The mission of this podcast is the formation of your heart in love and for love, Together, we shore up the natural, human foundation for your spiritual formation as a Catholic. St. Thomas Aquinas asserts that without this inner unity, without this interior integration, without ordered self-love, you cannot enter loving union with God, your Blessed Mother, or your neighbor. Informed by Internal Family Systems approaches and grounded firmly in a Catholic understanding of the human person, this podcast brings you the best information, the illuminating stories, and the experiential exercises you need to become more whole in the natural realm. This restored human formation then frees you to better live out the three loves in the two Great Commandments – loving God, your neighbor, and yourself. Check out the Resilient Catholics Community which grew up around this podcast at https://www.soulsandhearts.com/rcc.
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Catholics becoming Gods. In this episode, Mother Natalia of the Byzantine Catholic of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery and host of the “What God is Not” podcast discuss theosis (or deification) from an Eastern Catholic perspective, bringing in parts and systems thinking. Join us for a fascinating, rollicking conversation about this most important topic. Mother Natalia’s podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@whatgodisnotpodcast Praying with Parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OZ6e6zAMb4 Mother Nat...
Deification: A secret in the Catholic Church that really shouldn’t be a secret. Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr Matthew Tsakanikas, professor of theology at Christendom College, and Dr. Peter for a wide-ranging discussion of the glory, the adventure, the awe of partaking of God’s divine nature with the entirety of our being – our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, innermost selves, and all our parts, from a perspective informed by Internal Family Systems and grounded in a Catholic anthropology and metaphysi...
This episode features a rich discussion among Catholic philosophers and therapists on integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) with Catholic teaching. The panel explores frequently asked questions, including how IFS aligns with Catholic anthropology, distinguishing parts from demonic influences, the concept of "no bad parts" in light of Catholic virtue, and the critical role of ordered self-love versus selfishness. They also delve into the philosophical implications of parts within parts and the relationship between conscience and IFS, aiming to harmonize modern psychological insights with perennial Catholic truths for human flourishing.
Moral theologian Fr. Thomas Berg and philosopher and therapist Dr. Andrea Messineo take on the topic of personal conscience and parts work through a Catholic lens. We explore the relationships among conscience, parts, the innermost self, the intellect, the will, impulses, and desires. We address concupiscence and parts, and offer specific examples. Join us for a fascinating exploration of conscience and parts. Check out these other episodes: https://youtu.be/bw-zUp2h_TA https://youtu.be/f5MNCaCJ...
Catholic philosopher Dr. Andrea Messineo and moral theologian Fr. Thomas Berg guide us in moral reasoning from a parts perspective, grounded in Alasdair MacIntyre’s Thomistic thought. Join us as we romp through understanding the development of moral reasoning informed by IFS, “values clarification”, Winnicott’s object relations model, the importance of unblending and recollection for clarity in moral reasoning, the necessity of dependence on others, the proper use and the misuse of penance and m...
You need to love yourself properly to love others in an ordered way. How can we understand St. Thomas Aquinas' insistence on us governing our passions from an IFS perspective in a way that loves our passionate parts? How can we be detached from worldly goods? Do saints get blended with their parts? Are there benefits to some kinds of blending with parts? How can we frame the Theology of the Body to resonate more with women's concerns? How can we consider both errors of commission vs. errors of o...
Christopher West has recently embraced IFS and parts work because of Dr. Gerry Crete’s book, Litanies of the Heart . Dr. West shares the impact of IFS in his life, seeing it as a “missing piece,” a key to internalizing and living out the powerful message of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. In this episode, Dr. West, Dr. Gerry, and Dr. Peter invite you into their rollicking, wide ranging, and deep conversation about “marrying” TOB and IFS -- and how the TOB/IFS union brings guidance and l...
A sure norm for teaching the faith – that’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is, according to St. John Paul II. Today, Elizabeth Galanti, Dr. Gerry, and Dr. Peter look at what the CCC has to say about parts work, human formation, divided hearts, healthy multiplicity vs. inner fragmentation, self-knowledge, self-governance, self-love, inner unity, sexual sins, the body, and hope. And all of this in our effort to ground Internal Family Systems and other parts and systems approaches ...
