The Catholic Therapist

By The Catholic TherapistReligion & Spirituality Christianity Education Self-Improvement

The Catholic Therapist episodes

October 29Is Church Drama Part of Your Ministry? A Catholic Therapist Explains
What if the drama in your parish is the ministry?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) draws on his nine years as a youth minister to unpack why conflict, burnout, and other people's brokenness show up in every kind of church ministry, and how to meet them with love instead of reactivity.
Topics covered:
Parish politics, burnout, and human brokenness
Reacting from your wounds vs. responding by the power of the Holy Spirit
Doing your own healing work so conflict does not run the show
Loving the difficult person, including choosing not to react right now
When to set a boundary or walk away, and when to keep going
Mercy, apology, and forgiveness without always requiring reconciliation
If you are tempted to give up, the Holy Spirit is working through your perseverance and your love.
Sponsored by Ascension Press. Alto is a monthly companion with the daily Mass readings, Lauds, Compline, and saint reflections. Get 10% off with code ADAM10: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/l/adam-cross
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
11 min
October 22Is Self-Love Catholic? A Catholic Therapist Explains
Can you love yourself the way God loves you?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) unpacks an unexpected fruit of intimacy with God: a healthy, holy love of self rooted in being God's beloved.
Topics covered:
Daily Lectio Divina and time with the Word as a bedrock of faith
How intimacy with God reveals how he sees us
Reclaiming "self-love" as stewardship of body, mind, and soul
What "die to yourself" does and does not mean
Why loving your neighbor as yourself is hard when you are harsh with yourself
Your God-given needs and limits as an invitation back to the Father
Before we can be a gift to others, we have to know we are already a gift.
Sponsored by Ascension Press. Alto is a monthly companion with the daily Mass readings, Lauds, Compline, and saint reflections. Get 10% off with code ADAM10: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/l/adam-cross
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
13 min
September 22Who's Really Steering Your Healing? A Catholic Therapist Explains
Who's really driving your healing, you, or your anxiety?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) explores a pattern he sees often in the therapy room: clients whose anxiety or OCD quietly takes charge of the healing process, driven by a fear that anything less than total control means they won't be okay.
Topics covered:
The "listing compulsion" and the fear behind needing to share everything
The anxious "healing manager" part of us that tries to steer therapy
Why forcing healing becomes an obstacle to it
The afraid-of-the-dark analogy for working with anxious parts of ourselves
Dialoguing with anxiety through imagination, and the powers of the soul
Trusting God's presence in each step of the healing process
Real healing doesn't require you to manage it alone. It asks for peace, trust, and a willingness to let someone else, including the Holy Spirit, help steer.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
12 min
September 15Does Trusting God Make You Complacent With Sin? A Catholic Therapist Explains
Does trusting God's mercy mean you'll just get complacent with sin?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) unpacks a fear he sees constantly in the therapy room, especially with clients struggling with scrupulosity and OCD: that leaning into God's mercy means letting themselves off the hook.
Topics covered:
The fear that trusting God's mercy leads to complacency
Scrupulosity, OCD, and trust issues with ourselves
The two false extremes: self-reliance and mercy without relationship
The good thief on the cross and salvation as gift, not merit
Rebuilding self-trust after squandering God's mercy in the past
Peace, not fear, as the real sign of the Holy Spirit's conviction
A daily prayer practice from Fr. Timothy Gallagher
The answer isn't more willpower or more excuses. It's relationship: a daily, minute-by-minute leaning into a God who is present, who loves you, and who will bring you peace.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
13 min
September 01Fear of God vs. Anxiety: Finding the Healthy Balance
Is it possible to fear God and trust him at the same time?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) sits down with Dr. Anthony Isacco, licensed psychologist and Director of Training for the PsyD program at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, for his third appearance on the show. Together they untangle one of the most common, and most misunderstood, tensions in the spiritual life: the fear of the Lord.
Topics covered:
Healthy fear versus anxiety and scrupulosity
Why so many Catholics struggle to admit they have a good relationship with God
Pope Leo's teaching on human dignity as unearned, not achieved
Discipline as an expression of a father's love, not rejection
Parts work, Internal Family Systems, and integrating psychology with Catholic spirituality
Practical tools for working through fear: thought records, perspective-taking, and the Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity
