FRANCIS W. VANDERWALL is a retreat leader, spiritual director and counselor in private practice in Lafayette, Louisiana.

    A former Jesuit, he has for many years been a facilitator and leader of workshops on liturgy, ecclesial ministries, prayer, spirituality and behavior modification.

    He has a doctoral degree in the Psychology of Religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, as well as a masters of divinity in Theology and the Fine Arts from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.

    He has written and had published several books, including Water in the Wilderness: Paths of Prayer, Springs for Life (1985), Spiritual Direction: An Invitation to Abundant Life (1981), and Freedom From Fear: A Way Through the Ways of Jesus the Christ (1999).