Have you ever wondered if psychology and spirituality are interconnected?  I hope so!  Sadly, some people actually think that they are at odds with each other.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  The Lord made us body, mind, and spirit.  He made us as a whole person.  We are the ones who separate these fields from each other.  That happens in academia because each one of those areas – the physical, emotional, and spiritual – have so much content to learn and understand.  It can take a lifetime of education to specialize in one.  Then, the areas we study tend to become the areas in which we work, and our focus can get even more narrow and specialized.

I’m grateful that my undergraduate degree is in Theology because when I later studied for my master’s degree in counseling, I had a spiritually sound understanding of the human person.  It provided me with a foundation I simply wouldn’t have had if I had studied from only a psychological perspective.  I do believe that Jesus is the answer to whatever real question we have and is the solution to all human suffering.  Interestingly, my study of counseling, my post graduate study of trauma, and working for so many years specializing in deep human suffering has only increased that belief and not in an abstract, but quite specific ways.  I’ve had the opportunity to learn things about the person, human behavior, human dynamics, human suffering, and healing that I cannot imagine not knowing.  This knowledge has benefited me on my personal journey, and it’s become my passion to be able to share it with others.

There’s a priest who has referred numerous clients to me over the years who once told me that he prays for me and my ministry everyday at the altar right after he prays for his own family.  He said that by how people have benefited spiritually from addressing their emotional woundedness, he has come to understand that what I do and what priests do have a great deal to do with each other.  In other words, he was able to see how inextricably interwoven psychology and spirituality are and that removing the blocks of dysfunction and pain facilitate growth in the spiritual life.  Doesn’t that make sense since the spiritual life is the most important relationship we will ever have?

Over the past year I’ve been providing a human and spiritual integration workshop to religious communities, deacons, parishes, dioceses, and seminaries.  I always hear the same type of feedback that priest shared with me.  Because I’ve had so many requests from individuals wanting to access this workshop, I’m now making it available online.  One is coming up very soon, November 6-9 for a couple of hours each evening. There are additional online workshops scheduled after the new year and other in-person workshops in the process of being scheduled.  If you’d like to know when these take place, sign up to receive emails from Sacred Heart Healing Ministries at sacredhearthealingministries.com.  I’d love to have you join us!

May the Lord give you peace!

Margaret

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