Finding a therapist
Where to search, what to ask, and how to tell in the first session.
Where to search
CatholicTherapists.com
Searchable directory of practicing Catholic mental health professionals by location and specialty.
Search directory →Catholic Psychotherapy Association
Professional body for Catholic mental health practitioners — member directory available.
Find members →CatholicPsych Institute
Dr. Greg Bottaro’s network of Catholic-integrated mentors and clinicians, built on the CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism. This includes the attachment wounds underneath relationship struggles.
Visit →Ruah Woods
Dr. Andrew Sodergren brings attachment together with the Theology of the Body — how we are made for self-gift and communion.
Explore →Divine Mercy University
Catholic graduate school of psychology and counseling — clinical training that integrates the faith.
Visit →These are the established directories. They cover far more of the country than any list of mine could, and several ask their members to affirm fidelity to the teaching of the Church.
What to say in the first session
“My faith isn't up for negotiation for me. I need someone who can work with that, not around it. Can you do that?”
You are listening for a plain yes or no. You do not have to read their face, their tone, or what they did not say. Ask, take the answer at face value, and decide. If they say yes and then act otherwise later, you will know, and you can leave then.
Two more if you want them. Both have a yes or no answer:
- “If my faith rules out an option, will you work within that?”
- “Have you worked with clients who take their religion this seriously?”
What if something feels off later?
Most therapists are not trying to talk anyone out of anything, and one who is not Catholic can help you enormously. When a real difference does come up, it almost never shows up as an argument. It shows up as a goal you never agreed to. Your guilt treated as the whole problem instead of something to sort through. “This marriage is hard” quietly becoming “this marriage is over.” Nobody announces it. It just becomes what you are working on.
If that happens, say so. “I don't think that's what I want to be working toward” is a normal sentence in therapy, and a good therapist will take it well. That is what the room is for. If you say it and nothing changes, that is your answer, and you can go find someone else.
One place this is genuinely hard to call, because the good version and the bad version sound alike:
If you are stuck confessing the same thing over and over, a good therapist will help you break that loop, and a good confessor will tell you the same thing. That is not an attack on the sacrament. Confessing it once instead of seven times is what getting better looks like.
The difference is what the work is pointed at. “Let's get you to where you don't need to confess this seven times” is pointed at the loop. “Have you considered that the religion is what's causing this?” is pointed at your faith.
When you are anxious, those two can feel like the same conversation. So use the simple test: am I being helped to practice my faith more freely, or just less?
One exception to all of this. If someone is hurting you, getting safe comes first, and no priest would tell you otherwise. A therapist who helps you get out of danger is doing their job, not overstepping.
None of this means you need a Catholic therapist. It means you need one who does not treat your faith as a symptom. Some of those are Catholic. Some are not.
People who have personally helped me
Adam Lane Smith, MA Psych.
Formerly a Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist, Adam has spent 15 years revolutionizing attachment science. He and his team of certified attachment coaches provide their services online.
Keoni Sablan
Trained in Thomistic psychology, Keoni is a licensed counselor and virtue coach for men.
This page is not medical or mental health advice, and reading it does not create a therapist relationship. I have not evaluated the skill, training, or fitness of anyone listed or linked here. If you are in crisis or thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988 in the US, or go to your nearest emergency room.
Someone you think belongs on this page? Contact me →