As a freshman in college, I was excited about my new-found freedom. I had an innate sense that this was my time, the year I could start to be my own person and choose my own life. Above all else, like everyone else, I wanted to be happy. For a while, I tried joining my friends in their pursuits of happiness – in typical college fashion. I noticed pretty quickly, however, that even if a freshman did make his way into the best senior party with the best looking girls, he was still...

You may have read in the news that Chris Brown was brought to court because he allegedly did not complete his community service hours; the punishment he received after beating Rihanna four years ago.  Rihanna, having 2 weeks prior publically announced she was back together with the singer, was in the courtroom to support her “man.”

Picking up garbage from the side of the highway doesn’t seem just retribution for bruising and bloodying a woman by punching her in the...

I was going to post this week on how to be a man.  There’s a lot that our Church teaches about manhood and virtue, the Theology of the Body is brimming over with lessons to learn, and I certainly have endless examples from therapy of the suffering caused by a lack of manhood.  I realized though that every week there is a new “5 ways to…” post on everything from dating tips to how to strap in a baby in a car seat.  I think they’re great, and...

I married the love of my life.  I met the one woman in the world chosen for me from all eternity, handpicked by God for her perfect combination of beauty, wit, charm, intelligence, and the very rare quality of being able to put up with my weaknesses and somehow love me even more for them.  I am constantly humbled by her, because many times a week I realize yet another one of those imperfections.  That is not to say she points them out to me, because she rarely does. ...

Every day I take the subway to my office and I spend a few minutes staring at the ads in the train.  On the NYC trains, one company sometimes buys all of the ad space in one car.  One of my favorites to get into has a full car-length of Jameson whiskey ads.  You’ve probably seen them on TV as well (“This is a tale of the most formidable beast on earth, and the giant octopus that tried to take his whiskey.”) I recently found myself wondering who would win in a...

I am now 17 days away from getting married. Everyone has a unique and perfectly planned path to get to this point, and God led me through some really amazing experiences to prepare me for this.

I think one of the most important lessons He’s taught me is that my beautiful fiancée will not satisfy the deepest longings of my heart.  That’s right, I know what I said, and no she won’t be mad that I said it.  In fact, she feels the same way about me!...

People often ask me, “What do you mean by Catholic Psychology?”  There are lots of questions people have regarding my work because it is a field that is relatively new.  The Catholic part has been around for millennia and the psychology part has been around in some shape or form for hundreds, if not thousands of years.  Not until very recently has there been an intentional movement to bring the two together.  In fact, for a large part of the 20^th century, the...

First of all, I would like to thank the girls at Verily for doing an outstanding job of providing an alternative to trashy pop-culture periodicals.  While many other people point fingers and put down the culture, Verily is doing something about it.

I would like to share a response to a recent article called “Holding Back Tears,” found here.  The question concerning the appropriateness of displaying emotion at work is raised.

Some of the greatest mysteries that every...

When I looked at my 7-year-old brother playing by the water, I was moved by a deep revelation.  I saw someone who is totally excited about life.  He was trying to catch an eel.  The eel and the rock he was hiding under were the only two realities that my brother was focused on.  How can he be so free?  Why isn’t he stressed or worried or anxious about life?  It’s because he has nothing to worry about!  This kid lives a totally spoiled, privileged...

Trust.  It all comes down to trust.  I suppose I shouldn’t start with that if it all comes down to it so I will back up.  Anxiety, Neuroticism, Eating Disorders, Phobias, Depression, Insomnia, Body Image issues, and the list could go on of problems that in some ways can be fundamentally broken down to trust issues.  I don’t mean to discount the scientifically proven role of physiology, things like serotonin and the effect of childhood trauma on developing brain...