Directory of Ignatian Spiritual Directors
Finding the Right Ignatian Spiritual Director
Choosing a spiritual director is a sacred and personal step in your journey with God. The right companion can help you listen more deeply, discern more clearly, and grow more fully in your relationship with Christ.
As you explore our directory of qualified Ignatian spiritual directors, here are a few things to prayerfully consider:
Spiritual Formation and Training
Each director listed here has completed recognized training in spiritual direction, all with specialized formation in the Ignatian tradition. Their theological grounding supports a safe, structured, and Spirit-led space.Style and Experience
Some directors focus on prayer methods and Scripture; others emphasize life experience, discernment, or vocational questions. Consider what approach aligns with your needs in this season of your life.Fit and Trust
Spiritual direction requires openness and trust. It’s appropriate to meet with a potential director once or twice to discern whether the relationship feels right.Confidentiality and Professionalism
Our directors are committed to maintaining appropriate boundaries, confidentiality, and a posture of reverence toward your journey.Faith Background
While most directors are rooted in Catholic and Ignatian spirituality, we welcome seekers from all Christian traditions. Feel free to express your own background and spiritual language as you begin.Practical Logistics
Consider factors such as availability, location, and whether sessions are offered in person, online, or both.
We invite you to explore our list of qualified spiritual directors below, each committed to walking with others in their journey of faith and discernment. May the Holy Spirit guide you as you seek a companion on the path to deeper intimacy with God.
Spiritual Directors
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Guisela Dominguez Argueta
gdominguez@casaromerocenter.org
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: My personal background is what has shaped who I am in terms of being a spiritual guide. Growing up in a religious household, I was taught about a God that punished. This mindset caused my relationship with God to be hollow because I only understood fear. Through many Ignatian Spiritual exercises I learned about a God that loves and is compassionate. I also learned about how God lives within me and in others when we help and love each other every day.
Areas of Interest: My passion is to serve the Hispanic community and to accompany others in deepening their spiritual and personal relationship with God, so they may live fully in a liberating manner. Having experienced past traumas myself, I carry a genuine sense of empathy for those who are walking through difficult times.
Approach: My first step is to meet with you and listen—learning about your relationship with God and what prayer means in your life. From there, I create a plan tailored to your unique needs, because I believe spiritual growth is never a one-size-fits-all journey
Spiritual Direction offered in Spanish
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Wendy Volz Daniels
Contact: wvolzdan@gmail.com
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: BS in Secondary Education, Broadfield Social Studies with minors in Psychology & Sociology. Master's degree in social work (MSW) from Loyola University of Chicago. Licensed clinical social worker. Prior to working in the academic setting, I assisted children and families involved in the child welfare, juvenile court and mental health systems in Illinois, Louisiana, and Wisconsin, including working as the Clinical Director of the intensive (secure) residential treatment units for youth at the former Catholic Charities’ Hope Haven Center in Marrero, Louisiana.
I am an internship coordinator at Marquette University where I oversee undergraduate student internships in the fields of social welfare and justice, criminology and law studies, anthropology, and sociology. Using Ignatian Spirituality principles, I assist students in vocational discernment. I teach in Marquette’s prison education program inside Racine Correctional Institution (RCI) and as a volunteer for Thrive for Life, I provide monthly retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola for men incarcerated at RCI.
Areas of Interest: I am interested in accompanying those who are discerning God’s call to find meaning and purpose in their lives, finding God in all things and listening for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I strive to be a servant leader with an apostolic preference for those marginalized by society including individuals who are incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, building a more just and hopeful world.
Approach: Listen patiently as I accompany others on their unique Ignatian adventure to find God in all things.
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Mary Beth McBride Doyle
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: BA in political science and theology from Marquette University. Worked as a Campus Minister at Marquette University, Director of Justice & Peace for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee Province and taught Theology for 27 years at Marquette High School. Married with four adult children.
Areas of Interest: Much of my work has involved the intersection of social justice and faith. I have taught scripture as well as Catholic social teaching. My vocation as teacher, spouse and parent allows me to appreciate the spiritual journeys of adolescents, women, parents and those moving into later chapters of life.
Approach: Accompanying people as they develop their own unique way of responding to how the soul (the Holy Spirit) is guiding them to be the person they are meant to be, that their deepest yearnings reveal to them, is to enter into holy ground where grace is found in the ongoing conversation between the seeker and the divine
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Jean Ellman, SSND
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: BA in Elementary Education, Mount Mary, Milwaukee; MEd in Bilingual Education and Reading, UW-Whitewater; EDPL (principal license) Marquette U. Milwaukee. I have been middle school teacher and principal mainly in the Milwaukee area; have also facilitated the Urban Plunge program for high school and college students at Casa Romero Renewal Center, Milwaukee, an immersion program of Catholic Social Teaching, personal relationships, and service.
Areas of Interest: My ministerial experiences have been mostly in inner city Milwaukee with Latino and African American communities. Although I have been trained in Ignatian spirituality, I also have many years of experience in centering prayer (Thomas Keating and others).
Approach: My desire is to help people discover the presence and action of God in their prayer and in their daily life. I believe that this discovery brings deep peace and joy to a person.
