Sometimes, therapy can take a while (about 12 sessions) before the therapist can even start to use tools and techniques to help break up the patterns that appear. Therapy can help you learn about patterns and why they may appear, what they are doing, how those patterns have helped you get to where you are. During that time, patterns have formed. Like anyone in life, we are supposed to grow and change over time, and if we are feeling stuck or recognizing that the patterns are not helpful anymore, that could be a time to look for help/support within that stuckness. Other times, therapy can be a space to explore or develop new techniques to help you process emotions. A therapist can help you find what methods work best for you.
Faith and Therapy
For those who hold faith close to their hearts, therapy can be an opportunity to deepen their connection to their beliefs while addressing emotional and mental challenges. Faith can provide a grounding force, offering strength and hope in moments of struggle. Integrating faith into therapy allows you to explore questions like:
• How do my spiritual beliefs shape my response to challenges?
• Are there patterns in my life that conflict with my values or faith?
• How can I use prayer, meditation, or scripture as tools for healing?
A faith-integrated approach doesn’t mean your therapist imposes their own beliefs. Instead, it’s about weaving your values into the therapeutic process, allowing your spiritual life to support your mental and emotional growth.
The Value of Therapy
At its core, therapy is a space for growth, self-discovery, and healing. It’s a place to explore your identity, process emotions, and find new ways to thrive. Whether you’re seeking support for a specific challenge or looking to deepen your connection to your faith, therapy offers tools and insights to help you move forward.
Remember, seeking therapy isn’t about fixing something “wrong” with you—it’s about honoring your journey and giving yourself the space to grow. With time, patience, and the proper support, therapy can help you embrace your full potential and approach life’s challenges with strength and clarity.
Samantha Camera has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Seattle University. She is a practicing marriage and family therapist in Washington State who works with teens, individuals, and premarital couples.
PRAYER AND MENTAL HEALTH
BY PATRICK SAINT-JEAN, S.J.
Not too long ago, on a Saturday evening as I was closing the doors of my parish in East Oakland to head back home, I saw a couple with their 22-year-old daughter running toward me. Their daughter seemed to be dealing with some mental health condition, and all three of them looked desperate. I approached them as fast as I could.
“Pray for us,” the parents begged as they got closer. I could see that they were shaken and upset. I paused. I got closer to the daughter, held her hands, and she looked at me. I looked at her, then asked calmly, “How can I be helpful to you?”
They responded that they were a member of a different parish about five miles away. One of the priests there had told them that their daughter was acting out because she had several demons on her head. That priest had told them to go see me, “because I know how to out demons with prayer.”
“Help us,” her parents said. “You need to pray for her. The priest told us you are the only one who can pray for her.”
As both a minister and a licensed mental health professional, I validated and respected the parents’ reports. But I also asked whether they had taken their daughter to see a doctor. When they replied that they hadn’t and reiterated what their priest had told them, I said, “I will pray for her very quickly, but I also want you to call 9-1-1 and go to a hospital with her immediately.” I then insisted on accompanying the family to the hospital for professional treatment.
I recognize the power of prayer and the presence of God as the Alpha and Omega, the Doctor of doctors. But not all matters are exclusively spiritual. This same God is also present in trained professionals. Unfortunately, however, mental health remains an underdeveloped,
“…sometimes people can use prayers as a mechanism of defense in a way that is not appropriate and that doesn’t bring us closer to God.”
under-researched, and underfunded topic in the Catholic Church. I encounter many people who are confused about the relationship between mental health and Catholic teaching.
As Karl Jung said, “Prayer is very necessary.” It remains one of the most certain, serious, and useful tools in one’s spiritual life. It is a way through which we creatures meet our creator and find healing. And yet, at the same time, it can be dangerous when it is seen as the only solution.
I have trained in clinical psychoanalysis and clinical psychology in France, Brazil, Congo Kinshasa, Italy, Mexico, and the United States for over 14 years. As a Jesuit, I have also ministered as a spiritual director for several years. While my training and my faith help me to adapt spiritual rituals that might be helpful for people experiencing mental health challenges, none of these involve casting out demons, nor is that an appropriate use of prayer.
As the great Spanish psychoanalyst and Jesuit Carlos Dominguez writes, “[Prayer] is a psychologically risky matter, because the line separating prayer from purely delirious phantasy could be quite blurry.” 1 In other words, sometimes people can use prayers as a mechanism of defense in a way that is not appropriate and that doesn’t bring us closer to God.
This is a spiritual problem that requires both a spiritual and a psychological solution. While prayer is essential for spiritual well-being, mental health professionals are also necessary for psychological health.
Sometimes, when facing mental health conditions, people rely on prayer requests instead of seeking professional help. But doing so doesn’t show faith in God; it actually just shows distrust in our relationship with Christ. Sometimes praying is an act of desperation and irresponsibility that allows us to avoid seeking help from a professional.
As clergy, my ministry is to announce the Good News. Refusing to direct a struggling member of the faithful to an appropriate mental health professional would prevent me
from preaching the Good News appropriately; it would mean refusing to recognize God’s gift to these professionals and doing a disservice to those people who need their help.
While prayer, worship, and meditation may be essential aspects to mental health, they are not the only avenues for engaging with it. Christians have a spiritual and theological obligation to use all available resources to be healthy, including having a good therapist, a strong spiritual community, spiritual director, and/or pastoral counselor.
Prayer is hard for people on the best of days; it is even more challenging for people in the midst of a mental health crisis. So many of us feel that God is nonexistent or far away. That God is helpless in the face of their depression or despair. When clergy encounter these people and use the language of spiritual platitudes to try to solve their mental health problems, that actually pushes them further for God.
It is important for ministers to recognize the resources that are available to us. As God uses us to walk with God’s children in times of despair, so too does God use mental health professionals. I feel an obligation to work hand in hand with these professionals as I minister to people.
One way I try to bridge the medical and spiritual is as I did in the situation above. I offer a short prayer, then help them to contact a mental health professional immediately. And, in the longer term, I make sure they have a community to pray with.
Mental health struggles are, unfortunately, a part of life. God works through both ministers and health professionals to make sure that all of us have people caring for us, walking with us through our own struggles. While prayer is essential in our lives, it should not replace the need for mental health professionals. Mental health professionals are also part of God’s gifts to us.
1 Carlos Dominguez Morano, Belief after Freud: Religious Faith through the Crucible of Psychoanalysis, Routledge, Spain, 2018, p. 20.
Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J. is a native of Haiti and a member of the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. He is the author of HomeGoing: The Journey from Racism and Death to Community and Hope (Anamchara Books).