Whatever your relationship with fear looks like right now, this conversation offers a path back to trust, and a reminder that God is a father, not a master.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
45 min
July 30Catholic Therapist Reacts to Obsession: Consent, Sin & Free Will
What if the scariest part of a horror movie isn't the monster, but the isolation?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) reviews the horror film "Obsession" and unpacks what it reveals about consent, codependency, and what it truly means to love.
Topics covered:
The Twilight Zone episode that echoes Obsession's premise
Why no character in the film is fully consenting to what happens to them
Consent, free will, and mortal sin in Catholic moral theology
Codependency vs. real love
Becoming free to give ourselves as a gift
The devil's lie that God doesn't care
Even in suffering, we are never without choice, support, or God's presence.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT
11 min
July 27Why Contemplation is Healing
Why does slowing down feel so unsafe, even when we know it's good for us?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) unpacks why contemplative prayer isn't just a spiritual discipline, it's a genuine tool for psychological healing. Drawing on a recent conversation with Dr. Tim White of St. Mary's University and patterns he sees constantly in his clinical work, Adam explains why clients with anxiety, OCD, and scrupulosity often struggle most to be still, and why that stillness is exactly where healing begins.
Topics covered:
Lectio Divina and Ignatian prayer as contemplative practices
Contemplation as receiving, not analyzing
Bringing God into ordinary daily moments
Catholic contemplation versus secular mindfulness
Fr. Jacques Philippe on God's unwavering presence
Becoming childlike again as a path to healing
Slowing down isn't unproductive. It might be the very thing you need most.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
12 min
July 23Introducing Renew: A Community for Catholic Therapists
Catholic therapists need support too.
In this episode, Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) and founder of the Catholic Therapy Center, introduces Renew: a new bi-weekly online group for Catholic therapists built on prayer, community, and shared clinical experience, rooted in the Holy Spirit and Catholic anthropology.
Topics covered:
The hunger for community among Catholic clinicians
What Renew offers: prayer, consultation, and support
Why Catholic therapists need other Catholic therapists
How to join, launching August 2026
Learn more and sign up at catholictherapycenter.com.
Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
4 min
July 21Your Drive to Grow Might Be Preventing It
What if the way you're trying to grow is actually keeping you stuck?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) unpacks a pattern he sees constantly in his clinical work: clients who want to be better, more disciplined, more spiritually mature, but who are driven by an internal critic instead of love. That fear-based motivation, he explains, often leads to burnout, numbing, and avoidance instead of real change.
Topics covered:
The internal critic and where it comes from
Fear-based growth versus peace-based growth
Why doom scrolling and numbing out happen
The "how" and "why" behind our goals
1 Corinthians 4 and the judgments of others
Resting in being already loved by God
You don't have to earn your worth to grow. You already have it, and that changes how you pursue every goal.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
9 min
June 30 Leisure Is Worship — The Catholic Case for Rest ft. Dr. Tim White
What if the grind isn't the path to freedom — it's the thing keeping you from it?
In this episode, Catholic therapist Adam Cross, LMFT (#116623) sits down with Dr. Tim White — psychology professor, researcher, and self-proclaimed workaholic — to explore what it actually means to rest in a culture that has forgotten how.
Drawing on the theology of the 8th day of creation, Joseph Pieper's Leisure: The Basis of Culture, and the latest research in psychology and blue zone longevity, Adam and Tim make the case that leisure isn't a reward you earn through hard work. It's the foundation everything else is built on — including worship.
Topics covered:
• Why "work will set you free" is a lie from Auschwitz to Silicon Valley
• The Genesis story and what was lost — and restored — through Christ
• What real rest looks like (hint: it's not Netflix or a beach vacation)
• Flow states, play, and why winners in sports look completely incoherent
• Mindfulness with God as a secure attachment figure
• "The opposite of sin is not virtue but praise" — and what that means practically
• Blue zones, enjoyment, and why leisure-centred living actually helps you live longer
• Practical steps for stepping out of the productivity trap and into Sabbath rest
If you've been burning the candle at both ends and wondering why you still feel empty, this conversation is for you.
Have questions? Visit my website: adamcrossmft.com
Adam Cross, LMFT #116623
48 min

About The Catholic Therapist

From the publisher's feed

Adam Cross is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#116623), writer, and speaker who is passionate about helping people experience healing and freedom rooted in their identity as beloved sons…