There is nothing more painful than losing a child to suicide, and many parents feel powerless to do anything to prevent it except hope that it doesn’t happen. A new study by the University of Cincinnati reveals that parents can play a tremendous role in helping their teens avoid self-harm. “Parents ask us all the time, ‘What can we do?'” said King, who coordinates UC’s health promotion and education doctoral program and serves as Director of the Center for Prevention... Read more
Parenting is a tough job. Kids really know how to push our buttons. Often, we just feel lucky if we can make it through the day losing our minds. The good news is that there is a way to reclaim your sanity as a parent, to get a handle on all the chaos, get your kids to listen, and start to enjoy your role as a parent. Honest! Theology of the Body reminds us that families are schools of love... Read more
In the age of social media, self-criticism and perfectionism are more prominent than ever. We continue to become increasingly focused on being “perfect”: having the perfect physique, having the perfect job, or keeping the perfect house. In reality, however, this striving for “perfection” simply makes us increasingly unhappy as we lose focus of what we are really working towards. There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve ourselves, but both theology and science show us that it is a mistake... Read more
It’s that time of year again where we are starting to work on our New Year’s resolutions. While resolutions can bring hope for a happier, healthier year ahead, they can also cause unnecessary stress. We might start out strong for the first few weeks or so, but as we get back to our normal, busy schedules it often becomes more difficult to fit in that daily workout, consistently eat healthy meals, or remain positive while our co-worker is getting on... Read more
The holidays are wonderful, however, as some of us may have experienced during Thanksgiving, they can also be very stressful. Spending time with extended family can often lead to arguments or strained relationships. While we all made it through Thanksgiving, chances are, you’re preparing for Christmas, New Year, and the entire holiday season where you may be spending more time with your extended family. So how do you recover from the family conflicts that may have occurred over Thanksgiving, and... Read more
UPDATE: (Errata) I had copied and pasted Deacon Dietewig’s byline from his blog page where, at the end of his piece, he identifies himself as “Professor of Theology, and former Executive Director, USCCB Secretariat for the Diaconate and Interim Executive Director, USCCB Secretariat for Evangelization” I just received word from an informed source that, “Deacon Ditewig was a former interim director over ten years ago in the former Evangelization Secretariat. He hasn’t worked at the Conference for a while.” ... Read more
It’s common knowledge that people tend to be better at solving other people’s problems than they are at addressing their own. But a new study finds that people who think, not in terms of what they personally feel or think they should do about their problems, but in terms of what attempting to live up to a particular set of virtues would have them do in response to a problem, are just as good at solving their own problems as they are... Read more
We tend to think that joy is a product of stepping away from life and finding little ways to take a break or enjoy ourselves. While that can be important, just doing this only leads to fleeting moments of happiness. But how do we find real joy in our daily life without having to take time away from work, family, or the other aspects of our lives? Theology of the Body reminds us that Joy is the fruit of living... Read more
Almost every day, new allegations of sexual harassment are in the headlines. The #metoo campaign has exposed the abusive behavior of power-brokers in Hollywood and DC helped victims, who have been silenced for too long, find their voices again. One parent, despairing at the onslaught of depressing headlines and salacious stories recently asked me, “What can we do to raise boys not to act like this? How can we protect our girls from a culture like this?” While we can... Read more
You’ve probably heard the slogan, “You can’t be opposed to both abortion and contraception.” Or, alternatively, the accusation, “If you opposed abortion, why don’t you support greater access to contraception?” The idea, of course, being that if everyone was on the Pill, we wouldn’t have abortions anymore. Well, a new study by Britain’s most prominent abortion provider, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), shows just how wrong that is. It turns out that over half of women (51%) who procure abortions... Read more
Faith on the Couch
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