April 7, 2026
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I want to begin by honoring both spiritual companioning and psychotherapy. Both spiritual companioning and traditional therapy bring a caring and compassionate balm to individuals who need spaces of safety and healing. They are part of the larger pantheon of wellness approaches that individuals draw upon to bring balance, healing, and peace to their lives.
Both the spiritual companion and therapist strive to listen and support individuals, families, and communities. They both provide safe spaces for people to share their life concerns, such as grief, stress, relationships, decision-making and challenging situations. Both professionals receive formal training and follow ethical guidelines of conduct. Both focus on helping individuals and communities achieve balance, well-being, and peace.
While there are similarities and areas of overlap, spiritual companioning and traditional therapy have different focuses, approaches, and purposes. When a prospective seeker wishes to engage in spiritual companioning with me, I often invoke the analogy of a tree to explain my role and how it differs from psychotherapy. I draw on the magic, mystery, and mysticism of trees to compare the work of spiritual companioning with traditional psychotherapy.
You may be wondering why I chose trees as the central focus to draw a comparison between spiritual companioning and therapy. My reason is that like everything in nature, trees teach us important lessons about what it means to be spiritual beings connected to the web of life.
There is something mysterious and magnificent that happens when we are in the presence of trees. Trees are indeed a gift to all life forms on Earth. Life, as we know it, could not exist without the canopy of conifers and the wonder of our woody and willowy companions we call trees. They provide food and sustenance in the form of seeds, fruits, and leaves. They offer shelter in their hollows and branches to birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects. Humans and other animals have relied on trees for centuries for protection, heat, and shelter and beauty.
Most trees share a familiar structure: roots, trunks, branches, and leaves. Symbolically, roots connect us to our ancestry, memory, and lineage. The roots ground the tree, providing it with stability and nourishment. A tree’s trunk, in Celtic Druid mysticism, represents the human world, and the realm of daily life. Protected by a textured and firm bark, trunks are the inner sanctum of a tree’s journey. Trunks remind us that life itself is textured and at times is rough. Tree branches extend outward and upward, symbolizing aspects of our lives—relationships, health, career, and community, and such. A tree is a living reflection of our human experience—rooted in the Earth, reaching toward the Heavens, like arms longing to be held by our beloved, and bridged by a distinct trunk.
When I describe my work to a seeker, I often speak about the seasons of a tree’s life. This familiar cadence mirrors our own seasons of life in the human life span. Spring brings new birth. Summer evokes vitality and flourishing. Autumn ushers the harvest, beauty, and release. Winter invites darkness, stillness, and reflection. Each season mirrors the stages and cycles of our human and spiritual journey.
As I continue to explore this metaphor of the tree, I want to further consider the approaches of the Druid and the Arborist in relation to my understandings of God.
The Druid…
When we think about the wonder of trees, many of us recognize them as sacred, living beings filled with wisdom and beauty. Throughout history, there have been notable tree admirers or tree huggers who have devoted their entire lives to caring for and celebrating trees.
The Druids, for example, were a group of formidable tree admirers. They were members of a Celtic class and were considered noble and distinguished in ancient Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and parts of France. They saw trees as sacred teachers and honored them with deep respect and care.
Druids gathered among trees, especially oaks, engaging in ritual, poetry, prayer, and contemplation. To a Druid, a tree was not an object but rather a living being, suffused with the love and sanctity of the Divine.
Modern spiritual companions are like Druids—sitting with and journeying alongside people as if they were trees. The Druid does not seek to fix the tree, but to be with it—listening, witnessing, and honoring its natural unfolding.
Spiritual companions do the same for humans. They sit in deep presence, listening, asking reflective questions, and mirroring back the wisdom already within the person. Their role is not to heal in a clinical sense, but to accompany or to journey with that person. Spiritual companions trust the process. They see meaning in suffering and transformation in hardship. They help others connect with their inner divinity and the sacredness of their lives.
The Arborist…
In contrast to the Druid, we have the Arborist—the trained specialist who diagnoses, treats, and supports the health of trees. The Arborist conducts an assessment and develops a treatment plan to help a tree achieve optimal health, wellness, beauty, and functioning. They work with both trees and the surrounding environment, using knowledge, techniques, and interventions to promote growth and wellness.
A therapist plays a similar role for people—assessing, diagnosing, and treating emotional and psychological challenges. Both the arborist and the therapist aim to create conditions for healthy functioning and well-being. Like the Arborist, a therapist develops a treatment plan that may include prescribed approaches and protocols.
In a world where thousands of individuals suffer from mental, emotional, and psychological distress, therapists provide welcome, needed support. Fortunately, the array of professionals trained to provide therapy is vast and impressive. It includes psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, pastoral counselors, art therapists, mental health counselors, music therapists, professional counselors, marriage, and family therapists, nurse practitioners, and many more professions to speak of. These trained professionals are typically licensed and work with a variety of mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, substance abuse, body dysmorphia, sexual abuse, gender-based trauma and many other challenges requiring clinical interventions.
Certain methods used by therapists align closely with practices used by spiritual companions. For example, a therapist may utilize mindfulness, journaling, art, and music in their sessions. Spiritual companions may use the same techniques but focus on supporting a seeker on their spiritual path rather than their clinical recovery.
In short, Both Druid and Arborist—both Spiritual Companion and Therapist—are essential and valued in the life of “tree-people” and in the life of all people.
And God…
To be true to the title of this article, I would be remiss not to speak of God. If the Druid companions the tree and the Arborist cares for its health, what then is God’s role?
From the beginning of time, humans have searched for meaning, purpose, and understanding. From this place of yearning and curiosity, the great world’s religions and spiritual traditions were born.
World religions provide guidance, principles, dogma, and collective understanding about a particular religious path or faith. Many of us were raised with some form of religious belief that provides a vital framework for our lives. Many, however, chose not to subscribe to or be part of any formal religious institution or system of worship. According to the Pew Research Center, most Americans describe themselves as being spiritual more than religious. Whether religious or spiritual—both or none—we have all asked ourselves the essential question: What Do I Believe?
One thing I believe for certain is: something—some kind of ineffable force—created the tree, created the creatures within it, and created the cycles of life that sustain us all.
Some people call this mystery God.
Others call it science.
I call it love.
In the beginning of this article, I set out to consider the differences between a Druid and an Arborist—my metaphors for a spiritual companion and a therapist. As I conclude my musings, it is safe to say that the Arborist is a Healer, and the Druid is a Holder. The Arborist heals the wounds and the Druid holds them.
The ultimate question is: Who Holds Both?
Truly, I do not know that any of us have the answer to this profound question, and I am quite certain we will not know until we become dead trees ourselves, but I do believe that he who holds both and she who holds both, holds everything and everyone, everywhere.
This is faith.
This is love.
And, this is God.
Bibliography
Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center
660 Great Pond Road
North Andover, MA, 01845
thestaff@rollingridge.org
Phone: (978) 682-8815
Fax: (978) 681-1162
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