Monsignor Shea: New counseling center in Phoenix will focus on ‘inestimable dignity’ of human person

A Catholic counseling formation program centered on human dignity will open in the fall as part of a collaboration between the University of Mary and the Diocese of Phoenix.

A Catholic counseling formation center will open in Arizona this fall as a project of the University of Mary and the Diocese of Phoenix.

The Photina Center for Catholic Counseling will offer in-person courses for the University of Mary’s Catholic Anthropology Certificate and limited courses in the master of science in counseling as well as professional development resources.

University of Mary President Monsignor James Shea said counseling should recognize “the spiritual element of our being.”

“The difficulty with modern, secular mental health training is that it often considers the human person in a very limited way, largely through an un-Christian lens, and increasingly through a lens that is openly hostile to the Christian understanding of the human person,” Shea told EWTN News.

“To have Catholic anthropology woven throughout our counseling formation is important for resetting that un-Christian lens,” he continued. “It allows therapists to see, truly, what the actual good is for our fellow human beings and thus truly to serve their well-being completely, protecting and affirming their essential dignity as one created in the image and likeness of God.”

This is not the first partnership between the Diocese of Phoenix and the University of Mary. The university recently began to provide courses at the newly-established Nazareth Seminary and also operates a satellite campus, Mary College, at Arizona State University.

“Something near and dear to Bishop [John] Dolan’s own heart and vision for the Diocese of Phoenix has been to provide better access to Catholic, mental health counseling services, something so desperately needed not only in Arizona but throughout the country,” Shea said.

Dolan, who has lost four family members to suicide, is known for his mental health advocacy.

“Catholic universities exist to serve the Church,” Shea said of the partnership.

The University of Mary and the Diocese of Phoenix will host an open house on March 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Diocese of Phoenix, 400 E. Monroe St., Phoenix.

Why Catholic therapy?

“Therapy, at its best, aims at providing for the well-being of the person,” Shea said. “If your vision of the human person does not factor in the truth that every person is a created being in the image and likeness of God, with inestimable dignity, then it will fail to provide for the ultimate well-being of the one receiving therapy.”

The center is named for St. Photina who, according to Eastern Christian tradition, was the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:4-42.

“The center draws inspiration from her encounter with Christ, which is the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in the New Testament,” read the University of Mary press release shared with EWTN News.

“In Jesus, she finds truth, healing, and courage for joyful witness,” the press release continued. “Photina means ‘light,’ embodying the center’s goal to illuminate paths of hope and healing for individuals, families, and communities.”

“If there’s no recognition that the spiritual element of our being flows in and out of the physical and mental elements of the human person, then it’s impossible to fully account for the therapeutic needs of the human person, or even how to best administer care,” Shea said.