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Why Repair Doesn’t Heal: The Hidden Cycle in Borderline Relationships
You fight. You reconcile. You understand each other more deeply. Trust consolidates. Peace increases. But in borderline relational cycles, repair does not heal. It resets. And then it happens again. And again. And again…
Be Perfect: What God’s Stability Teaches Us About Emotional Regulation
“Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” For many, especially those who struggle with emotional instability, scrupulosity, or intense spiritual swings, that command feels overwhelming.
What Attachment Styles Are You Raising at Home?
When attachment is secure, children grow in confidence and resilience. When attachment is strained or inconsistent, children develop strategies to survive emotionally.
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When Panic Hits: What to Do, and What It’s Telling You
When someone is in the middle of a panic attack, you don’t start with deep conversations about childhood trauma or…
The Rise of AI Therapy: Can a Chatbot Help You Heal?
We’re seeing clinical outcomes from AI counseling tools that are comparable to traditional therapy. But the real question is what’s missing?
The Healing Power of Watchfulness
The devil spent a lot of time harassing St. John Vianney. He would light the saint’s bed on fire. He would fill the room with…
How to settle anxiety in the heart and mind of someone with OCD
On a spectrum from discomfort to the loudest of alarm bells, OCD longs, sometimes shouts, for more. It always wants, needs, more. More…
How Adultery Happens
Recently, a video surfaced online that took the country by storm: Andy Byron, the now-former CEO, caught on camera at a Coldplay concert…
Am I Addicted to My Phone?
No one really wants to ask it—and certainly no one wants to answer it. But if we’re honest? Most of us are probably somewhere on the yes spectrum. And listen—no judgment if that’s you…
Why Every Addiction Is a Trauma Story
I’ve never encountered anyone with addiction problems who didn’t have some form of trauma. In other words, the addiction has always…
Rest Is Not Just a Mandate—It’s a Reflection of Your Identity
If you’re a father, your life is no longer your own. The reality is that school drop-offs, work emails, bedtime stories, and…
The True Cost of Being an “Always On” Dad
If you’re a father, your life is no longer your own. The reality is that school drop-offs, work emails, bedtime stories, and…
The Messy Closet and the Battle for My Soul
Every day, we’re faced with little choices. To follow through or back away. To do what’s good or what’s easy. To avoid…
Can You Be Holy and Still Be American?
As we celebrate the Fourth of July, it’s worth asking a question most Catholics probably haven’t considered: Can you be holy and still be American?
Five Things Everyone Should Know About the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I knew Mary was important—she had a statue in the church, she was in the prayers—but she wasn’t for me. I grew up Catholic, but…
The Key to a Thriving Marriage
Marriage isn’t just about loving your spouse in the same way you love yourself—it’s about treating their internal world with…
The Love That Sets Us Free
Living with OCD, I’ve found myself turning the car around to check that I didn’t hit a pedestrian, throwing out a batch of cookies because…
Where Trust is Rebuilt
Fear is woven into the human experience. We fear that things won’t work out. That we’ll be hurt, abandoned, forgotten. That we’ll…
A Way Forward for Perfectionists
Well, there are many challenges that come from being a perfectionist. Not just one! Here are the three biggest, at least…
When I Feel Frozen
Saying something hard but true is a people pleasers worst nightmare. There’s a particular kind of fear I know well—the fear that if I speak…
The Two Types of Narcissism
When you hear the word “narcissism,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For many people, it’s an image of someone…
Pope Leo XIV: What His Name Choice Reveals About His Vision for the Church
White smoke has risen from the Sistine Chapel chimney, and the 267th pontiff has been elected. This choice brings historical…
Learning to Mother with Mary
If I could name one constant in my motherhood journey, it would be fear. I wish this wasn’t true, but it is…
Why the Force Still Moves Us
Star Wars illustrates three deep truths about what it means to be human—truths that we at the CatholicPsych Institute try to live out…
Mental Health, and the Gift of Becoming
Work, Mental Health, and the Gift of Becoming: Lessons from St. John Paul II on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker “Daddy, why do you have to go to work?” For about a week or so, my daughter Maggie stopped me just before I left for work and looked up at me with her...
The Mindful Catholic
Written by Dr. Peter Kreeft, this foreward comes from Dr. Greg's book, "The Mindful Catholic" “Greg Bottaro was a student of mine at Boston College. He was a very good student, but even very good students seldom write very good books. He did.” It is a good book not...
Let Christmas Correct Aquinas
Every Christmas, our attention turns to the manger scene and the profound mystery of the Incarnation: the eternal Son of God entering the world through the womb of the Virgin Mary. In meditating on this event, it is striking to note how Mary gave Jesus at least half...
The Secret of Real Self-Compassion – Episode 204
Transcript Hello and welcome to The Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today, I’m going to share a secret with you — the secret for self-compassion. Now, this might sound fluffy or easy, something you can just roll past, but wait a minute....
The Secret Opportunity Gender Confusion Gives Us – Episode 203
Transcript Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I'm going to share with you another continuation of this little series we're doing on man and woman. Specifically, I'm sharing with you the next lecture from...
Complementarity Without The Competition: Why We Need Each Other – Episode 202
Transcript Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today we're going to carry on this theme over the last couple of episodes. I shared with you for our 200th episode a keynote that I delivered at the Franciscan...