Ugh, Not Another Modality: A Return to the Holy Spirit
A Community for Catholic Clinicians Rooted in the Spirit
“The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
— John 14:26
When I talk to others about how long I have been working in therapy, I start to feel a little old.
I think back to graduating with my Master’s in 2015 and catch myself thinking, back in my day, like Harrison Ford in the show Shrinking might grouchily do… reminiscing about the good old days before SimplePractice was the norm and before treatment plans were done via AI.
But in talking with so many new and upcoming therapists, especially those who long to integrate the Catholic faith into the healing process, I have realized a few things:
The field has changed a lot.
Faith integration is “in,” so to speak. When I was in grad school over ten years ago, I was often discouraged from even considering the possibility.
And yet, it can also feel like a gimmick, at times especially on social media.
When starting The Catholic Therapy Center I was starting to ask the question, how do we invite clinicians to a Spirit-led place of support? And I have noticed how often therapists are being sold another course, certification, book, method, or framework to finally feel competent as a therapist.
On top of that, we feel a pressure to have a defining specialty, population, or skill set that somehow stands us apart from the other million therapists, and even thousands Catholic ones.
Don’t get me wrong.
We need training, education, clinical development, and ongoing growth.
It helps to have a desired population to work with, specializations, and skills.
But is there more to it?
At the heart of the Catholic Therapy Center, we are seeking to:
provide a holistic approach to healing the human person through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And I don’t share that because its a good place to [insert mission statement here], but because our clinicians mean it.
We believe the Holy Spirit is at work. We listen for the voice of the Lord and lean into Him through our baptismal roles as priest, prophet, and king.
We’re not perfect at it, but in community we are growing, all grounded in relationship with Him.
And at the center of it is encounter, the Holy Spirit, and community.
With a simple invitation to come and see.
Because when Catholic integration is all about training, a modality, a certification, or how to stand apart, something critical is lacking:
A radical reliance on, and relationship with, the Holy Spirit.
Not an Add-On
In my experience as a therapist there are more than a few times when a client shares something heavy, and it is hard to know how to hold it or respond immediately.
In those moments, I will often pause, look up somewhat unintentionally at the crucifix above my computer monitor (while on a zoom call), and breathe.
My clients usually find the pause helpful. We both breathe.
And honestly, I am praying subtly:
Come, Holy Spirit.
I am not praying because internally I am thinking, Oh shoot, what do I do now?? Look professional!
Although, ten years ago, I might have been.
I am stopping and praying because I do not want this process to be up to me alone.
In some ways, I am passing the buck.
What do You have for me, Lord?
What do You have for them?How do You want them to feel Your love in this moment?
And I am expecting a response. A nudge. A sense.
Sometimes that response is peace.
Sometimes it is words to say.
Sometimes it is a question to ask.
Sometimes it is simply the grace to stay present.
I have heard other Catholic clinicians even warn against prayer in therapy at times, saying it risks becoming a “quick fix” when we “don’t know what to do.”
And sure, prayer could be used that way.
But it also has every chance not to be.
Jesus prayed constantly. Not to avoid using His intellect, or run away from the “real ministry work”. But because He knew that the best thing was prayer — a relationship with the Father.
As therapists, we have to be reminded, and remind ourselves, that prayer is not merely an intervention.
A reliance on, and relationship with, the Holy Spirit is not an accessory in Catholic therapy.
The Holy Spirit is the Advocate.
The Comforter.
The Counselor.
The One who intercedes in our weakness.
The One who leads us into truth.
The One who heals.
The Holy Spirit convicts, consoles, strengthens, guides, and restores.
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness.”
— Romans 8:26
If Christ is the Divine Physician, then the Holy Spirit is not absent from the healing process at all.
He is not waiting outside the therapy room.
He is not disinterested in the wounds our clients bring.
He is not indifferent to the exhaustion, confusion, discouragement, or hope of the clinician.
The Holy Spirit wants to lead.
He wants to guide.
He wants to pour out healing.
He wants to work through clinicians in ways that might surprise us.
And that changes everything.
Because our work is not just about becoming more competent clinicians.
It is about becoming Spirit-led clinicians.
If we are Catholic therapists, we are called to be grounded in the Holy Spirit, just as Christ was.
In and through the Spirit, this means we become more receptive. More prayerful. More attentive. Clinicians who know that healing is not something we manufacture.
It is something we participate in.
It comes from the Source.
Jesus Himself waited to begin His public ministry until He was baptized in the Jordan and received the Holy Spirit. He then went into the desert to fast and pray in the Spirit, to be totally dependent and nourished by the Advocate.
