Rev. Dr. Peter C. de Vries, PhD, is a certified spiritual director based in the Mars/Harmony area near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offering spiritual direction online and in person through Spiritual Exploring. With more than three decades of pastoral ministry, Peter offers spiritual direction for clergy and religious professionals, people navigating spiritual transitions or recovering from harmful religious experiences, and others seeking a deeper and more authentic relationship with the Divine.

His approach integrates spiritual direction, contemplative spirituality, Jungian depth psychology, hermeneutics, compassionate listening, and reflective exploration in emotionally safe and nonjudgmental ways.

Many people come to spiritual direction carrying questions, uncertainty, exhaustion, loss, or experiences of harmful religion. Others seek a deeper spiritual life, greater awareness of the sacred, or a trusted companion for discernment. Spiritual direction offers a space for attentive listening, thoughtful reflection, sacred exploration, and compassionate accompaniment. Rather than providing quick answers or rigid certainty, Peter's work encourages deeper awareness, meaning-making, and discernment of the movements of spirit within everyday life.

A central conviction of Peter's work is that people do not need to abandon spirituality in order to heal from harmful religion. Many individuals have experienced church hurt, spiritual abuse, shame-based religion, fear-based faith systems, or spiritually unsafe environments. Spiritual direction can offer a gentle and spacious path toward healing, renewed trust, deeper self-understanding, and reconnection with the sacred.

Peter's practice is especially meaningful for:

• Clergy and ministry leaders experiencing burnout, compassion fatigue, isolation, vocational transition, or spiritual exhaustion
• Individuals healing from religious trauma, church hurt, toxic religion, spiritual manipulation, or spiritually harmful environments
• Christians, contemplatives, and spiritually curious seekers seeking emotionally safe spiritual guidance
• Individuals navigating deconstruction, reconstruction, discernment, grief, life transitions, or questions of meaning and purpose
• Those interested in Jungian spirituality, dreams, symbolism, depth psychology, contemplative spirituality, and sacred interpretation

Peter's approach is rooted in contemplative listening, discernment, emotional safety, and deep respect for each person's unique spiritual journey. He welcomes individuals from a variety of faith backgrounds, including those who are questioning, uncertain, reconstructing faith, spiritually independent, interfaith, or exploring spirituality beyond traditional religious categories. Language about the sacred may include God, the Divine, Higher Power, Holy Presence, or language meaningful to the individual.

He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He received his certification in spiritual direction from the Haden Institute. Peter has served as pastor of Old Union Presbyterian Church in Mars, Pennsylvania, since 1993 and has taught biblical studies and interpretation in seminary and university settings, and has provided theological education opportunities in Ghana for 20 years. His scholarly work focuses on hermeneutics, interpretation, narrative meaning, and the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. He has also pursued additional leadership and spiritual formation training. His publications include the book Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutics and the Discourse of Mark 13: Appropriating the Apocalyptic, and he has given presentations through the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society for Ricoeur Studies. Peter's name is also sometimes rendered as Peter deVries or Peter C. deVries in online listings and professional references.

His experience includes clergy mentoring, leadership development, retreat leadership, spiritual formation, cross-cultural theological education, and pastoral accompaniment.

Areas of particular interest include:

• Spiritual Direction
• Trauma-Informed Spiritual Direction
• Clergy Soul Care
• Religious Trauma Recovery
• Church Hurt Healing
• Spiritual Discernment
• Contemplative Spirituality
• Jungian Spirituality
• Dreams and Symbolism
• Hermeneutics and Meaning-Making
• Spiritual Reconstruction
• Life Transitions
• Grief and Loss
• Burnout Recovery
• Sacred Exploration
• Christian Spirituality
• Spiritual Formation
• Compassionate Accompaniment

Rev. Dr. Peter C. de Vries (sometimes listed as Peter deVries) offers spiritual direction grounded in pastoral wisdom, contemplative spirituality, intellectual depth, emotional safety, and compassionate presence. He believes that spiritual questions deserve thoughtful attention, that healing and sacred meaning remain possible after spiritual harm, and that no one should have to navigate life's deepest questions alone.

Learn more and connect with Peter: Spiritual Exploring – Spiritual Direction with Rev. Dr. Peter C. de Vries