Sometimes it feels like it’s hard to be optimistic in the midst of stressful situations. But often this is due to a misunderstanding of what true optimism really means. Theology of The Body reminds us that optimism isn’t rooted in wishing our problems away or telling ourselves pretty lies about how things aren’t really as bad as they seem. TOB explains that our optimism is rooted in the fact that at the beginning of time, God had a plan for... Read more
Depression is often an ongoing struggle, which can make it difficult to know what approach is best for us to find lasting healing. New research, however, gives us a deeper look into understanding how to treat our depression in a way that does not just lessen our symptoms, but works with and through our depression symptoms to achieve sustainable healing. A new study out of Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health in Australia, shows that psychotherapy... Read more
The Symposium on Catholic Family Life and Spirituality which concluded this past Sunday at Notre Dame was really a tremendous experience. I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to those of you who were praying for the effort. As we have received many inquiries about the event, I thought I would share a few themes that emerged from the various presentations. Research has shown that parents have much more influence over their children’s future faith than commonly thought, but this... Read more
Do you ever just feel “off,” but you don’t know why? Everything seems to be fine, daily life is running along relatively smoothly, but you just feel down, melancholy, or disconnected from life/others? A new study out of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Texas A&M reveals that making small changes—such as smiling more—can make an impact on our emotions and overall mood. It seems like a small change, but a meta-analysis of 138 studies demonstrates that smiling really can... Read more
We all want to teach our children to develop their own faith identity and relationship with God, but how do we do it? For kids to own their faith, the most important thing is to help them experience Jesus Christ in a meaningful, personal way. The best way to do that is to teach them to talk to God just as they would talk to the person who knows them best and loves them most—because he does. While FORMAL prayer... Read more
As the weather warms up, our ability to spend time outdoors increases. While we are aware that this may make us happier in the moment, new research shows that spending time outside has a significant impact on improving our mental health. A recent study published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research reveals that spending 20 minutes in a park, regardless of physical exercise, can have lasting health and mental health benefits. “Principal investigator Hon K. Yuen, Ph.D., OTR/L,... Read more
Praying with small children can be difficult. They tend to be wiggly and have short attention spans. When little ones are involved, it’s easy for family prayer time to seem more like…Wrestlemania. But you can have a meaningful prayer time with small children if you remember that little people need different spiritual food than bigger people. Faith develops in different stages from early childhood, to middle childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Children around 6 and under are in what’s called... Read more
Are you stressed? Having difficulty sleeping? Is your difficultly sleeping causing you stress? You’re not alone. A recent study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology discusses how stress can effect our ability to sleep or stay asleep and the negative ramifications this pattern can have on our health, particularly cardiovascular health. Although the greatest risk of increased blood pressure and other negative health effects come from a combination of stress and lack of sleep over the course of... Read more
The #AmericanPsychologicalAssociation asserts that there is no causal link between abortion and depression (which is ridiculous anyway, because virtually no social science research can ever assert causation. But that’s a different TED Talk). And a recent talk in Ireland by Dr. Lucy Johnstone of the British Psychological Society actually recommended abortion as a treatment for the trauma of unwanted pregnancy. (Because the British have always had the best interests of the Irish people in mind….) Sadly, 21 yo Jade Rees... Read more
When you’re praying as a family, is it better to use the formal prayers of the church–like the rosary, traditional Grace-at-Meals, or a chaplet—or more conversational prayer? We say, “Why not both?” It isn’t that one type of prayer is better than another type. It’s that they serve different purposes in our spiritual lives. In our family, we like to think of formal prayers as the, “family prayers of the Church.” They connect us with the saints and angels and... Read more
Faith on the Couch
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