From this place of being filled by the Spirit, Jesus went on to heal, restore, and bring the Kingdom of God.
And He is calling us to do the same.
Look Up
This is one of the most freeing truths for Catholic clinicians:
We are not the healer.
We are not the savior.
We are not the source of restoration.
We are not the source of peace.
We are not the ones who ultimately bind up the brokenhearted.
God is.
Hard stop.
“He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.”
— Psalm 147:3
And yet, in His mercy, He allows us to participate.
To be His living instruments.
He lets us sit with people in sacred places.
He lets us listen to stories that have often never been spoken aloud.
He lets us witness courage, grief, shame, repentance, longing, attachment wounds, family patterns, trauma, and hope.
And in none of this do we need to be the Savior.
When we forget this, the work becomes too heavy.
We start carrying what only God can carry.
We start believing that if we just ask the right question, choose the right intervention, read the right book, take the right training, or become skilled enough, then we can finally feel secure in the work.
But deeper security does not come from mastery alone.
It comes from relationship.
It comes from knowing that the Holy Spirit is present, active, and faithful.
That the heavens are open to us right now.
Want to not burn out?
Don’t drink from a well that runs dry.
Begin to look to the Holy Spirit, who wants to fuel you in all that you do.
Heavens Are Opened
With the Holy Spirit as the Advocate, our work changes completely.
With the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, the heavens are open to you.
With the baptism of Jesus, we hear the heavens were opened, but it never says they closed up again.
In Acts of the Apostles, we also hear of not only Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, but the continuous infilling of the Holy Spirit upon the Body of Christ.
St. Paul himself was prayed over eight different times in Acts to receive the Holy Spirit.
If St. Paul can’t get enough, we’re not done yet either!
The Holy Spirit is not passive.
He does not observe from a distance.
He is the breath of God animating the Body of Christ.
He teaches us.
He reminds us.
He strengthens us.
He guides us.
He is healing.
“When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”
— John 16:13
So what would it look like for Catholic clinicians to believe and practice this?
Not vaguely.
Not sentimentally.
But practically.
What would it look like to begin our work with an honest prayer?
Holy Spirit, lead me.
Show me what I need to see.
Help me listen with Your compassion.
Help me know what is mine to carry and what belongs to You.
Protect me from pride, fear, over-responsibility, and self-reliance.
Let Your healing love be present here.
This does not mean we force faith into clinical spaces where it has not been invited.
It does not mean we ignore client consent, scope of practice, ethics, or the complexity of psychotherapy.
It does not mean we spiritualize away trauma, minimize suffering, or reduce therapy to religious advice.
But it does mean we are internally surrendered.
It means we are attentive and expectant in prayer.
It means we allow the Holy Spirit to form us as clinicians.
It means we remember that God is present even when His name is not spoken out loud.
Whether we are working in a faith-based setting, a private practice, an agency, a school, a hospital, or a more secular clinical environment, God wants to show up.
He wants to show up for our clients.
And He wants to show up for us.
Don’t Be an Island
The Holy Spirit as the Advocate, the animator, the defender, the breath of God, not only gives the apostles gifts of the Spirit at Pentecost, but He does something critical.
He brings people into communion.
The Holy Spirit shows up with power in relationship and community.
He heals through presence.
The Holy Spirit gives us the Church. The Body of Christ.
He gives us brothers and sisters.
He never calls us to be alone.
He gives us people to pray with us, encourage us, challenge us, and remind us of what is true when we forget.
And I think Catholic clinicians need this more than ever.
We need places where we can be honest about the weight of the work.
Where we can pray for one another.
Where we can ask the Holy Spirit to move.
Where we can bring our clinical questions into a space that honors both professional responsibility and spiritual dependence.
Where we can say:
I do not want to do this work alone.
I do not want to rely only on my own strength.
I want to be led by the Holy Spirit.
I want to be renewed.
Jesus tells us:
“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
— Matthew 18:20
That is not just a comforting idea.
That is a promise.
And Catholic clinicians need spaces where we can live from that promise.
Invest in Real Community
This is the deeper desire behind Renew.
Renew is not the point. The Holy Spirit is the point. Community is the point.
But Renew is a community created to let the Holy Spirit further into our lives and work.
It is a doorway into that kind of space.
Renew is a Catholic Consultation Community for mental health clinicians who desire a steady place for prayer, support, case consultation, and community from a Catholic foundation.
It is a small community of Catholic therapists encountering the Holy Spirit, growing in their faith, and supporting one another in the sacred work of healing.
Renew will meet twice a month over Zoom.
