Admissions » Student Testimonials
Student & Alumni TestimonialsWhat our students & alumni are saying about the Institute...
Margaret Laracy, Student, M.S. Clinical Psychology Program
After a few weeks as a student at IPS, I felt so blessed by the quality of education, the spiritual resources, and the commitment of professors and students to the work of integrating psychology with philosophy and theology.
As an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame I majored in psychology. My coursework and research there reinforced my desire to continue studying psychology. It was clear that so much good has come out of the scientific and clinical advancements in psychology, and I got firsthand exposure to the positive impact of psychological research through my work on a coping with cancer project. At the same time I found myself moved by other courses and experiences that drew me deeper into the mystery of the human person. My spiritual life and Catholic faith informed me that there is more to human nature than psychology could teach me. Our late Holy Father, John Paul II, often told us that Jesus Christ who reveals man to himself. I wanted to have an authentic, Christian anthropology grounding my intellectual and professional pursuits. Working so intimately with people, I knew that I needed to be rooted in the truth; I did not want to risk errors or partial understandings.
After graduating from Notre Dame I spent two years living and working with adults with developmental disabilities in a L’Arche Community. It was from the weakest and most severely disabled members of community that I came to appreciate the import of the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa that the human being is “the grandeur of creation.” Having such a real human encounter increased my desire for a solid intellectual formation that would enable me to understand and serve people in their totality.
As I looked at my options for graduate study, I was uncertain. I did not feel satisfied by the empirical approach of psychology. The answers to my questions could not come from research alone. I also wondered how to address erroneous conclusions that psychology could come to about people without a philosophical foundation within which to understand the discipline. I interviewed at and considered attending several other graduate programs, and I appreciated the quality research and training offered at other institutions, but the program at the Institute attracted me and proved to be unlike any other. At the Institute there is a deep commitment to an authentic and complete understanding of the human person in light of the Catholic tradition, which gives me a great sense of confidence in the education I am receiving. I knew that at any other psychology program I would have had to judge the content and completeness of my education on my own. I have a great sense of freedom here to encounter the truth about human nature wherever it can be found. Psychology has the power to shape culture, and I am confident that the work being done at the Institute will make our culture more authentically human through the study and praxis of a Catholic psychology. It is exciting to be a part of this work!
Michael Horne, Student, Psy.D. Clinical Psychology Program
I'm light-years away from where I was 10 years ago. As a freshman at the University of Texas studying Radio-Television-Film, psychology never once crossed my mind. But to be honest, Catholicism rarely crossed my mind back then either. I started out as a nominal Catholic, and then shifted to being Catholic-so-long-as-it-didn't-interfere-with-football-games, and finally ended up not being very Catholic at all. But while my faith dwindled, my professional career skyrocketed. I graduated with honors and took a position in the Operation Crew at HoustonPBS. I loved working there. I loved the challenge of working with the deadlines of live television. I loved the freedom to be creative and produce quality material. I loved the people I worked with, and the projects I took on daily. I was on the fast track to bigger and better things, and the bigger and better paychecks that went along with them. In short, it was my dream job. Despite it all, I still wasn't fully satisfied, and I had no idea why.
My dream job started to lose its luster. I felt that I spent half my time trying to convince myself that I was in the right place, and still didn't really believe it. I start thinking that there must be a better way to spent my life than entertaining people. Entertainment, while important, didn't seem as critical as truly being able to help people. So I did something that, by that point, I hadn't done in years. I prayed. I asked God for guidance. And the one thing that kept popping into my mind was the idea of studying Child Psychology. A few days later I told my parents about my decision to start looking at graduate programs. I assumed that they'd be stunned; they weren't. In fact, the one thing I remember my father saying is, "Well, that didn't take long." I had no idea what he meant at the time. My mother later told me that my father, who knew that I wasn't happy working in the /media, had prayed a novena for the first time. He prayed that I would find where my place was in God's plan. He had finished that novena two days before I told them of my decision. And it was then that my parents suggested that I consider applying to the Institute for the Psychological Sciences.
