Episode 220: Do Catholic Therapists Just Add a Rosary to the Session?

Apr 1, 2025

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What makes therapy Catholic—and is it really just adding a rosary to the session? In this unique episode, Dr. Greg is the one answering the questions, sitting down with college student Lucina Frank who’s wrestling with how to bring her faith into the world of psychology. Their conversation pulls back the curtain on why CatholicPsych’s approach feels so different—because it is—and how it responds to the deep hunger for healing that actually honors both our humanity and our faith. Whether you’ve been skeptical, searching, or simply curious, you’ll walk away seeing therapy—and the Church’s role in it—through a whole new lens.

Key Topics:

Why “just adding prayer” isn’t what makes therapy Catholic
The real difference between faith-informed and faith-integrated therapy
How a Catholic understanding of suffering changes the entire therapeutic goal
What St. John Paul II’s personalism offers that secular psychology can’t
How CatholicPsych is meeting a deeper need in the Church—and why it matters
The danger of over-spiritualizing therapy (and how to avoid it)

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

03:07 – From Divorce to Vocation: Dr. Greg’s Journey to Becoming a Therapist

09:05 – What’s the Therapeutic Approach at CatholicPsych?

13:15 – Leading Clients Toward True Human Flourishing

17:00 – Therapy Isn’t About Erasing Suffering

21:32 – Faith-Informed vs. Faith-Integrated Therapy

28:54 – Do Catholic Therapists Just Add a Rosary to the Sessions?

32:19 – Where Does Spiritual Direction Fit in Therapy?

41:12 – Why St. Thomas Aquinas Still Matters in Modern Psychology

46:22 – What St. Thomas Got Wrong about Gender

Learn More:

CatholicPsych’s model of daily accompaniment: Integrated Daily Dialogic Mentorship
Spiritual Passages by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
Discernment of Spirits course by Dr. Greg Bottaro
Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)
Mulieris Dignitatem by Pope John Paul II
Related Episode: Ep. 197: Correcting Aquinas: JP2’s Truth Bomb on Gender and Human Dignity
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