It is open to Catholic therapists from any state or country. You do not need to be local to California or connected to Catholic Therapy Center in any direct way. The hope is to gather Catholic clinicians across different locations who share a desire for prayer, consultation, community, and deeper reliance on the Holy Spirit in their work.
Whether you are in private practice, an agency, a school, a hospital, a faith-based setting, or another clinical environment, you are welcome to prayerfully consider joining.
The cost is there because we want this to be sustainable.
We want to create a steady, well-held, committed space where Catholic clinicians can show up consistently, be known, receive support, and take the work seriously.
But the cost is not the heart of it.
The heart is community.
The heart is prayer.
The heart is being re-grounded in the Holy Spirit together.
Each gathering will include space for consultation, prayer, and mutual support. Clinicians will be invited to bring clinical questions, themes they are wrestling with, or places where they are seeking wisdom and discernment.
We will hold these questions together through a Catholic lens, with respect for confidentiality, professional ethics, and the complexity of the therapeutic process.
Think of it, if you will, as a bi-weekly mini-retreat built right into your schedule, with the Holy Spirit facilitating.
Renew will be led by myself and Catherine Morelix, Licensed Clinical Social Worker #82004 in California and Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker #4666 in Kansas.
Catherine’s hunger for community and for more of the Holy Spirit is a large part of why Renew exists today. Here is what she has to say:
Catherine’s Witness
My journey as a Catholic therapist has been an ever-evolving process.
For much of my life, my faith felt separate from everything else. I grew up in a family with a complicated relationship to the Catholic faith. Although I was baptized and received my First Communion, going to church usually only happened when we were with extended family. Actually living one’s faith, speaking openly about a spiritual calling, praying where others could see you, or desiring religious ritual was often seen as strange or overly zealous.
It was not until I was preparing for marriage at age 30 that I truly felt called back to the Church and began forming my own identity in the faith. Then, at 34, after what felt like an overwhelming series of signs and invitations from God, I was finally confirmed. During those same years, I was also growing into my identity as a professional therapist, though I still viewed that part of my life as entirely separate from my faith.
Now, years later, I feel I am still learning and being called to integrate my faith more fully into every area of my life. That includes my vocation as a therapist and healer. I have come to see that this integration is not always easy, and that I cannot do it alone. I need community with others who are also seeking to live their Catholic faith more deeply within their professional calling.
In creating this consultation group with Adam Cross, we are hoping to offer more than a traditional space to discuss cases. We want to create a place where therapists can also bring the deeper spiritual work they are doing, a space of reflection, honesty, prayer, and shared discernment. Our hope is that this group feels not only clinically meaningful, but also spiritually grounding and restorative, more like a retreat than a standard consultation group.
Come and See
And so maybe this is the invitation underneath all of it:
Stop carrying the work alone.
Stop living as if healing depends entirely on us.
And instead:
Let the Holy Spirit lead.
Let the Advocate advocate for us, too.
Let the Lord into the places where we feel tired, uncertain, over-responsible, or alone.
Remember that our work is meaningful because the human person is sacred.
Trust that the Holy Spirit is not absent from the therapy room or our clinical treatment plans.
Be strengthened by others who are trying to walk the same path with humility and faithfulness.
Not because we need one more thing on the calendar.
Not because we need another product.
Not because Renew is the answer to everything.
But because this work is too sacred, too demanding, and too important to do alone.
May we be renewed in the Holy Spirit, strengthened in the beauty of our Catholic faith, and supported in the sacred work of healing.
“Behold, I make all things new.”
— Revelation 21:5
Questions for Prayer and Reflection
Here are a few questions to sit with, journal about, or bring to prayer:
Where in my clinical work am I relying mostly on my own strength, skill, or performance?
What am I carrying right now that may actually belong to the Lord?
Do I believe the Holy Spirit wants to show up for my clients? Do I believe He wants to show up for me?
Where have I subtly started believing that healing depends entirely on me?
How might the Lord be inviting me to become more receptive, prayerful, and Spirit-led in my work?
Who are the people God has given me to pray with, consult with, and lean on in this vocation?
What would it look like to stop doing this work alone?
Where do I need renewal right now — clinically, spiritually, emotionally, or relationally?
How is the Holy Spirit inviting me to trust Him more deeply in the sacred work of healing?
Renew Details
Renew: A Catholic Consultation Community
Who can attend: Catholic therapists from any state or country
Meets: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month
Time: 10:30–11:30 AM PST
Location: Zoom
Cost: $250 per month
Led by: Adam Cross, LMFT #116623, and Catherine Morelix, LCSW #82004
Registration: catholictherapycenter.com
