Ignatian Exercises, Examen and discernment

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Ignatius of Loyola · 1548

What it is

The Spiritual Exercises is a manual written by Ignatius of Loyola (approved by Pope Paul III in 1548, as the printed text records) for a person who gives the Exercises to another. It is not a book to be read straight through. Ignatius defines "spiritual exercises" broadly as any way of examining…

Format

• Daily rhythm in the full retreat: Ignatius's text describes several prayer periods a day, including at night and at dawn, and asks the person not to cut a period short, especially in desolation (Annotations 12–13). Retreat houses today set their own timetables and adapt them to the person. This is…
• Formats (Annotations 18–20): Annotation 20, the full or "closed" retreat: all the Exercises in order, in seclusion, for a person free to withdraw from ordinary life. Today this is usually called the 30-day retreat; some centres divide it into stages (Epiphany House in the UK lists three residential…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• see B5–B7 for screening, adverse effects and re-entry.
• a client who hears total self-offering as a demand to give up all needs and boundaries; explore with care and refer the theology to the director.
• the review becoming a list of failures (depression) or a checking ritual (OCD, see B4). Working: brief entries, more variety of emotion, links made between events and mood.
• pressure in either direction, including your own; a client who seeks the therapist's approval for religious choices. Working well: the client says clearly what is in and out of scope.
• life decisions (vocation, marriage, leaving a job) made during an intensive retreat in a state of elation, sleeplessness or agitation; Annotation 14 already cautions against rash vows.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.