Offering Catholic Counseling in Phoenix, Arizona

Journey to becoming a Catholic therapist in Arizona

I always welcome all Christian denominations and anyone that wants to explore their faith/spiritual beliefs to my counseling practice. But I do like to make it known that I have a particular gift to work with Catholics on bringing Catholic specific theology into the counseling sessions. To provide my background in a nutshell, I was raised a cradle Catholic, but had my own prodigal son moment in my early 20’s after trying to live a very secular lifestyle. Anyone who has had a spiritual conversion or “re-version” experience knows when they started to take their faith seriously, and this is true for me. At this point I was challenged by others to see why am I Catholic? So, I had to start from scratch and learn all the aspects of Catholic specific theology. Long story short, after an intense year of study I fully accepted all the teachings of the Catholic Church and am still actively practicing to this day. I later attended Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio to become more educated in my faith and become a psychotherapist.

What is unique about Catholic Counseling?

There is plenty of overlap in specific Catholic Counseling to what I discuss on my Christian Counseling service page. In addition to truths accepted by Christianity as a whole, I can bring in aspects of Catholic theology covered over the past 2000 years. Most unique to the Catholic Church is the teaching of the saints. Specifically for Catholics, I like to bring in teachings from Theology of the Body from Pope John Paul II and The Spiritual Exercises from Ignatius of Loyola. There are universal teachings from the Catechism and virtues taught from the saints to learn from. Currently we have plenty of great Catholic professors, speakers and resources that can be integrated in the counseling sessions. Finally, as Catholics we have specific beliefs in the healing power of the Sacraments and what that does to heal our mind & soul. I find all the strengths from Catholicism and Christianity offer a more depth of what Psychology cannot provide alone.

Start including your Catholic faith in your therapy today; work with a Catholic therapist

Many people I have worked with have told me the emptiness of not being able to fully express their faith in their counseling or psychotherapy sessions. It was previously thought that psychotherapy can only draw from psychological resources alone. There are many great Christian counselors out that are passionate about including your faith in the counseling work and taking a holistic approach to healing. There and even a few of us Catholic therapists in the Phoenix, Arizona area who are passionate about including all aspects of Catholic theology with emotional health. Please reach out to me if you would like to learn more about how I can include your Catholic faith into the counseling sessions. I can also offer referrals to other Catholic therapists in the area if you are looking for someone with different specialties or strengths.