Admissions
Welcome!New M.S. in General Psychology!
Statement from the Dean: Dr. Gladys Sweeney, Ph.D.
Who can be against freedom? Each person requires freedom to be fully himself, to discover who he is before God and among men. In the encyclical, Faith and Reason, Pope John Paul II discusses the Catholic view of authentic freedom: "...freedom is not realized in decisions made against God. For how could it be an exercise of true freedom to refuse to be open to the very reality which enables our self realization?" Freedom is essential to our humanity, and expanding a client's ability to make free choices, unfettered by past hurts and unconscious conditioning, is a central goal of the psychological profession.Yet personal choice, marching under the banner of freedom, has strewn the landscape of American family life with wreckage. The "freedom" of a spouse to walk away from a marriage splinters families and shatters the trust and security of children. The "freedom" of adolescents to engage in serial sexual relationships has detrimental effects on their psychological, spiritual, and moral development, and distorts their understanding of the nature of authentic human relationships. The "freedom" of an angry child whose demands are repeatedly indulged by disengaged and preoccupied parents may spill over into school violence and irresponsible behavior in adulthood. The casualties of "freedom" fill psychologists' offices.
Why such a deep chasm between the promise of freedom, on the one hand, and the reality that it engenders? The answer, according to the wisdom of Christian anthropology, lies in the "fundamental dependence of freedom on truth... Genuine freedom is an outstanding manifestation of the divine image in man" (Pope John Paul II in The Splendor of Truth).
Many of the materialistic, deterministic, and relativistic theories serving as a foundation for modern psychology have opposed this truth. Steeped in these theories, many psychologists have ignored the spiritual dimension of their clients and the impact which faith has on their lives.
The Institute for the Psychological Sciences was created to respond to the need to bring the psychological sciences into harmony with the truth and wisdom of the Christian vision of the human person. Psychologists grounded in an understanding of the nature and dignity of the human-person will better influence the children, adults, married couples and families they serve, and by doing so will contribute to a better society.
We invite you to join us.
— Gladys A. Sweeney, Ph.D.