I spent the rest of the weekend looking at the Institute’s website. I didn't seem to be an ideal fit. I had no experience in psychology, or philosophy, or theology. I hadn't even taken the GREs. But the program had everything that I wanted in a psychology program. I decided that I would apply to just one graduate school. And if God wanted me in, I'd get in. That was four years ago, and I'm planning on graduating with my Masters in three months. Since then I've grown in my faith, which is extremely important to me. I feel as though I'm making up for lost time, having truly only become Catholic a few short years ago. It is my faith that helps me get up in the morning, and press on through late hours of work and study. To me, being at the Institute is a vocation. I feel as though I am called to be here, and that's not something that I take lightly.
Personally, I view the mission of the Institute to be one of maintaining the dignity of the person within the confines of therapy. To truly understand the person next to us, we must see them as made in the image and likeness of God. The Institute builds upon the solid foundations of psychology by incorporating an understanding of the nature of mankind that has sadly been missing to this point. Unlike most secular psychology, which views the notion of health as a freedom from disorder, Catholic psychology has freedom for the authentic fulfillment of the human person as its goal. It is this fulfillment, as described by Christ and the Church, which we at the Institute hope to promote.
Jill Bohacik, IPS 2006 Graduate, M.S. Clinical Psychology
"Can faith and psychology really be integrated? Do other psychology graduate programs offer more advanced clinical training? What exactly is a 'Catholic psychology'?"
These are some of the many questions I am asked when people find out that I am a graduate of the Institute. My usual response is a smile (because I've heard these questions countless times already), followed by a, "Yes", "No", and "We're working on it", respectively. While I was not always so confident in answering these questions from skeptical onlookers, I can answer them now without a doubt in my mind.
Two years of hard work at the Institute and genuine exploration of other programs has taught me that:
- Yes, faith and psychology can be integrated;
- No, other graduate programs do not offer better clinical training; and
- While we have not yet hammered out all the specifics of what it means to practice a "Catholic psychology", we are making progress on an endeavor that has the potential to shock the psychological world and the promise to impact humanity in a new and profound way.
I graduated from The Catholic University of America with a B.A in psychology and minors in both Religion and Spanish. After graduation, I was employed for six months while I struggled to find the right psychology graduate program for me. After countless hours of Internet searches and visits to schools that left me disappointed, I was even more directionless than when I first began. I knew only that I still loved psychology and that somehow I would find a program that would offer thorough training in the art of therapy as well as an environment that would nurture my own development.
When I eventually came upon the website for the Institute, I was captivated by their unique approach to psychology. While all clinical programs seek to help the human person, the Institute for Psychological Sciences was the only one I had found that first asked the question, "Who is the human person?" Despite the fact that there are disciplines that study just that, no one had yet attempted to apply the fruits of these disciplines to the field of psychology and to the practice of psychotherapy. I wanted to be a part of this place that boldly set forth the arduous task of relating this question to psychology.
There is a common thread that runs through the students and faculty at the Institute. All are here because of a common mission and a response to a call. Students know why they have come and view the mission of the Institute as part of their vocation, and faculty are united in their commitment to teaching psychology in a way that is congruent with the Catholic faith.
Though we may have been lead to this place by a whisper in our hearts, it is now evident in our minds (not only in our spirit), that psychology is incomplete without a consideration of the whole person. An honest and thorough consideration of the relationship between psychology and faith leaves one no other choice but to see them as profoundly influential upon each other.
There is so much hurting and so much pain in the world today. People endure awful sufferings, many times sufferings over which they have no control. Victims are everywhere, searching for the meaning of their heartache. Reminders of this harsh reality inspire helpers to want the very best for their clients; to want to help tackle clients' problems from the roots so that they may never, never have to feel so hopeless again. Most of all, they want clients to know with certainty, that they are loved.
An integrated psychology accounts for the complexities of the human person so that therapists might have a deep understanding of their clients and the dynamics at work within them. The world is starving for such loving care and profound insight into the human person. The students and faculty at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences has sensed this hunger and together have responded to those who are longing to be fed. Our mission is the future of psychology, the future of the Church, the future of the world, and the future of our clients. I am proud to be a part of a team that seeks to know first, in order that they may love fully. If we can take the fruits of our efforts and give hope to our future clients, they will be better equipped to share this newfound gift with others, and we will have done what we set out to do.