“Man is divided within himself.” So says the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes. Sins – original sin, the sins of others, and your own personal sins lead to your inner fragmentation and the obscuring of your conscience. What is your conscience? Where is your conscience within you? What does Vatican II say about IFS concepts? How did St. Maximilian Kolbe live sacrificial love in Auschwitz with interior integration, inner unity? And what does Vatican II say about psychology and the social science...
We explore the surprising compatibility of Internal Family Systems with a Thomistic understanding of the human person. The modern pioneer of parts work, Richard Schwartz, originator of IFS harmonizes with the medieval angelic doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. Join Thomistic philosopher Dr. Anthony Flood, Catholic psychologist Dr. Eric Gudan and me, Dr. Peter, as we discuss how the goodness of IFS can be modified and grounded in the excellence of a Thomistic anthropology. For the full vid...
How do we love with the three loves in the two Great Commandments? And what are the relationships among love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self? Join Catholic philosopher Anthony Flood and Catholic psychologist Eric Gudan as we explore love in Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. We address flourishing, friendship, virtues, interior integration, inner unity, union with others, trauma, healing, selfishness, humility, magnanimity, where to find truth, and so much more, all through a Thomistic...
We have answers to your questions about Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Catholicism. From the experts. That’s what this episode is all about. Dr. Peter Martin, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu and Dr. Peter Malinoski come together with a live audience to discuss your questions about parts’ felt sense of safety, their God images, and your innermost self as a secure internal attachment figure for your parts and a bridge between your parts and God, your will and your parts. We discuss whether...
Both Socrates and Plato were deeply concerned with the questions 1) Who is the human person? and 2) How does one flourish in living the best life possible. And both addressed these questions through understanding a person’s relationship with self. Knowing oneself, loving oneself, and governing oneself wisely are the core of their teaching on virtues and ethics. All three of those imply a relationship oneself. We explore the “parts of the soul” that Socrates and Plato proposed, and how these part...
Q: What can St. Bonaventure teach us about our inner life? A: More than you might imagine. Writing in the 13th century, St. Bonaventure emphasized the importance of the heart, of our emotions and our desires. He prized love and relationality – starting with the relationships among the three Persons of the Trinity, that God is both a unity and a multiplicity. He also emphasized the faculty of memory in addition to the intellect and the will as part of his tripartite model of soul, which opens the...
Q: Did St. Maximus anticipate Internal Family Systems thinking by 13 centuries? A: In a word, Yes. Maximus, writing in the seventh century, described in detail the unity and distinctions within the human person, and how each of us is a mediator that connects the spiritual and natural realms, and microcosm that contains within us the entire cosmos. Mind-blowing ideas. He also believes that each of us is a macrocosm, being able to influence the whole world in ways that matter. Maximus was a sophis...
You can think of St. Augustine’s heart as an “open book” titled “Confessions.” In this episode, we go deep into his restless heart, sharing with you how well his clear, detailed, and nuanced descriptions of his inner experience reflect Internal Family Systems and parts work so well. As St. Augustine describes his “divided heart” and “conflicting wills” and the stages of his conversion, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Chrisian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski show how this translates into IFS terms. And Dr. C...
What can the Early Church Fathers teach us about our inner worlds, the complexity of our psyches? Actually, very much, if we are willing to listen. Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu and me for a highlight tour of what these Early Church Fathers offer us in understanding and loving ourselves, God, and others: St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John of Damascus. We particularly focused in on St. Evagrius discussing the “Christ-self...
Internal Family Systems is extremely popular not only as a therapy model, but as a way of making sense of our inner experience. IFS does not have specifically Catholic origins. But can there be a way of understanding parts work and systems thinking and harmonizing them with an authentically Catholic understanding of the human person? Dr. Christian Amalu, Dr. Peter Martin, Dr. Gerry Crete, and Dr. Peter Malinoski explore that question in these next episodes, starting with Sacred Scripture. What e...
You have got questions, we have answers – all about IFS and parts work, Catholic style. Join Marion Moreland, David Edwards, Bridget Adams, and Dr. Peter as we engage with a live audience for a discussion. David provides a brief drop-in exercise. The new discuss relating with our parts with love, legacy burdens and legacy gifts, detecting when a part is blended, displaced anger, how core beliefs drive parts, how our human formation arithmetic can help our spiritual formation algebra, Divine Prov...
