For twenty-five years, the Catholic Psychotherapy Association has gathered clinicians, researchers, clergy, and educators around a shared conviction: that authentic healing begins with an authentic understanding of the human person. Our founders saw that psychology, for all its insight, was incomplete without the truth of who we are. We are persons created in the image and likeness of God, a unity of body and soul, made for relationship, called to virtue, and destined for communion with Him. On that foundation, a generation of Catholic clinicians has built practices, programs, scholarship, and communities of care.

This anniversary is an occasion for gratitude and for renewed commitment. We honor the pioneers whose courage opened the way for integrating the Catholic faith and clinical practice. We take stock of what has grown from their work, including research, formation, training, and a growing body of clinicians who bring both competence and faith to the people they serve.

We also look ahead. The next twenty-five years will bring challenges our founders could not have imagined. Confusion about identity and the body, the erosion of family and community, rising loneliness and anxiety, rapid technological change, and pressure on clinicians to set aside their convictions will all test our work. Our anthropology is not a relic to preserve. It is a living foundation that equips us to meet these questions with clarity, charity, and clinical excellence.

This conference invites every member, whether seasoned or just beginning, to see themselves as one who “is building upon it.”

St. Paul’s words frame our spiritual and intellectual work: grounded in Catholic faith, we build a deeper understanding of the human person to inform compassionate, ethical care.

Find answers about joining the conversation on Catholic anthropology and mental health practice, October 21–23, 2027.