Talks and Retreats that will
Engage & Inspire
Presentations created for Catholics prepared by a Catholic Psychotherapist
"This session was truly needed in our marriage. We have been to counseling for 3 ½ years of our 7-year marriage. I feel this session has made the most difference and understanding. "
Women
Spiritual Sanity for Motivated Moms
This Lenten Mission is designed for mothers. Being a mother is likely the hardest job you will ever have. Learn which labels you or others have placed upon you that are stunting your personal and spiritual development. Discover spiritual practices that you can incorporate into your faith journey. Claim your rightful place as a princess of the Most High God!
Courtship Conversations for Wives
Do you find yourself prioritizing your children, work, and volunteering over dedicated time with your husband? This presentation is for Christian wives who desire to keep the spark burning in their marriage. Uncover research that shows the importance of marital dating and how it is essential to a strong marriage. Learn the three truths of marriage and how to overcome them.
Stop Settling for Second Best
Discover Dana's professional and personal insights into why so many women waste their time on the wrong man and uncover the tell-tale signs of settling in a relationship. During this event you will learn why Satan needs you to settle for second best and how to create a prudent and holy approach to romantic relationships.
Men
Good Intentions & Saintly Interventions
Do you have unhealthy habits that are impeding your character as a Godly man? During this engaging presentation you will discover the science of replacing unhealthy habits by orienting towards self-control. Increase your self-awareness while growing in spiritual maturity as you reflect on the saintly habits needed to protect, provide, honor, love and respect your family.
Couples
Strong Marriages: The Foundation of Holy Catholic Families
At the heart of this couple's presentation is why we need the Holy Spirit in our marriages and how to integrate prayer on a regular basis. Empirical research supports that a strong shared prayer life is integral to the perfection of a couple’s love and to sustain their indissoluble unity. Participants will learn how to lovingly increase their spiritual intimacy - the opposite of spiritual isolation.
Speak Life, Speak Love
Do you regularly tell your spouse what you admire about him or her? This talk highlights the necessity of affective affirmations that can take a marriage from good to great. In this research-based presentation couples learn how to demonstrate respect and affection through their words, while avoiding insincere flattery. During the presentation couples will enjoy private moments to put their new understanding into practice.
Marriage Do’s & Don’ts
The recipe for a strong marriage is based upon guiding principles that protect and nourish your marriage. Learn tried-and-true tips that can help your marriage go from good to exceptional. Lovingly approach your relationship with deepening faith and love.
Leaving and Cleaving
An important aspect of a thriving marriage comes from leaving your Family of Origin and cleaving to your spouse. Doing otherwise leads to an absence of intimacy and unity. Understand how to lean into your marriage rather than leaning on your parents.Learn God’s design for marriage and how to overcome this damaging obstacle.
Pursue Your Spouse's Heart Through Intentional Date Night Conversations
What if you could exercise loving curiosity to strengthen your marriage? Explore the importance of dating and flirting with your spouse in order to keep the proverbial flame of your love burning. Open your hearts to new conversations that will strengthen your emotional connection.
Your Relationship Needs the Patron Saints of Marriage
The vocation of marriage entails a profound depth of self-sacrifice and self-discipline One of the greatest gifts from our Catholic heritage is the communion of Saints. Bless your relationship by growing spiritually from the wisdom of married saints who lived their vocation with dignity and diligence.
Healing the Four Greatest Obstacles In Marriage
One of the top reasons couples seek marriage counseling is communication issues. Learn the corrosive effect some communication obstacles have on a marriage. Practice the methods to heal these wounds that awaken hope and strengthen intimacy. Invest in your most important earthly relationship, your marriage.
Young Adults
10 Red Flags in Dating Relationships
Dating doesn’t have to be treacherous for those who learn to detect warning signs of unhealthy behaviors. Recognizing the ‘handwriting on the wall’ early in a relationship empowers you to move on to healthier options. Understand the three key facets of trust and how to identify when you are being manipulated.
Personal Growth
The People Pleasing Paradox
On the surface ‘people pleasing’ sounds like a wonderful concept but in reality, it is poisonous to relationships. Trying to make everyone happy eventually leads to stress, tension, and bitterness. You will examine the difference between pleasing verus helping others. Learn how to live with authentic integrity while still being charitable to your family and community.
