The Choice is Yours!
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Knowing where to turn for help when faced with challenges can be confusing. Here’s a place to start for you and your loved ones. Mental wellness outreach from Family Foundations Institute offers tips, resources, support, and referrals for anyone facing mental health challenges.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if I need help?
It’s a good idea to seek a professional opinion on your experiences if:
1. You are unable to perform daily activities or maintain your regular responsibilities.
2. You feel unable to cope or you feel as though you are “barely scraping by” in your daily life.
3. Your experiences have resulted in serious emotional, physical, or financial harm to yourself or others.
4. You have contemplated suicide.
5. You are hearing voices, seeing things, or having other sensorial experiences that cannot be perceived by others.
6. Your family, loved ones, or colleagues have expressed concern for your wellbeing or suggested that you consult a professional.
7. You have engaged in destructive behavior, such as self-injury, restricting food intake, purging, or excessive alcohol or drug use.
Do faithful Catholics even need therapy?
Read the article “I thought Good Catholics didn’t need therapy. Then I went” by speaker, freelance writer, and author Simcha Fisher.
Diagnoses, definitions, and difficulties
Check out this link at Catholic Mental Health for a comprehensive list of diagnoses and issues.
Why Catholic therapy?
Read this article from the online magazine Mind and Spirit written by a Catholic therapist.
Coping with difficulties the Catholic way
Read this article from the Catholic Register about the role of religion in mental health issues.
What every Catholic should know before starting therapy
Download this free guide from the Raphael Remedy.
Mental Wellness Affiliate Network
Looking for a Catholic therapist? Family Foundations Institute (FFI) is pleased to provide a directory of affiliated mental health practitioners in the province of Ontario. Affiliates hold valid credentials with their professional Colleges and Associations and subscribe to FFI principles. Affiliates practice independently of and are not employed by FFI within their role as service providers. Before choosing any therapist, we recommend that you verify qualifications and therapeutic approaches to ensure a good fit for your needs.
What does the Church say?
The Catholic Church teaches that human persons are composed of body, mind and spiritual soul, made for relationship with others and governed by natural law. In order to be mentally well, our thoughts, emotions, and actions need to be under the guidance of our reason and will and directed towards our ultimate goal, which is happiness with God in heaven.
Info on scientific research, signs, and symptoms.
Science is the study of creation, both in nature and in human behaviour and society. The Church teaches that since God is the author of creation, there is a friendship between faith and science and that scientific study can lead to holiness. Psychological research conducted by those of faith and good will can help us overcome barriers that stand in the way of hope, healing, and happiness.
Putting it all together…tips, tools, and resources.
It was Socrates who said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” We can use reason to make sense of how we make sense of our world. Self-reflection and self-awareness can lead to a more intentional way of living and contribute to human flourishing, loving relationships, and a more virtuous life. Here, you’ll find help for your journey of self-discovery that is fully in accord with our Catholic faith.