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Welcome to Tria Corda Ministry! My name is Abby Albrinck, founder of Tria Corda Ministry.

The Journey to Tria Corda Ministry

In my sophomore year of high school, I took an AP Psychology class and was utterly fascinated by the field and its career possibilities. Because of that class, I began to think about becoming a clinical psychologist. I wanted to help people to heal and thrive, and I wanted to research why people did things that caused harm to themselves or others. Two years later, I decided to major in psychology to pursue that career. 

While in college, I continued to be fascinated by what I learned from psychology but struggled with deciding what area I wanted to specialize in regarding research and conducting therapy. A few semesters in, I decided on my specialty because of a book lent to me by my mom. 

My mom was working at our local parish, and our pastor had suggested she read a book called The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, which summarizes groundbreaking research about the effects of trauma. She then lent the book to me. I was fascinated by how many things trauma could explain, such as addiction, mental and physical health issues, and relationship problems, and it drove a newfound interest in learning what I could about the effects of trauma and how to apply that research in various settings to help people heal and thrive. 

As I worked on pursuing a career as a psychologist and researcher, I kept thinking in the back of my mind: The Church needs this knowledge. But because I was so busy, I didn’t act on those thoughts.

My next step was to pursue a Master’s degree in clinical psychology. During those two years, I conducted research on the effects of trauma and continued to learn about that field of study. I planned to go on to get a PhD in the field so I could continue that research and learn how to conduct therapy with trauma survivors.

But, as I was interviewing for PhD programs and doing my graduate coursework, I realized how secular the field of clinical psychology has unfortunately become. I realized that, as a devout Catholic, I was going to either be forced to conduct treatments I believed were wrong or I would be kicked out of the program. Many of the schools that interviewed me had specific parts in their handbook stating that religious beliefs were not a reason to avoid providing certain types of therapy. So, I began questioning my career path and prayed that if God didn’t want me to continue, He would make it clear.

God made it clear. Every single PhD program I applied to rejected me. At peace with this, I found a job in a Catholic nonprofit. But, the thought that the Church needed knowledge about trauma and trauma-informed practices came back to the forefront of my mind. I knew that if those in ministry had this knowledge, we could make the Church a place of safety, healing, and resilience for survivors of trauma and, through that, help bring more people into the embrace of the Church. So, I continued reading research articles and books and thought about how to bring this to the Church. About a year after all those rejections, I applied for the GIVEN mentorship program to develop this ministry idea and bring it to fruition. The result is Tria Corda Ministry.

About Tria Corda Ministry

Tria Corda Ministry is named for the three hearts of the Holy Family. I named this ministry in honor of the Holy Family because I have a huge devotion to it and believe it can be a source of healing from trauma, a great example of healing and resilience following exposure to trauma, and a great intercessor for the ministry. 

The mission of Tria Corda Ministry is to aid in the Church’s response to trauma by helping it to be trauma-informed, a place of healing and resilience, and a place of trauma prevention, all to support the Church’s mission of bringing people into the embrace of God. The target audience for our work is all Catholics, especially those who work or volunteer in the Church’s ministry.

What We Offer

We have free content on the website about a variety of topics, including: 

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I appreciate your interest in Tria Corda Ministry! Please know of my prayers for you and your ministry!