Unpacking The Invisible Load: Healing From Emotional Baggage
Do you often feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Your psychological perspective on your past influences your present state of mind, sense of well-being, and vitality. Take the first step in unburdening yourself by resolving what’s in your emotional backpack.
Stop the Cycle of Shame
Many individuals feel caught up in an endless loop of toxic shame, which can have crippling effects. Explore the evolutionary neurobiology of shame and the development of shame spectrum feelings in childhood. Uncover the differences between guilt and the different types of shame. Learn how you can begin to step into the light of God’s love through engaging experiential exercises.
Parish Staff & Ministries
Good Fences Make Good Coworkers: Healthy Workplace Boundaries
People are most effective in a workplace environment where healthy boundaries are nurtured and maintained, thus leading to relationships that are not only productive but charitable. This talk will enable you to define the different types of boundaries – and whether they are constructive or destructive, to discover a Scriptural approach to boundaries, and review scripts you can apply in your professional and personal life
From Crisis to Cana: Caring for the Mission of Marriage
How many times has your office phone rang and the person on the other end is in desperate need of healing in their marriage? This workshop provides parishes and dioceses insight into ministering to couples in relationship crisis, while learning the words to say when an anguished call is received. Confidence is gained by understanding and grasping the underlying issues, which is done via scripts that illustrate the foundational process of supporting, empathizing and speaking the truth to people in crisis.
Retreats
Cana Engagement
Cana Engagement is an experiential pre-cana retreat designed to bring engaged couples to a deeper level of intimacy through faithful understanding of what it means to enter and live a valid and sacramental marriage. Throughout the two-day retreat the engaged couples grow closer to each other and God. They increase their understanding of marriage by learning to give of themselves, how to communicate in a way that deepens their bond, and how living what God calls them to in marriage opens their relationship and future family to the Graces of the Sacrament.
Cana Convalidation
A Cana Convalidation retreat is a special time for couples who desire to live out the holy vocation of a sacramental marriage, examine marriage as a partnership and covenant with God, learning tried-and-true marriage skills and tools, while reflecting on their current marriage.
Cana Commandments
At this one-day retreat, couples discover how God’s gift of the Ten Commandments, not only applies to their individual lives but to their marriage as well. The retreat is designed to open hearts and minds regarding their approach to their marital union.
Cana Communication
This two-day retreat is a journey where couples grow in intimacy through proven communication techniques, identifying areas of potential growth, building on strengths, deepening their love and exploring solid Catholic marriage theology.
Cana Triune
This series will help couples grow in holiness, charity and humility by focusing on their marriage from their perspective of each spouse’s individual responsibility. Couples will explore the topics of commitment, gratitude and forgiveness in their relationships.
Pro-Life
Self-Care for Sidewalk Counselors
Sidewalk counseling is filled with moments of grace, gratitude, and grief. Gain spiritual and practical insights into the gift of self-care by developing healthy habits to ensure sustainable productivity. Learn how to protect yourself emotionally and psychologically before, during, and after a day of sidewalk ministry.
Pregnancy Center Ministry is a Marathon, not a Sprint
Staff members and volunteers at pregnancy resource centers extend sincere charity by assisting their clients emotionally and materially as they navigate the stress that accompanies an unplanned pregnancy. Explore how to stop absorbing other people’s painful emotions, practically and spiritually. Learn how to recognize and overcome secondary trauma.
No Escape: The Trauma of Aborting a Child at Home
he heartache of a woman experiencing an abortion is amplified when she becomes her own abortionist. This pro-life workshop denotes the psychological, emotional, and spiritual differences between chemical and surgical abortions based upon self-reported after-abortion stories.
Grief
Forgiveness in the Midst of Grief
Forgiveness is one of the hardest challenges that grieving individuals face because grief is a natural process whereas forgiveness is a decision. Learn concrete tools you can utilize in healing from the wound of unforgiveness.
Grieving through the Holidays
Learn sensible tips for looking at the Holiday Season through a new lens that fits your current stage in life. Examine The Griever’s Holiday Bill of Rights and create your Individual Holiday Plan.