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scott rensho elliott, m.a.I am a spiritual counselor, educator, and contemplative guide devoted to the care of soul and the cultivation of mindful awareness. For more than two decades, I have accompanied individuals and families through grief, transformation, and spiritual awakening — helping them listen for the quiet movement of the sacred within their own lives.
From an early age, I experienced the world as deeply symbolic and alive with meaning — a world where dreams, synchronicities, and archetypal images reveal the subtle language of Soul. This sensitivity has shaped both my vocation and my way of being. Over time, it led me to study and practice within several spiritual traditions, including Celtic Christian & Contemplative spirituality, Tibetan Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism. Each has taught me different ways of seeing — through silence, mindfulness, compassion, and the deep attentiveness of the Soul. |
I hold a Master’s Degree in Archetypal Psychology, a field rooted in the work of Carl Jung and James Hillman, exploring the symbolic life of the psyche and the imagination as expressions of soul. My approach integrates the insights of depth psychology with the practices of mindfulness, meditation, and spiritual direction, forming what I call Mindfulness-Centered Soul Tending — a way of non-diagnostic, non-clinical listening and guidance that honors both psycho-spiritual understanding and the depth and mystery of the Soul.
I believe the imagination is a form of spiritual perception — the way the Soul sees. My work invites others to enter into mindful relationship with the imaginal dimension of experience, where psyche, nature, and spirit intersect. Healing and transformation arise not from escaping life’s complexities, but from learning to see them as sacred materials of inner alchemy.
Through Mindfulness-Centered Soul Tending and Archetypal Coaching, I help others explore their dreams, symbols, and personal myths as pathways toward wholeness — discovering that what once seemed dark or broken often conceals the seed of awakening.
This is my calling: to live as a bridge between worlds — between psychology and spirituality, East and West, the visible and the unseen — and to help others awaken to the beauty and wisdom of their own unfolding journey.
I believe the imagination is a form of spiritual perception — the way the Soul sees. My work invites others to enter into mindful relationship with the imaginal dimension of experience, where psyche, nature, and spirit intersect. Healing and transformation arise not from escaping life’s complexities, but from learning to see them as sacred materials of inner alchemy.
Through Mindfulness-Centered Soul Tending and Archetypal Coaching, I help others explore their dreams, symbols, and personal myths as pathways toward wholeness — discovering that what once seemed dark or broken often conceals the seed of awakening.
This is my calling: to live as a bridge between worlds — between psychology and spirituality, East and West, the visible and the unseen — and to help others awaken to the beauty and wisdom of their own unfolding journey.
- I am a graduate of Antioch University where I earned a specialized Masters' Degree in Archetypal Psychology. I am currently completing a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) with a concentration in Spiritual Direction at United Seminary of the Twin Cities.
- I am trained in Jungian-Centered Spiritual Direction and Dream-Work through the Haden Institute in North Carolina. I have also served on faculty of the Haden Institute presenting on Meditation for Inner-Work.
- I am a graduate of the North Carolina School of Natural Healing (a school for massage & somatic therapies, herbalism, & alternative healing). My undergraduate work also includes Social Work, Psychology, and Human Services.
- I am a graduate of Education for Ministry (EfM) through the University of the South School of Theology.
- I have additional theological education and pastoral training through the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- I am trained in Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE accredited) and have served as a spiritual counselor in hospital, hospice, and behavioral health settings and with military veterans. In addition to my private practice as an Archetypal Coach, I serve as a bereavement counselor, chaplain, & spiritual care professional with hospice organizations in coastal & central Maine.
- I have practiced meditation in both the Tibetan and Zen Buddhist traditions for more than 25 years. My Zen study and practice continues at the Morgan Bay Zendo in Surry, Maine.
I am a member of Spiritual Directors International and the Maine Jung Center.
You can also find my profile on Psychology Today.
how i describe my work
My work is grounded in the care of the psyche—the Greek word for SOUL—and not in the management of mental illness.
I believe neither the state nor insurance companies can define or contain the depth of human suffering, transformation, or awakening.
True healing belongs to the realm of Soul and spirit, where meaning, imagination, and mystery dwell. My approach—what I call Mindfulness-Centered Soul Tending and Archetypal Coaching—offers an alternative to clinical "mental health" therapy. It invites clients to explore their lives through the lens of myth, dream, symbol, and story, attending to spiritual and archetypal dimensions of experience that conventional therapy often overlooks.
In this way, I understand my practice as an act of decolonizing care: reclaiming the ancient and sacred art of soul guidance from systems that reduce human experience to diagnosis, productivity, and profit. I accompany those who seek depth, authenticity, and spiritual renewal—those who long to heal not just the mind, but the whole of being.
I believe neither the state nor insurance companies can define or contain the depth of human suffering, transformation, or awakening.
True healing belongs to the realm of Soul and spirit, where meaning, imagination, and mystery dwell. My approach—what I call Mindfulness-Centered Soul Tending and Archetypal Coaching—offers an alternative to clinical "mental health" therapy. It invites clients to explore their lives through the lens of myth, dream, symbol, and story, attending to spiritual and archetypal dimensions of experience that conventional therapy often overlooks.
In this way, I understand my practice as an act of decolonizing care: reclaiming the ancient and sacred art of soul guidance from systems that reduce human experience to diagnosis, productivity, and profit. I accompany those who seek depth, authenticity, and spiritual renewal—those who long to heal not just the mind, but the whole of being.
I stand before you tonight to represent the people who do not count:
the poor, the poets, and monks.
As long as there are people who are trying to realize the divine in themselves,
there shall be hope in the world.
~Thomas Merton
Author of New Seeds of Contemplation
the poor, the poets, and monks.
As long as there are people who are trying to realize the divine in themselves,
there shall be hope in the world.
~Thomas Merton
Author of New Seeds of Contemplation