This page contains a list of Catholic healing ministries to help you or someone you know along the healing journey.
To view other healing resources, visit this page.
CatholicPsych
Dr. Greg Bottaro, the founder of CatholicPsych, is a licensed psychologist. Throughout his practice, he has discovered that some parts of traditional psychotherapy can be challenging to practice in a way that is in line with the Catholic view of the human person. He has since integrated the best of psychology and Catholicism to create a new model of healing, called mentorship, that aligns with the Catholic view of the human person, and he has found it effective. On their website, you can learn more about mentorship to see if it might be a good fit for your healing journey and find a mentor to work with.
Parts Wellness
Another free resource that Dr. Bottaro has developed is Parts Wellness. Parts theory is the basis for this resource, which theorizes that we have multiple parts of our personality. Some may be helpful, some may be unhelpful, and some may develop due to emotional wounds. New parts develop from emotional wounds because God designed our minds to protect us.
For example, a critical part of your mind may develop in response to rejection or failure. This part may then drive you to criticize yourself and to avoid failure. All the part is doing is trying to help you avoid similar rejection, but you can imagine how a self-critical part could cause problems with mental health.
With this free resource, Dr. Bottaro helps you examine different parts of yourself, understand why they have developed, and work toward living healthier. You can also learn more about the resource on this episode of the Being Human podcast.
Catholic Therapists
As Dr. Bottaro has discovered, traditional psychotherapy can sometimes be practiced in a way out of line with the Catholic faith. If you decide therapy is right for you, finding a Catholic therapist can be a helpful way to avoid these out-of-line practices. You can find a Catholic therapist near you on the Catholic Therapists website.
John Paul II Healing Center
The John Paul II Healing Center provides healing retreats and resources that help people find physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. They use the approach outlined in Dr. Schuchts’ books, and it has been helpful to many.
KNOWN: Embraced by the Heart of the Father
KNOWN is a 12-week Catholic coaching program that helps people develop or redevelop a secure attachment to God the Father, which may not have developed or been lost due to traumatic experiences. The program helps this relationship through weekly calls, exercises, and meditations.
Restored Ministry
Restored Ministry specifically serves Catholics who have faced the experience of the divorce of their parents. It provides this support through content, coaching, and a dedicated community.
Chrism Priest
A recent study found that 60% of priests under 45 experience burnout (source).
There are many reasons for this: Seminary formation doesn’t necessarily teach priests how to make decisions as pastors. Constantly putting out fires makes it difficult to pray and find time for other things that help people flourish. Going from the brotherhood of seminary to being the only or one of only a few priests at a parish can be very lonely.
Additionally, priests are human, too. They aren’t exempt from human problems, including trauma. The 70% of people who have or will face trauma and who are potentially negatively impacted by it in all aspects of life include priests. And the potential negative impacts of trauma can make the priesthood challenging.
Chrism Priest helps to solve these problems. They provide:
- Human formation to teach leadership skills
- Access to regular spiritual direction to support and renew priests’ prayer lives
- Related to trauma, they provide mental health and healing evaluations for priests and connect them with counselors.
If you are a priest and you think you could benefit from Chrism Priest’s work, or if you know a priest who would, you can check out their website to learn more about the work they do at the diocese level and for individual priests.