Vernessa Eley, CSD
Find Your Balance
thrivinginkconnection@gmail.com
678 485 3199
www.thrivinginkconnection.com
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director, offering spiritual companionship to those who are questioning your religious foundation and seeking a closer relationship with God. You may not have a spiritual home (unchurched) but seek connection and inclusion. 
  • I am a professional life coach that focuses on balance of life, and firmly believes spirituality is a key foundational cornerstone to a healthy and happy life.
  • What I think is cool in the world is that we are all connected and in embracing our connectivity can know the love of God in all, even in life’s transitions and hardships – and that is truly uplifting and powerful!
Stacey Atkins, CSD
Caring Support Through Illness
Stacey@SomethingDifferentMinistries.org
469 408 0242
SomethingDifferentMinistries.org
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director, offering spiritual companionship to those who are facing a life-threatening or chronic illness and those who are caretakers of people with such illnesses; specializing in cancer patients and caregivers.
  • I am also available to those seeking deeper meaning in their lives, those who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious” or are questioning what they were taught to believe by their family of origin.
  • Our world has so much more to offer us in the spiritual realm than most of us can imagine. Our connection with the Divine and each other is what makes our lives have meaning. I look forward to listening to your experiences and accompanying you on your spiritual journey.
Michael Alan Goldman, Shinjin Nosan Ryu Eun, CSD
Soto Zen 
coyoteboy12@yahoo.com
404 790 4769
  • I offer spiritual guidance in the tradition of Soto Zen Buddhism. 
  • I can also provide guidance for those seeking to reconcile spiritual and scientific modes of thought. 
  • I am happy to provide instruction in meditation and sitting.​
Joella Walker, LMSW, CSD
Cross Cultural Shamanism 
Joella@joellawalker.com
404 694 1259
www.joellawalker.com
  • I offer spiritual companionship to those who are spiritually curious, independent, interested in Earth-based or native traditions… and if you are asking, “Where does the divine show up in everyday life?”
  • I practice the Earth-honoring Pachacuti Mesa Tradition as an apprentice and initiated in the Summer of 2019.  I was raised in Methodist and Episcopalian traditions and have studied world religions and spiritual traditions for over a decade.
  • I have experience doing spiritual direction as a directee for three years and as a director with individuals since Spring 2019.
  • My professional experience as a psychotherapist helps me hold space for others as they explore, connect, heal, and grow through life transitions and periods of questioning their life’s purpose.
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director and an ordained Holy Rascal.
  • This is what I think is cool in the world…     
    • Nature and the patterns nature holds.
    • Relationships and the interconnectedness of things.
    • There are innumerable ways to connect with the divine and we are all One.
    • The natural world is an amazing model for spiritual beings having a human experience.
    • That everything is energy and through focused intention we have the power for transformation.
Monica Sams, MDiv, CSD
Companionship & Discernment 
monicasams1234@gmail.com
​404 721 2705
I have a special interest in providing spiritual companionship to people who are
  • Experiencing transitions in their lives, including health challenges
  • Engaged in vocational discernment
  • Interested in exploring spirituality beyond traditional frameworks, including the use of writing, art, drama, music, and other creative expressions and experiences 
  • Serving in ministry in any capacity or who serve in leadership roles in various contexts
​I am an ordained Christian minister and pastor with over twenty years of service, including chaplaincy training (4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education).   
  • I am a Certified Spiritual Director.
  • I believe that people can connect more to the Divine and to each other when we open to ways that we can fully integrate spirituality into our everyday lives.  I enjoy journeying with people as we listen and grow together, becoming our most authentic selves.
Phil Foster, MDiv, LPC, ELC
Zeitgeist Recluse-In-Residence
404 314 8325
“There is need of one thing." ~ Jesus, Luke 10:42a
 
"Everything comes down to loving or not loving.” ~Rumi
 
“The way that can be named is not the real Way.” ~ Tao Te Ching, 1

  • Companionship with therapists, clergy, and artists
  • Mystery and Paradox
  • Story and Poetry
  • Spiritual polyamory and inter-spirituality
My spiritual background includes academic religious studies and theology; experiential indigenous spirituality apprenticeships; Reform/Restoration Protestantism; Contemplative Christianity.  I attended Emory University/Candler School of Theology. My honors thesis examined the spiritual phenomenology of Protestant Evangelicalism and psychedelics.  I am an Ecumenical Lay Cistercian of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit (2016), and an ordained Disciples of Christ clergyperson (1977).  After forty years of vocation, I am a retired psychotherapist.
What’s cool???
Our Creator-Creature-Creative Consciousness
The Dancing, Luminous World, the Earth-Universe
Monk, Bird, and Garcia
Chanting and drumming
Silence and solitude
Shadow and Light
This moment…