About Fred

Fred has been ministering to people from all walks of life as an interfaith spiritual director, supervisor, teacher, and retreat director for 25 years. He received his training through the Archdiocese of Louisville’s two-year Spiritual Direction Practicum, for which he subsequently served as a supervisor. In 2003 he cofounded Sycamore Spirituality Center, Inc., an interfaith / interspiritual nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of contemplative communities and the training and supervision of new spiritual directors through its three-year formation program.

From 2003 to 2010 he served on the faculty for and co-administered Mercy Center’s Internship in the Art of Spiritual Direction in Burlingame, CA. He is also a graduate of Mercy Center’s Internship in the Art of Supervision. As part of SoulSpring, he directed semi-annual silent weekend retreats for 10 years. He is a member of Spiritual Directors International and has served on their planning committee for their annual leadership conference.

Fred has a special interest in the socialization of men in our American culture and has been a member of the same men’s group community for more than 27 years. He is committed to working with people whose spirituality has been influenced and shaped by marginalization, including individuals from different cultures, the LGBTQIA2S+ community, persons experiencing religious oppression, people who identify as spiritual but not religious, and those in recovery from addictions and mental health challenges. He currently serves on the steering committee of the Holistic Mental Health Network of Greater Cincinnati and teaches spirituality classes at the Recovery Center of Hamilton County. As part of his passion for interfaith dialogue and advocacy for the acceptance of all spiritual traditions, Fred has participated in the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia (2009); Salt Lake City, UT (2015); and Toronto, Canada (2018).

In 2022 Fred joined the spirituality team at Saint Luke Center, a professional counseling center in Louisville, KY, that evaluates permanent diaconate, priesthood, and religious life candidates for vocational suitability during an in-depth, multi-day spiritual and psychological assessment process. Serving on a multidisciplinary team, Fred conducts comprehensive spirituality interviews to identify candidates’ current religious beliefs, spiritual practices, and understanding of the discernment process to offer recommendations for the next steps in their formation journeys.

He also received his Trauma-Responsive Care Certification from the Tristate Trauma Network in 2023. Trauma-responsive care goes beyond understanding trauma and its effects to providing interventions that seek to alleviate trauma symptoms and lead to a higher level of functioning.

Fred graduated summa cum laude as a University Scholar from Xavier University with a B.A. in English. He offers individual and group spiritual direction and supervision in person at his private office and spirituality library in Cincinnati as well as online sessions via Zoom.