Dr. Andrew Sodergren – Page 4 – Ruah Woods Psychological Services

Redeemed and Called by Christ

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

For the last several months of our journey through TOB, we have explored the effects of our first parents’ fall from grace. We explored the nature of their sin and how it disrupted the harmony they previously experienced with God, within themselves, with each other, and with the rest of creation. As a result, concupiscence (i.e., disordered desire) and shame became hallmarks of our human experience. Having reviewed the various aspects and causes of shame as well as its positive, protective value in a fallen world, we delved into the problem of shamelessness and the most notorious example of shamelessness today — pornography. It is now time, with the help of Pope St. John Paul II, to shift our gaze from our origin and fall to our redemption and call to glory.

Indeed, if the story of the human person and human love ended with sin, it would be a very bleak tale. Thanks be to God that He did not abandon us to the power of sin and death but fashioned a remedy for us out of our own humanity. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, took on our human nature, becoming like us in all things but sin, suffered and died for our sake, and rose to eternal glory. As the fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught,

“He Who is ‘the image of the invisible God’ is Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. Since human nature as He assumed it was not annulled, by that very fact it has been raised up to a divine dignity in our respect too. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin” (Gaudium et spes, 22).

Christ indeed has united Himself with us, taking on our human nature in its entirety and uniting it with His divinity forever. In doing so, He has revealed to us anew our worth in God’s eyes and raised our dignity to an unprecedented level. As the Council fathers said, this dignity even includes the human body. Indeed, Pope St. John Paul II quipped, “Through the fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology… I would say, through the main door” (TOB 23:4). The human body has become theological, the meeting place between God and humanity.

By taking on our human nature, suffering and dying for us, and rising to eternal glory, Jesus has also opened the path to sanctity for us. Throughout His earthly ministry, He called His disciples to holiness of life. His preaching and example established the New Law of the Gospel as the standard for all human conduct, especially for those who bear the name Christian. This New Law “fulfills, refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection” (CCC, 1967). By giving us this law and empowering us to fulfill it with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Jesus provided the path and the means for all of us to achieve holiness and enter into eternal life.

Pope St. John Paul II frequently recalled the teaching of the Second Vatican Council known as the “universal call to holiness.” He adamantly taught that holiness — indeed, sainthood — is possible for each and every one of us and is, in fact, an essential aspect of everyone’s vocation. None of us are exempt from this call, nor is it impossible for us to achieve it with the abundant help of God’s grace. In TOB, he particularly explored the implications of Christ’s redemption, the New Law of the Gospel, and the call to holiness for the relationship between the sexes and our experience of spousal love. I invite you to continue this journey through TOB with me as we explore in subsequent articles the late pope’s precious insights into our moral life in Christ and the redemption of our bodies.
[3] Cooper, A. (1998). Sexuality and the Internet: Surfing into the new millennium. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(2), 187–193.
[4] Love et al. (2015). Neuroscience of Internet pornography addiction: A review and update. Behavioral Sciences, 5, 388-433.

Note: This article is part of a series of reflections on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.”

Continue Reading: The Gift of the Moral Law

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, September 2023 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

The Gift of the Moral Law

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

In the second major part of TOB, Pope St. John Paul II guides us in exploring the implications of our redemption in Christ and the moral teaching of the New Testament for the relationship between the sexes and our call to spousal love. Before we can delve into this teaching, it is helpful to pause and ponder an essential but overlooked question: What is the purpose of the moral law?

In our modern age, law is typically seen in a distorted way as purely an instrument of control. In the best case scenario, some may see it as imposed for the sake of social order, but in the worst case, it is seen as merely a tool by those in power to maintain their position. In addition, we live in an increasingly relativistic age that rejects belief in moral absolutes, making each person the sole arbiter of right and wrong. Indeed, we regularly hear references to “your truth” and “my truth” as if truth could be different from one person to the next.

These views of the moral law pervade our culture and even infect the hearts and minds of many Catholics. If we make an honest examination, we may discover that we are embarrassed by Catholic moral teaching. We may outwardly profess to be good Catholics and faithful followers of Jesus, but when difficult moral issues come up, we distance ourselves from the teachings of the Church and hope that the topic of discussion will just go away. A complacent attitude of “well, the official teaching of the Church is _____, but only extremist / fanatical / rigid / ultra-traditional people live that way” creeps into our hearts and grows like a cancer, slowly cutting us off from the life of God within us.

