PROVIDENCE — During May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and consistently throughout the year, the Catholic Church works to support and advocate for those living with mental illness as well as their families.
In Rhode Island, the Diocese of Providence offers individual mental health counseling that gives clients the security and faithfulness of the Lord’s love. Most clients seek help for grief, relationship issues, inner conflict, anxiety, depression, and help with coping and problem-solving, said Peter Magnotta, LICSW, a social worker for the Diocese of Providence. The diocese also provides support for loved ones of those affected by mental health issues, and refers clients to Catholic-oriented counselors according to need, location and affordability.
According to Magnotta, the counseling is primarily an integration of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Catholic Spirituality.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy helps a client to identify distorted and inaccurate beliefs and forms of reasoning, and then helps the client change those distortions into well-formed beliefs and thought processes in order to develop behaviors and ways of thinking that are fruitful and based in truth.
“Catholic spirituality utilizes natural law, Catholic teachings, hope, forgiveness and sacrificial love as a foundation in which issues, internal struggles and ways of thinking can be appropriately reframed, guided, and put into practice,” Magnotta said.
Catholics that come to the diocese for mental health support strongly express the desire to have these qualities in counseling, he said.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has expressed great concern for those battling with the demons of mental illness and emotional distress.
In his recent “Imitation of Christ” column, entitled “St. Dymphna, Pray for Us,” Bishop Tobin reflected on St. Dymphna, the patron saint of those struggling with mental illness. He encouraged those, especially children and teenagers dealing with anxiety and depression, to seek the saint’s intercession and look to her heroic and inspiring story for inspiration.
He noted in the column that the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Rhode Island Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Bradley Hospital recently issued an urgent “Child and Adolescent Mental Health State of Emergency” for Rhode Island.
The emergency declaration states, “As health professionals dedicated to the care of children and adolescents in Rhode Island, we have witnessed soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the situation that existed prior to the pandemic. Children and families across our state have experienced enormous adversity and disruption.”
What is the solution to this crisis?
Bishop Tobin feels that communities should strive to provide the increased professional services that young people and families need to address this problem.
“We need to help teens avoid addiction to the internet and social media, and to help them escape it when it becomes problematic. Parents have a particular obligation to be vigilant in this regard. And perhaps it’s a good time to increase our devotion to St. Dymphna, who, throughout the ages, has assisted people who are struggling with the demons of mental illness and emotional distress.”
For Catholics, therapy is most helpful when the faith is integrated into the process.
In the diocese, Magnotta feels that his clients primarily benefit from incorporating God’s love and a way of processing problems that are consistent and realistic. In most cases, clients benefit from the counseling and referrals that are offered, he said.
“There are a fair amount of mental health counseling services in the secular community,” he said. “But most practicing Catholics want counseling that is in harmony with the Church, and that embraces a loving God, prayer, forgiveness, wisdom, and hope.”
For more information, please call Peter Magnotta at 401-278-2517.