Question: What do improvisational jazz bands, 8-man rowing shells, the Catholic Church, and a nuclear family all have in common? Answer: They are all human systems. Systems have three components: 1) elements (or parts); 2) interconnections (relationships among elements); and 3) a function or purpose. John David Edwards and Dr. Peter as we explore systems. Understanding yourself as a system, with an innermost self, parts, internal relationships among your innermost self and parts (e.g. polarizati...
Fearfully and wonderfully made – that is what you are. And made not just as a single, homogeneous personality – but as a system. But what is a system? How can we understand ourselves not just as a monolithic personality, not just as a unity, and not just as a multiplicity, but in terms of our inner relationships with ourselves? Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Bridget Adams, and Dr. Peter as we explore how each of us has a “kingdom within” – and how understanding that kingdom, understanding our multiplicit...
“The body remembers what the mind forgets,” psychiatrist Jacob Levy Moreno tells us. And Bessel van der Kolk takes it a step further – the body not only remembers, but “the body keeps the score.” Our parts have so much to tell us about their experiences – our “forgotten,” unconscious experiences – and so often, our parts communicate with us through our bodies. Will we listen? Will you listen? In this episode, Marion Moreland, Jennifer Maher, and host Bridget Adams share with why and how our bodi...
Survival. Importance. Agency. Goodness. Mission. Authentic expression. These are the six integrity needs that Dr. Peter came up with over decades of work with Catholics. In this episode, we define integrity and integrity needs, we discuss how so many children are forced to choose which needs will be met and which will be denied. We cover each of the six integrity needs in depth, we explore the hierarchy of integrity needs, and we discuss what kinds of parts are especially focused on each integri...
Feeling safe. Feeling seen and heard. Feeling reassured, soothed. Feeling cherished and delighted in. Feeling loved. Feeling that I belong. We all have these six attachment needs. But how do our parts experience these needs? Which kinds of parts have which kinds of attachment styles? How can I recognize which attachment needs different parts of me have? Where do I start in helping a part of me who is struggling with unmet attachment needs and an insecure attachment style? Catholic IFS therapists...
Dr. Gerry Crete helps us unravel the confusion within us, why we have such deep internal conflicts and tensions that pull us in different directions and tear at our hearts. St. Paul tells us in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” What’s up with that? Parts. Parts are up with that, that’s what -- or who. And in this episode, Dr. Gerry and Bridget Adams shed so much light on our internal experience in our fallen human cond...
Who are you, deep inside, at the core of your being? Who lives in the inmost chamber of your personhood? Join us on an adventure to discover your core identity. Catholic experts Dr. Gerry Crete and Dr. Peter Martin find the convergences and synergies in Scripture, the early Church Fathers, the Eastern and Western Catholic monastic traditions, Doctors of the Church, the medieval Catholic theologians, the writings of contemplative saints, and the magisterial teachings of the Church -- supplemented...
We offer you a new and better way of understanding yourself and others – Internal Family Systems (IFS). But what is IFS? What are “parts”? Who are our internal managers, firefighters, and exiles? Who is your innermost self and what are his or her eight primary characteristics? What are burdens and what are the extreme roles parts take on after trauma, attachment injuries, or relational wounds? What is “blending”? Join IFS therapists Marion Moreland, David Edwards, and me, Dr. Peter, for this ove...
Real people, real questions. Parts, attachment, human formation, marriage, conscience, intimacy with God, connection with your innermost self… Dr. Peter Martin answers audience questions and leads a discussion in this episode, recorded live. Join in as a “fly on the wall” for the most cutting edge thinking and research on attachment and parts work, applied to the practical problems and issues we face in both the natural and spiritual realms. Join us on YouTube at InteriorIntegration4Catholics ht...
You loving you. You bringing each of your parts closer to God, in a gentle, merciful way. Dr. Peter Martin shares his insights on how we can love ourselves toward God, informed by attachment theory and Internal Family Systems, and grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person. He presents on “Internal Evangelization Therapy” – bringing in safe havens, secure bases, the “Circle of Security,” spiritual intercessors, the discernment of spirits, and how to “bypass the spiritual bypass.” T...
Attachment needs, problematic God images, parts, systems, love, and security – no one brings these together quite like seasoned Catholic psychologist Peter Martin in this episode. Join us as Dr. Martin weaves together the leading edges of conceptual thinking and practical application to provide you a lifeline to grip on to and by which you can climb to a new plane of being as he integrates the four dimensions of personal formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. Dr. Martin brings ...
