Desire, and Fantasy: A Proposal for a Catholic Psychotherapy

---

Target Audience: Students, Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists

Course Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives: 

• Identify the laminate metaphor (Vitz, et al., 2020) as a useful philosophical/theological depiction of
  the complexity of the human person
• Trace one of the many current intense debate’s themes about gender (Grabowski, 2022), the
  purposes of the body, the etiology of sex, gender, relationships, and the role of science Soh (2020) that has led to countless questions and concerns.
• Identify that an anthropological perspective that offers an understanding of healthy and problematic
  sexuality, the etiology of problems, psychotherapy for sexual difficulties, the processes of healing, and the place of sexuality in God’s plan, and the view of the human person.

Just as humans are complex so too human sexuality is likewise complex. One way of thinking about human and sexual complexity is to think of us as many-leveled creatures with our physical, social, psychological, psychodynamic, and spiritual features laminated together. Further, just as human sexuality is complex and affects all aspects of the person, sexual problems are complex in their etiology, e.g., attachment, desire, genetics, psychodynamics, personality, social influences, and trauma (Friedman et al., 2014). Proposed treatment approaches are likewise varied and complex and can include CBT/ACT, sex therapy, psychotropic, medication, relapse prevention, couple therapy, marital therapy, family therapy, and longer-term psychotherapeutic approaches. In addition, Catholic Christian authors offer unique perspectives for an understanding healthy and problematic sexuality, the etiology of problems, psychotherapy for sexual healing, the processes of healing, and the place of sexuality in God’s plan.

This program does not qualify for NBCC credits