Spiritual Direction offered in English and Spanish
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Peggy Flynn
Location of Sessions: virtual
Training: Loyola University of Chicago
Background: The major forces that have shaped who I am as a guide are a lifetime of spiritual seeking and exploration; graduate work in life cycle development theory and Jungian Studies; 40+ years as a hospice volunteer (15 of those in the HIV epidemic in San Francisco); and the opportunity to study and work with incredible teachers in the Ignatian spirituality lineage.
Areas of Interest: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Individual development across the lifespan. Caregiving. End-of-Life logistics and mystery.
Approach: I try to honor the uniqueness of each person and each person's journey in and with the Divine---however that person experiences it. One focus - the spiritual autobiography.
Website: www.intheeveningoflife.org
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Laura Gilmartin Hancock
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL) and Loyola University of Chicago
Background: MA in Lay Ministry (Cardinal Stritch University), MS in Cultural Foundations of Education (UW-Milwaukee), BM in Music Education (SUNY College at Fredonia). Educator and spiritual companion; pilgrimage and retreat facilitator; former Colorado Vincentian Volunteer. Parent and partner.
Areas of Interest: Ignatian spirituality; the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola; social justice and societal healing; support of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ persons.
Approach: To experience soul presence is to step into a space of welcome and invitation. This space is inclusive of all people and can expand our ability to love, transform our own lives, and create a more whole society.
Website: www.soulcaremke.com
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William Lipscomb
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: BA in History (University of Virginia), JD (University of Wisconsin). Federal prosecutor in Milwaukee for 32 years. Returned to school and obtained MA in Systematic Theology (Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, Franklin, WI) and completed the Midwest Jesuits’ Seminars in Ignatian Formation Program to train as a spiritual director. Teaches criminology and law studies at Marquette University and Catholic Social Teaching at Sacred Heart Seminary. In studying Southern History at the University of Virginia, I immersed myself in the study of race relations in the United States. The pain of racial separation and the hope for the Beloved Community has been with me in my work as a federal prosecutor, my teaching at MU and Sacred Heart, and my work as a spiritual director.
Areas of Interest: Ignatian Spirituality; the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola; Discernment of Calling; Accompaniment of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.
Approach: I help people pay attention to how God is moving in their lives.
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Monica Meagher
Location of Sessions: in-person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Loyola University of Chicago
Background: B.A. in Theology and Education (Marquette University, Milwaukee); Masters of Divinity (St. Francis DeSales Seminary, Milwaukee); Graduate Certificate in Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises (Loyola University, Chicago). Additional training through Spiritual Directors International and Contemplative Outreach International. I have been a certified spiritual director for over 30 years. Professionally, I have been an educator, a parish minister, and a spiritual director at Marquette University. Currently, along with the ministry of spiritual direction, I am the director of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps in Milwaukee which brings together spirituality and social justice.
Areas of Interest: Ignatian Spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, discerning life purpose, finding God in all things, developing one's spiritual senses, listening to the signs of the times, and God's call within each of us and in the world.
Approach: God is reaching out to you with wisdom, guidance and grace. Let's listen together for God's dream for your life.
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Nicki Nelson
Location of Sessions: in person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Siena Retreat Center’s Spiritual Guidance Training Program and Supervisor Training Program (Racine, WI)
Background: MA in Theology (Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA); MA in Clinical Psychology (Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, WI); BS in Business Administration (Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI); additional training in the Enneagram, Somatic Experiencing, and yoga; partner and parent
Areas of Interest: justice worker support, grief and loss, trauma care, young adults, women’s support, Ignatian spirituality (the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola offered in the spirit of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin).
Approach: Spiritual direction is a process of deepening your awareness of the presence of the Sacred within your life, so that you can find greater freedom to be a force of love and justice in the world.
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John Pustejovsky
Contact: john.pustejovsky@marquette.edu
Location of Sessions: In-person preferred (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: Forty years teaching literature, and as an academic advisor.
Areas of Interest: Teaching undergraduates to read poetry and short stories.
Approach: Patient listening, encouraging imagination, open conversation about prayer.
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Mary Utzerath
Location of Sessions: in-person (Western Waukesha County or Gesu) or virtual
Training: Loyola University Institute of Pastoral Studies, Chicago, IL.
Background: M.Div., St. Francis Seminary; Ph.D. Theological Studies, Marquette University
Areas of Interest: I am particularly interested in helping baptized Christians to live their Baptismal vocation. I am trained in the Spiritual Exercises and have offered the 19 Annotation many times over the past 8 years.
Approach: Spiritual direction is a three-way relationship between God, myself, and the directee. I see myself as a privileged companion and guide, listening prayerfully and helping directees to notice and receive God's love and invitation in their lives. For me it is always a grace-filled experience of God's care and love.
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Conrad York
Location of Sessions: in person (Milwaukee) or virtual
Training: Midwest Province of Jesuits (Chicago, IL)
Background: BS in Finance and Management Information Systems and an MBA from Marquette University. Brings decades of senior executive experience at Northwestern Mutual, Quad Graphics and Invensys where I led marketing and sales strategies that drove innovation and sustained growth.
Areas of Interest: Supporting professionals approaching or in their second half of life who seek to deepen their loving relationship with Jesus Christ and discern how to give back meaningfully to their communities. Rooted in Ignatian spirituality, this area invites reflection on purpose, legacy, and the call to generative service.
Approach: Helping people find God in all things.