 I am a spiritual director, a retreat leader,
and a teacher of compassionate communication,
connecting with you from a "center without walls."
- jean lauer
I've been facilitating retreats for over twenty years and offering spiritual direction for more than ten years. I have a master's degree in servant leadership and additional certification in spiritual direction and clinical pastoral education. My undergraduate work blends spirituality, expressive arts and psychology.  I offer individual and group work in spiritual direction,
training in compassionate communication, and creative learning experiences to honor and explore the sacred relationships of life as paths for healing, renewal and transformation. I've worked as a spiritual director, program director and retreat leader, as a hospital chaplain, a pastoral minister in a large church, an ecumenical campus minister and in providing family support and advocacy for people with disabilities. I am a parent of a person with a developmental disability.
In 2006, I discovered Marshall Rosenberg's "Nonviolent Communication (NVC)." I have been enjoying the learning and practice of compassionate (nonviolent) communication ever since. I have participated in over 500 hours of trainings with Marshall Rosenberg and several other certified trainers from the Center for Nonviolent Communication. I've also attended an Intensive Residential Training in New York in 2007 and participated in Robert Gonzales' NVC LIFE 2008 class.  The practice of compassionate communication
gives me hope for living in a transformed world where compassion can be central to every relationship we have. The image I hold in my heart for the Source is that of a gardener,
tending to the growth of the cosmos with a nurturing light radiating forth from her hands cradling life with love. I intend for the work of my heart, too, to tend to growth as a "gardener of souls." Each flower image on this website is a reminder of the unique beauty and blossoming of life unfolding in you and in me through every season. What image from nature most reminds you of your soul's growth and beauty? What is the Master Gardener "planting" in the unique beauty of your being for all the world to enjoy?
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