When we look at the moral law in this distorted way, we can only see it as an arbitrary burden imposed on us for nefarious purposes (e.g., to control us, to make us miserable, etc.). Even more, our distorted, relativistic thinking often conceals and enables attachment to sin. These two forces work together to lead us to despise the moral law because it calls us to reform our lives. As Pope St. John Paul II said in his great encyclical on the moral life, Veritatis splendor, “Those who live ‘by the flesh’ experience God’s law as a burden, and indeed as a denial or at least a restriction of their own freedom” (no. 18). As a result, we begin to see the moral law as a threat to our freedom from which we must protect ourselves. We regard it with a sense of suspicion, resentment, and even outright hostility.

All our hearts are in need of purification from attachment to sin and the distorted, relativistic thinking of our culture. To this end, I invite us all to meditate on Psalm 119 in which the inspired psalmist beautifully pours out his deep love, thankfulness, and even yearning for God’s law. He speaks of it as sweeter than honey, finer than gold, greater than riches, the source of his comfort, the song of his house, and the delight of his heart. If we see it rightly, with pure eyes, this would be the natural response of our hearts toward all of Catholic moral teaching.

In reality, the moral law is not an imposition or a burden. Nor is it a restriction of our freedom. Rather, the moral law is one of our loving Father’s greatest gifts to us. It is meant to ensure and enhance our freedom by protecting us from ways of living that harm us. Sin is the true threat to our freedom for “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (Jn 8:34). As St. Paul reminds us, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1).

Our Father loves us so much that, through Christ and His Church, He has given us the fullness of the moral law so, as we pray in the Serenity Prayer, we “may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.” As we meditate on Jesus’ moral teachings in future articles, let us ever remember His tender words about the true purpose of the moral law:

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn 15:10-11).

Continue Reading: The Law of the Heart

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, October 2023 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

The Law of the Heart

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

By taking on our human nature in the Incarnation, Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, united himself intimately with us. He did this in order to save us from sin, to reveal the Father and His love, to give us an example of holiness to follow, and ultimately, to enable us to share in the divine life of the Blessed Trinity (see CCC, 457-460). In his Theology of the Body, Pope St. John Paul II was especially interested in the implications of our redemption in Christ, the New Law of the Gospel, and our call to holiness for how we regard our bodies, our sexuality, and how we relate with one another. To help us enter into his reflections, we first pondered the universal call to holiness and the purpose of the moral law. We saw that with the grace that Christ won for us — and continually supplies through His bride, the Church — sanctity is not only possible for each and every one of us but is the standard of life for every Christian.

In the previous article, we reflected on the purpose of the moral law. At various times, we can all experience suspicion, resentment, or even embarrassment of Catholic moral teaching. However, if we have the eyes to see it, the moral law is actually an amazing gift of love given to us by our generous, loving Father. He desires us to enjoy our freedom and creativity in this life and has given us the moral law — expressed in its fullest form in Catholic moral teaching — so that we do not fall into the slavery of sin. He desires to help safeguard and enhance our freedom so that we can shape our lives in ways that are truly befitting of our dignity as sons and daughters of God and will lead us to eternal communion with Him. In this way, the moral law is actually centered on our happiness — both in this life and in eternity.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus brought the Old Law to fulfillment through his example and teaching. In doing so, He gave us the New Law of the Gospel, which “is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed.” It is “expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount” (CCC, 1965). There, the Lord repeatedly uses the form “you have heard that it was said… but I say to you…” (see Matt 5). To make his purpose absolutely clear, he prefaces these sayings with the statement, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt 5:17).

Within these sayings in the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord shows us that the moral law is about more than just external actions. External actions and overt obedience are very important, but they mean little if they do not reflect the true attitudes of our heart. Our inner attitudes, intentions, and desires matter just as much if not more. For example, Jesus teaches us that it is not enough for us to refrain from killing others. Rather, we must root out disordered anger, resentment, and unforgiveness. Jesus calls us, his disciples, to a level of holiness that involves the whole person, even the depths of the heart. Thus, the New Law of the Gospel is truly a law of the heart. Through it, Jesus shows us that the Father loves us so much that He desires not mere slaves who robotically follow “the rules.” Rather, He longs for our hearts to be intimately united with Him so that we can be liberated from sinful attitudes and experience the “glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).

Jesus calls all of us to continual conversion of heart. He invites us to look within and to discern where we need healing and conversion. Pope St. John Paul II saw this task as central to the Christian life and especially crucial for us to arrive at a mature, integrated sexuality whereby we can relate with one another in a way befitting human persons made in God’s image. He recognized that looking within to pursue deeper holiness is daunting. This is why he sought, in his first public remarks as pope, to encourage us: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ… Do not be afraid. Christ knows ‘what is in man.’ He alone knows it… He alone has words of life, yes, of eternal life.” With Pope St. John Paul II as guide, let us delve deeply into the human heart inviting the light of Christ to reveal all that needs to be purified.

