Interior Integration for Catholics 168 Restless Hearts: St. Augustine and Catholic Parts Work
Jun 16, 2025
Dr. Gerry Crete, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and Dr. Christian Amalu, a postdoctoral fellow specializing in Internal Family Systems, dive into the profound insights of St. Augustine's *Confessions*. They explore Augustine's 'divided heart' and how it aligns with parts work, discussing the balance of intellect and heartfelt conversion. Listeners learn about the struggle with conflicting wills, transformative grief, and the importance of delight over duty in spiritual journeys. An experiential exercise invites reflection on one's restless parts, promoting integration and grace.
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Restless Heart As Core Anthropology
- St. Augustine framed the soul as restless until it finds rest in God, foregrounding inward affective longings over pure intellect.
- His Confessions model deep interiority that anticipates modern parts/IFS ideas about conflicting inner wills.
Heart Over Mere Intellect
- Augustine prioritizes affective yearning and desire as the locus of conversion, not only intellectual assent.
- Book 7 shows an intellectual turn while Book 8 describes a deeper heart-level surrender that completes conversion.
Conflicting Wills, One Soul
- Augustine maps inner multiplicity as 'conflicting wills' within one soul rather than separate souls.
- This preserves unity of personhood while recognizing polarized internal parts with competing agendas.
