Conversations That Matter | Mental Health and the Church
Episode 2: Youth Mental Health: Belonging and Hope in an Age of Loneliness
Wednesday, November 8 at 12:30 p.m. EST
Youth Mental Health: Belonging and Hope in an Age of Loneliness
In 2021, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on the crisis of mental health among American youth. Rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental illness among children and teens have left youth ministers, educators, and parents asking how best to support young people. Drawing on their respective experiences in pastoral and psychological care, our speakers will address how to understand youth mental health through a more integrated lens, engaging the wisdom of both faith and science. Our speakers will address practical questions of how youth ministers, Catholic school administrators and educators, and each one of us can draw on the resources of faith and science to support children and teens living with mental illness.
This webinar is cosponsored with the Martin Center for Integration and Cor Sacrum Counseling and Consulting.
Featured Panelists:
Ryan Dainty, M.Div., is Dean of Student Formation at Marian High School, located within the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN. He has served in that position for the last 10 years. Before that, he taught English full time, and he currently teaches "The Dignity and Vocation of Men" in the Theology Department at Marian. He created the Marian Parent Speaker Series, an outreach ministry that focuses on monthly topics relevant to the parenting of teenagers in today's world. He has a Master of Divinity from Notre Dame, and he lives in Mishawaka, IN, with his wife, Nicole, and their 6 children.
Pat and Kenna Millea bring their love for people and the Church to their work supporting mental health, faith, families, and youth. They met at the University of Notre Dame, where they both received degrees in Theology (among other things) and graduated from the ECHO Graduate Service Program. Kenna is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Pat is a speaker, musician, leader, and former parish youth minister. They recently co-founded the Martin Center for Integration, an organization supporting the integration of mental health & faith, and they co-host a podcast, This Whole Life. They have been married for 14 years and live in the Twin Cities, Minnesota with their 7 children."
Maribel Rodriguez Laguna, M.A., LPC-S, is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Dallas, Texas, where she is the founder and owner of Cor Sacrum Counseling and Consulting. She is also the past board president of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association. Maribel has worked as a counselor in a variety of settings including the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center, Genesis Women’s Shelter, and Dallas Independent School District Youth and Family Centers. She specializes in premarital preparation, marital counseling and vocational discernment, working closely with diocesan vocational leaders. Additionally, Maribel is a presenter at various Catholic conferences around the country and has been a guest on EWTN’s Cara a Cara. Maribel graduated from the University of Dallas with a B.A. in Psychology in 2004 and from University of North Texas with an M.A. in Counseling Psychology in 2007.
Episode 1: Addiction and Recovery: Accompaniment Toward Wholeness and Healing
Wednesday, September 27 at 12:00 p.m. EDT
Addiction and Recovery: Accompaniment Toward Wholeness and Healing
During National Addiction Recovery Month, join the McGrath Institute and Catholic in Recovery for a discussion with leading thinkers in addiction recovery, psychiatry, and theology. Drawing on their respective experiences in pastoral and psychiatric care, our speakers will address how to understand addiction through a more integrated lens, engaging the wisdom of both faith and science. Our speakers will address practical questions of how priests and parish staff, mental health professionals, and each one of us can draw on the resources of faith and science to support those in our families and communities living with addiction.
Featured Panelists:
Fr. Sean Kilcawley – Diocese of Lincoln, Freedom from Pornography Apostolate
Fr. Sean Kilcawley is a nationally recognized speaker on Theology of the Body, Human Love and pornography addiction. He was ordained a priest in 2005 for the Diocese of Lincoln. He served as assistant pastor at St. Joseph and North American Martyrs and taught Theology of the body at Pius X High School from 2005-2009. In 2013 Fr. Kilcawley completed a License in Sacred Theology at the John Paul II institute for marriage and family studies in Rome and returned to the Diocese of Lincoln as director of Religious Education. Fr. Kilcawley currently serves as the Director of the Office of Family Life and theological advisor for IntegrityRestored.com, a non-profit organization that seeks to restore the integrity of families affected by pornography by providing education and resources to individuals, spouses, parents and clergy; to both heal and prevent wounds inflicted by the sexualized culture.
Amy Ricke, M.D. – Psychiatrist
Amy Ricke is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist in Indianapolis. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Science Pre-professional studies. She attended Case Western Reserve University for medical school where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Honor Society. After completing her Psychiatry residency at Indiana University, she was in private practice providing psychiatric evaluation and treatment, as well as psychotherapy. Dr. Ricke has also served as the Director of Psychiatry for a residential eating disorder program in Indiana. She currently treats medical students and resident physicians at Indiana University School of Medicine, the largest medical school in the country. She also provides psychiatric care for college students via telemedicine and serves as a state-wide consultant for the CHAMP Program for healthcare providers in addiction, mental health, and perinatal psychiatry.
Dr. Ricke has a clinical interest and expertise in mood and anxiety disorders, developmental trauma and attachment, eating disorders, substance use disorders (addiction), sleep disorders, and women’s mental health (reproductive psychiatry). She has given numerous lectures and didactics over the years as a way to educate other mental health professionals and is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Scott Weeman, M.A. – Marriage and Family Therapist
Scott Weeman is a beloved son of God, a husband, and a father. He is the founder of Catholic in Recovery, a community of individuals and families seeking freedom from various addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments. Scott is the author of The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments and editor/compiler of The Catholic in Recovery Workbook, both published by Ave Maria Press. Weeman’s Catholic in Recovery organization won the top prize in the OSV Institute for Catholic Innovation Challenge Showcase in 2021.
Scott holds a master’s degree in clinical counseling from Point Loma Nazarene University and serves as an associate marriage and family therapist in addition to his ministry work. He has appeared on EWTN’s The Journey Home and Women of Grace and is a regular guest on Catholic Answers Live. His work has been featured on Aleteia and Patheos. He lives in San Diego, California, with his family.