Hello everyone! Working simultaneoulsy in Youth Ministry and Faith Formation for the past six years, and working as a Marriage and Family therapist towards licensure for the past four, I have acquired a passion for integrating the richness of the Catholic faith with the psychotherapy process. In working with these populations teen and young adult…
Teens & the Need to be Understood
Starting out as a therapist trainee, I worked specifically with kids in anger management groups. At first I was a bit nervous about working with disgruntled teens who were forced by the court to attend my groups. However, I soon realized that it didn’t matter so much what I did or said but how much…
Thoughts Matter
Your Thoughts Matter! Some scientists claim that we have over 50,000 thoughts per day! It’s amazing how many thoughts run through our heads each and every day. Sometimes we are not even fully aware of our passing thoughts and how they shape our views, opinions, and actions. We might wonder how our thoughts affect our…
5 Things Parents & Teen Guys Should Know About Chastity
What comes to mind when you hear the word chastity?
Dating with a Purpose – Building a Christ Centered Relationship
Dating can often be confusing, heart-breaking, and sometimes scary. So, how do we date with confidence and purpose? What are the keys to building a healthy, lasting, Christ-centerted relationship? Let’s begin by looking at these three main points: Laying the foundation for a healthy relationship – building your house on rock God’s purpose for dating –…
Five Basic Needs of Teenagers
Hello! At the intersection between my work in psychotherapy and my work in Youth Ministry I have found these five needs of teenagers to be very helpful. The adolescent years can be a time of self-discovery and growing autonomy as teens encounter the larger world around them. These five needs can help us better understand…
Peace of Soul – Part 2
“They are restless until they rest in thee.” – St. Augustine. Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last blog. In June I married my beautiful wife and took a break from writing but am now excited to add Part 2 of the Peace of Soul blog on Venerable Fulton Sheen’s book Peace of…
The Power of ‘No’: Christian Assertiveness
In the past three weeks of the Batterer’s groups that I run, we have been talking about assertiveness with the guys. Talking about assertiveness and even assertive refusals has led me to think more about the importance of saying ‘no’, especially in the Christian life. When I started working for the Church in Youth Ministry,…
What I Have Learned from Working with Perpetrators
It’s hard to believe that I have been working with perpetrators of domestic violence in the Ventura county area for the past 3 years. In graduate school I never planned on working within the domestic violence population and it was definitely outside of my comfort zone. In 2014 I began working with male perpetrators of…
Porn Addiction: Where Do We Begin?
A few weeks ago I was able to attend a great seminar on porn addiction through the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (ADLA). The seminar discussed the causes, the use, and the treatment of pornography addiction and how pastorally it should be addressed. The reality of pornography is that addictions to it are radically growing as…
Peace of Soul – Part I
“They are restless until they rest in thee” – St. Augustine. The book Peace of Soul was written by the inspirational Venerable Fulton Sheen in 1949. It’s easy to think that a lot has changed in society and the field of psychology since 1949, but his words speak truth of modern anxiety and questions of the…
