The Art of Spiritual Midwifery: Dialectic, Socratic Irony & Why How You Say it Matters | Stephen Faller

Stephen Faller is a chaplain, educator, and author who serves as a Chaplain Educator at Overlook Medical Center, where he runs the Clinical Pastoral Education program. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Spiritual Midwifery — dedicated to the development of the theory, practice, and pedagogy of spiritual midwifery in the ministry of individuals, families, and organizations. His experience with cerebral palsy offers a rare and powerful perspective on the intersection of disability and spiritual caregiving. He is the author of several books including "The Art of Spiritual Midwifery" and most recently "Christianity and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance."In this conversation, we explore what spiritual midwifery actually is and how dialogue within it differs from casual conversation, the role of Circling and Dialogos in spiritual practice, and the intricacies of dialectic, paradox, and parables as tools of the spiritual midwife.We get into indirect communication as a vehicle for authentic communication, why we don't argue over objective facts, the barriers to spiritual midwifery, and the tools of the spiritual midwife — including Socratic irony, negation, and the center.We also explore the deeply personal — Artem speaks about his own health condition, Stephen speaks about living with cerebral palsy, and together they navigate the terrain of  COVID, loss, grief, and spiritual practice.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗Stephen's personal site The Art of Spiritual Midwifery — in-depth book summary Christianity and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance — Stephen Faller After Socrates lecture series — John Vervaeke Games People Play — Eric Berne The Yoga of Conversation with Guy Sengstock Hegel Heraclitus Lao Tzu James Hillman Rolfing🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️Foundations of Spiritual Midwifery 0:00 - Introduction 2:54 - What is spiritual midwifery? 10:35 - How dialogue in spiritual midwifery differs from casual conversation 13:27 - Circling, Dialogos and John VervaekeThe Intricacies of Spiritual Midwifery 17:25 - Dialectic, paradox and parables 29:05 - Indirect communication as a vehicle for authentic communication 34:12 - We don't argue over objective facts 42:43 - Barriers to spiritual midwiferyThe Tools of the Spiritual Midwife 55:41 - How you say things vs what you say 58:16 - Socratic irony 1:00:32 - Negation 1:04:20 - The centerDealing with Disability and Loss 1:10:10 - Artem speaks about his health condition 1:14:03 - Stephen speaks on living with cerebral palsy 1:20:57 - Rolfing, COVID, loss, grief and spiritual practiceOutro 1:38:20 - Overview of Stephen's work and his upcoming book*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional