“The desert, like Kanuga, is a place of incubation.
In these special places… and other thin places, dreams and contact with the collective
unconscious are incubated.” — Bob Haden
Officers
Mark Ritchie—President and
Executive Director
Mark Ritchie is a spiritual director, life coach, non-profit advisor, owner of StillPoint Retreat, and cultural traveler. After much soul searching and a healing dream, he left his CEO career to pursue a call to lay ministry centered on finding purpose and meaning.
Living in Salisbury, NC, he is a graduate of the Haden Institute in both the Spiritual Direction Training and Dream Work Training courses and has served as a Mentor in Spiritual Direction since 2010.
Susan Cass—Vice President
Susan Pannier-Cass is a contemplative Catholic who has a passion for working with people going through life transitions. She is a graduate of the Haden Institute's Spiritual Direction Training and currently resides in San Diego, CA.. Susan is also an ordained Interfaith Minister, a facilitator of workshops for women, and has been a yoga and meditation instructor for over 25 years. She also graduated from The Jung Institute in Chicago where she furthered her training and fueled her interest in how dreams can be used for spiritual and psychological growth.
Rev. Sr. Veronica Dunbar - Sec.
The Rev. Sr. Veronica Mary is a native of the Detroit area. She is a professed monastic in the Episcopal religious order of Anamchara Fellowship, with whom she has journeyed since 2012. Veronica graduated from The Haden Institute’s spiritual direction program in 2014. Veronica was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church in 2017, and serves as a curate at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit.
Darby Christopher, MSW - Treas.
Darby Christopher, MSW, is an Interfaith Minister who has dedicated herself to dream work, leading retreats and workshops, teaching, giving talks and working with people one-on-one. A graduate of the Haden Institute’s Dream Leadership Training program (2006), she is a co-facilitator of the Natural Spirituality Regional Gathering. She continues to learn and grow from leaders in the dream field and self-published the book, From Anxiety to Connection: A Path to Authentic Relating. In 2025 she stepped into the role of co-coordinator of dream groups at Haden’s Summer Dream and Spirituality Conference. To learn more about Darby and her offerings, visit dreamliturgy.com.
The Haden Institute, founded in 1994, offers Spiritual Direction and Dream Worker training and certification for professionals and non-professionals. Haden Institute courses are unique in that they are grounded in the dynamic interrelationship between Jungian psychology and the historical traditions of spiritual direction.
The Institute has grown since its inception, and there are now over 300 graduates representing many states, provinces, and even overseas countries. Graduates incorporate this training into their personal lives and in their ministries and professions with many choosing to establish a private practice.
Even with this steady growth, the Haden Foundation believes that a greater diversity in the make-up of the student body would greatly enhance the learning experience currently being provided by the Institute.
The academic curriculum already draws from a wide variety of belief systems, both Eastern and Western. By broadening the ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity of the student body, we see a golden opportunity to enrich and deepen the quality of this unique learning community.
The vision of the Haden Foundation is to create a scholarship fund that will enable us to fulfill our mission of providing financial support to spiritual direction and dream worker students in need, regardless of their ethnic origin, gender, religion, race, age, or professional vocation. By cultivating a more diverse learning community, we will also be able to extend and deepen the reach of the Haden Institute into a greater variety of local communities in this country and throughout the world.
Enhancing growth and Diversity
Directors
Lee-Ann Jaykus
Lee-Ann Jaykus, Ph.D. is a William Neal Reynolds Distiguished Professor in the Dept. of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Services at NC State University in Raleigh, NC. Her research is in food microbiology, with specific interest in microbial food safety. She graduated from the Haden Institute Spiritual Direction Program in 2018 and entered the Dream Work Training Program in 2021.
Maria Teresa Jones
Chaplain Maria Teresa Jones serves as the Chaplaincy Program Manager for Faculty and Staff Support in the Winton Salem, NC Campus and Ambulatory Clinics. She received a Master of Divinity with certification in Spirituality, Religion, and Health Professions from Wake Forest University School of Divinity. A native of Old San Juan Puerto Rico, Maria Teresa is a graduate of the Haden Institute in both the Spiritual Direction Training and Dream Wok Training courses.
Rev. Kelly Carpenter
Rev. Kelly P. Carpenter served 20+ years as Senior Pastor of Green Street United Methodist Church, a multiracial congregation with a commitment to community service in Winston-Salem, NC. He has assisted with numerous local organizing groups and non profits and in 2006, Kelly founded The Shalom Project, a local non profit seeking to disrupt the cycle of poverty for people. Kelly has certifications in Dream Leadership and Spiritual Direction with the Haden Institute. He is currently the Sr. Pastor at Ardmore UMC.
Robert Scotland
Dr. Robert Scotland is a retired school principal and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA. Robert continues to pastor in South Carolina and lives in Columbia. It was during his work as a correctional chaplain many years ago that he became interested in becoming a spiritual director and he graduated from Haden Institute's Spiritual Direction course in January, 2020.
Marsha Holmes
Marsha Holmes was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida in 2016. She currently serves at Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She retired as a Corporate Vice President from Verizon Communications in 2001. Marsha continues to grow her practice in Spiritual Direction and also facilitates the training of new Deacons in the Diocese. She graduated from the Haden Institute Spiritual Direction Program in 2018. Marsha currently serves as a mentor in the Spiritual Direction Training course.
Karen Campbell
Karen Perrell Campbell is an expressive artist, healer, creative depth coach and organizational consultant. She has a Master of Human Development and Learning, is a certified Spiritual Director, Creative Depth Coach, Projective Dreamworker, SoulCollage® facilitator and Reiki Master. Karen is the founder of Creative LLC. For over 20 years she has served as a consultant for numerous non-profit organizations in North and South Carolina. For the past 15 years her consultation work has shifted to include work with individuals and groups as they journey toward wholeness.
