We are witnessing the birth of a new priesthood. They wear cardigans instead of cassocks, quote Brené Brown instead of the Bible, and dispense diagnoses in place of absolution. And for millions of Americans, they’ve become the final authority on the soul.
In just one generation, we’ve gone from 'God save a wretch like me' to 'my therapist says.' The modern language of self-care and self-love have replaced self-denial and love for God. All the while, rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide have climbed—not fallen. The numbers are staggering. Nearly one in five U.S. adults is in therapy. Over 40 million are diagnosed with anxiety. Even children are being trained to identify as mentally ill.
But here’s the real crisis: it’s not just that our nation is mentally unwell—it’s that the church is copying the world’s prescriptions. Christians now outsource the care of the soul to secular professionals who deny the soul even exists.
Historically, the church called this affliction “melancholy”—a burden of body, yes, but also a trial of the conscience, a grief of the soul. The Puritans didn’t dismiss this pain. But they also never called it neutral. They traced it back to disordered loves, guilty consciences, spiritual darkness—and then pointed people to Christ, not a couch.
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Today we’re asking a hard question: “What if our therapeutic age is not a solution to our suffering, but a refusal to see it rightly?” What if our feelings are not enemies, but signposts? And what if the Church still holds the cure—not in a padded office, but in Word, sacrament, and the communion of saints?
Let’s get into it.
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