I'm honored to present a trio of accomplished scholars from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS) to share their perspectives on Catholic psychotherapy. IPS is an orthodox Catholic graduate school in Arlington, Virginia where students integrate science with "theological and philosophical underpinnings of psychology from the perspective of a Catholic anthropology." Gladys Sweeney (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State Univeristy), is the founder and Academic Dean of IPS and co-editor of Human Nature in Its Wholeness: A Roman Catholic Perspective. William Nordling (Ph.D. University of Maryland) is one of the founding faculty members of IPS and current president of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association. Craig Steven Titus (S.T.D., Ph.D., University of Freibourg) lectures and researches on virtue and moral development at IPS and is the author of Resilience and the Virtue of Fortitude: Aquinas in Dialogue with the Psychosocial Sciences. Please enjoy their contribution to the VRT series.

What is the role of religion or spirituality in your clinical practice?

When put in the context of the Catholic Christian practitioner, whether in the clinic or private practice, it is understood that the patient, through an informed consent agreement, is aware that the clinician is informed by a Catholic understanding of the human person and relationships and abides by Catholic moral principles.

From a Roman Catholic approach to psychotherapy, religion and spirituality can provide a powerful resource for the healing process. For Catholics, religious belief and practice promote growth in the life of faith, hope, and love (and the other virtues). This is a personal and communal journey towards flourishing that is both subjective in personal transformation and objective in its source and its goal, who is God. The role of religion and spirituality in our clinical practice helps to inform both the therapist and the client of the interconnection of human flourishing, truth, and goodness. This reminds us of Pope Pius XII (1953), who spoke of the necessity for "theoretical and practical psychology (...) to lose sight of neither the truths established by reason and faith, nor obligatory moral principles."

This view demands that we respect the basic dignity of each person, who enters the clinic. Furthermore, it is not in spite of, but rather, because of this view that we would respect the client's personal religious beliefs without imposing our own.

On the side of the clinician, we acknowledge that religion and spirituality transform our practice and can aid to promote the client's freedom to instill change in his or her life. John Paul II (1993), in this regard, says that "authentic freedom and truth go hand in hand, they cannot be separated." In all humility, we attempt to see and accept the client as God would, with love and care. We understand that being called to the mental health profession involves a way of serving our neighbors in need. In so doing, however, we also are transformed.

How does your technique or theory differ from mainstream psychotherapy?

First, we employ a Catholic understanding of the human person and relationships. At the theological level, we see the person as being created in the image of God, with the everyday and eternal vocation to love and be loved. We see the person as wounded by sin, yet redeemed by Jesus Christ. At the philosophical level, we understand that the human person is a unity of body and spiritual soul, who is interpersonally relational from conception. The whole person is called to grow not only physically, but also psychologically, morally, and spiritually in personal self-gift (love) and wisdom (knowledge), as well as in freedom and responsibility.

Second, we employ the same empirically-supported psychotherapeutic techniques as mainstream psychotherapy. We also use other empirically-supported psychotherapeutic techniques that have been developed from Christian insights, such as forgiveness therapy, which also recognizes that human nature can be healed and transformed with God's help (divine grace). In this regard, John Paul II (1993, par. 3) says: "no genuine therapy or treatment for psychic disturbances can ever conflict with the moral obligation of the patient to pursue the truth and to grow in virtue. This moral component of the therapeutic task makes great demands upon psychiatrists, who must be committed to attaining a more adequate grasp of the truth of their own lives and to showing profound respect for the dignity of their patients."

A new client comes to therapy reporting his main problem is feeling detached from God. How would you proceed?

In our experience, it is unusual that detachment from God should be reported as a client's main presenting problem. Nonetheless, if this were the case, we would begin by assessing whether there were any psychological issues of trauma (loss or grief) or any underlying psychopathology. If there were no properly psychological issues, we would refer the patient to a spiritual director.

If there was however psychopathology in addition to the said presenting problem, we would address the person's needs according to two levels of treatment. First, we would directly address his psychological issues, in a way that was respectful of his spiritual life. This will include instilling hope as an effective motivator in the client's life (Benedict XVI, On Christian Hope, 2007), for example, in overcoming addictions. Second, we would coordinate the psychological effort with the proper work of a spiritual director or guide, who was not only in the client's religious tradition, but also apt to aid the client with appropriate religious practices (involving prayer, scripture, and sacraments, for example, in the case of the Catholic tradition). A complement to the psychological treatment could consist of assigned spiritual readings.

What is the relationship between sin and psychopathology?

Often there is a relationship between spiritual and psychological issues. For example, the incapacity to forgive is both spiritually and psychologically unhealthy. Likewise, the inability to make deep human commitments and to form lasting relationships is also both spiritually and psychologically unhealthy. Indeed, both psychopathology and sin limit human freedom (as is apparent in the case of certain addictions or compulsions). In this case, the therapist addresses the unhappiness and suffering as well as their causes.