Priests with psychology degrees

  • Thread starter Thread starter April29
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I’m a seminarian candidate, and I hear you. Mental illness can make us have very weird thoughts, and do very weird things.
 
I meant don’t go to a priest if you have psychological issues because they cannot help.
 
I might also add that, if you can’t find one with a psychology background, finding one priest that you can confess reliably to and explain your symptoms may help. Especially if you can find a few website that you can give to him (either printed or links) that explain what’s going on.

It really sounds like the main problem is the priest being able to gain some understanding of what is and is not under your control, and what the symptoms actually represent, so as to be able to give appropriate guidance in the confessional. It can be incredibly hard to tell which bits are spiritual and which bits are mental health, and a priest who doesn’t understand can easily overburden the penitent.
 
I’m not a seminarian yet. Just a candidate. I anticipate entrance into seminary this fall, though. 🙂
 
Last edited:
Well, your vocation will be a blessing to many people, believe me. God bless and may Our Lady make you a saintly priest!
 
Yes, and I agree, the problem comes when you can’t tell the difference between what aught to be confessed and what aught to be seen as part of the mental illness. This was explained earlier because it can make it difficult for both the priest and the penitent. One is frightened because the mental illness is already terrifying to them, and the other one may be very upset over what he is hearing. For a person with a mental illness like mine ( Pure-O OCD and it’s many, many awful themes) it’s hard to tell what is may fault and what isn’t. This is especially true when it comes to sin because OCD, especially Pure-O, feeds off guilt and the concept of sin. The OCD brain likes to hurt itself, and Pure-O is especially aggressive. It takes your thoughts and twists them into a million evil, horrific, unimaginable intrusive thoughts, feelings, and sensations that it tried to convince you come from you day and night until you have no idea weather they are yours, weather they are the illness. What thoughts are mine? What feelings are mine? Did I have a good intention here? Was it bad? It makes you doubt every aspect of you who are, what you have always been. I have never said that people aught to go to priests for therapy or anything like that, that is not their place, what I mean is that some mental illnesses affect the person in the confessional. Especially Illnesses like OCD, which try to make the sufferer believe they are evil, so if a poor priest ,not knowing how things like Pure-O affect the mind, becomes upset at one during confession, he accidentally feeds the monster. I have heard similar experiences from people with schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. It’s not the preist’s fault by any means, but I do think that for people with mental illness, out place in the church is still very lonely and misunderstood.
 
Yes, but Pure-O thoughts are not solely suicidal. The Obsesisons tend to deal with very sinful things that aught to be confessed. For example HOCD ( or Harm OCD) puts images and impulses to physically harm your loved ones. The problem is, when you’re in the the illness, it’s not like saying “ oh, this is me, this is the illness. I don’t have to confess that.”. No, it makes you think this is what you want day and night ( which is why they are called obsessions). Or for example TOCD ( Transgender OCD) makes you think you want to be transgender. Homosexual OCD, makes you have gay feelings. POCD makes you think you’re a pedophile. What do you confess??? When is this feeling mine and when is it not? When is it a sin in the eyes of God? Then it makes you think “ What if I am using my illness to get out of confessing my sins?”. It’s called the doubting disease for a reason.
 
You don’t know that he actually said that to her. That’s what she said. You weren’t there.
 
Some people are a little tougher you know? For example, he may have thought that by giving her tough love he’d help her out. However, this is when misunderstanding of an illness comes in. I don’t think he meant harm, or the priest who I went to confession to meant harm, they both thought they were helping. I hope your friend Is doing well, and I also hope she can forgive the incident.
 
I always wonder why God didn’t make us all mentally strong. I can be rather thin skinned myself. I don’t think his intentions were to hurt her honestly but it was a little rude
 
This is why we need this so much. It helps both the penitent and the priest. Sin, and especially the confession of sin, can have a huge impact on a person who may be going through things like these, and having priests who know how to gently guide and treat these wounds can only be amazing.
 
I have no reason to believe that being that I don’t know your friend. Personally, I have had a very kind priest tell me something like this in confession when I was 13. He was an older priest so all I thought was that he wasn’t acquainted with how to treat my case any different. It wasn’t his fault, he just didn’t know. Back in the day it was all about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, and I think this is what he was trying to help with in this case. We need this to be updated lol
 
There you go! Especially being foreign. My parents are from Mexico and when I’ve gone to confession down there it can be pretty rough with the older priests because you have older ideas about emotions and things along with how men in that particular culture carry themselves. I’m sorry about that.That being said, I had an awesome priest hear my confession in Mexico once. He was younger and I swear the man understood me more than I understood myself. Best experience I’ve ever had with confession.
 
Lol. He was an older Mexican or Guatemalan priest. I cannot remember if he was from Guadalajara or Guatemala. His toughness and unwillingness to justify sin was his good quality. His emphasis on not having expectations and not judging were convicting homilies. It’s not too far fetched to imagine him acting insensitively
 
I believe the USCCB has created an office that only deals with people with disabilities. They must have experience with confession for people with OCD troubles.

If the USCCB has an office, most likely each diocese probably does as well. Starting with the national office may be better. On a local level, you are more likely to run into people who do not have open minds, lack experience or education, and may live in a previous century.
 
I am right with you on the sensitive boat. I also have GAD so I have that to make me extremely introverted. I read a book called “ He and I”. It’s about a French mystic’s conversations with Our Lord. He tells her that he gave her, her sensitivity as a gift to help her better reach Him and love Him. To help her better understand others. Personally, since I’ve gone through the worst because of my illness, I can sympathize tremendously with people who are going through things like these. I can understand your feelings because I have them too. I think the sad lot belongs to the tough people. They almost lack the softness to see into the human spirit in all its complexity. He has a hidden plan even in our defects. The problem comes when those who are more thick skinned try to beat us into being tough. This simply doesn’t work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top