Continue Reading: Adultery of the Heart — Part 1

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, November 2023 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

Adultery of the Heart — Part 1

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

Jesus came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (Matt 5:17). Through His teaching and example, the Lord has called us, His disciples, to a level of sanctity that goes beyond what the Old Law prescribed: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20). External conformity to the demands of the moral law is not sufficient. Jesus desires not only our exterior obedience, but even more, our interior conversion of heart.

In his Theology of the Body, Pope St. John Paul II explored this call to conversion of heart in light of the New Law of the Gospel and the perennial attraction between the sexes. In particular, he took as his starting point Matthew 5:27-28 in which we read, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Adultery was a very important concept in the Old Testament. Not only was it explicitly forbidden in the Ten Commandments, adultery was also a frequent image used to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Old Covenant. In many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament (e.g., Hosea, Ezekiel 15, etc.), Israel is portrayed as an unfaithful bride who repeatedly turns aside from her husband (Yahweh), giving herself over to other spouses through adultery and even prostitution. These adulterous lovers are the various idols and pagan religious practices that crept into the life of the Israelites at different points in their history as well as their lack of consistency in following the obligations of the Mosaic Law.

Despite this prophetic tradition, the Israelites made certain accommodations when it came to how they understood marriage such as the possibility of divorce and limited acceptance of polygamy. Jesus challenged their “hardness of heart” (Matt 19:8), indicating that these concessions were not part of God’s original plan nor are they part of the Kingdom of God He came to establish. Jesus further renewed belief in the indissolubility and exclusivity of marriage and supernaturally fulfilled them through His spousal gift of self to the Church. Subsequently, the sixth commandment (“you shall not commit adultery,” Ex 20:14, Deut 5:18) came to be understood as protecting the sanctity of marriage by proscribing all sinful uses of the sexual faculty.

According to Pope St. John Paul II, “Adultery indicates the act by which a man and a woman who are not husband and wife form ‘one flesh’” (TOB 37:6). When we engage in sexual acts outside of a marriage covenant, we violate the purpose of our sexual faculty to form, through bodily self-giving, a visible sign of the communion of persons in marriage. Our sexual faculty is intimately connected with the spousal meaning of the body, which reveals that our bodies are apt to express a total gift of self, and the only appropriate “place” for this total gift of self is in a (permanent, exclusive) marriage between a man and a woman.

Our Lord not only affirms the immorality of using the sexual faculty outside of marriage, but as Pope St. John Paul II emphasized, shifts the “center of gravity” in his moral teaching to the level of our hearts. Exterior acts of adultery are clearly immoral according to both the Old Law and the New Law of the Gospel, but our call to holiness goes further. Jesus speaks in Matthew 5 of adultery of the heart. How are we to understand this adultery committed in the heart, and what does it have to do with lustful looking?

In TOB, Pope St. John Paul II went on to engage in a penetrating analysis of the human heart to enlighten our understanding of these matters. In the next few installments in this series, we will mine his insights so that we can more accurately discern the movements of our hearts as we strive to follow Jesus faithfully.

Continue Reading: Adultery of the Heart: Part 2

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, December 2023 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

Adultery of the Heart – Part 2

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:27-28). Let us continue to ponder the meaning of adultery of the heart with the guidance of Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

“Adultery indicates the act by which a man and a woman who are not husband and wife form ‘one flesh’” (TOB 37:6). Both the Old and New Testaments condemn acts of adultery as gravely sinful. Jesus calls His disciples to a yet higher standard. In the Sermon on the Mount, He repeatedly speaks of the dispositions and movements of our hearts. Regarding sexuality, he calls us not only to external respect for the spousal meaning of the body and the requirement of marital fidelity but also to purity of heart (Mt. 5:8).

To understand this purity of heart and its antithesis in adultery of the heart, Pope St. John Paul II reminded us of the effects of original sin. Recall from our previous reflections how man’s rupture with God in original sin led to disharmony within himself and in his relationships with other human beings. The relationship between the sexes became especially troubled.

Before sin entered the world, man and woman experienced not only original unity but also original nakedness, through which they could be completely exposed (physically, psychologically, and spiritually) without fear or shame. This was so because they possessed a fullness of vision through which they beheld each other’s personal dignity through their bodies and naturally experienced respect and gratitude for the gift of the person culminating in non-possessive, self-giving love. Indeed, the late pope said that our first parents’ way of seeing each other was permeated by a “fullness of consciousness of the meaning of the body” (TOB 12.3).

The form of ‘looking’ or ‘seeing’ being described here is more than mere sense-perception. It involves the intentions and desires of one’s heart and is only possible for a pure heart that is sensitive to beholding the transcendent value inscribed by God in created things, especially the human body. As Pope St. John Paul II wrote,

“Seeing each other reciprocally, through the very mystery of creation, as it were, the man and the woman see each other still more fully and clearly than through the sense of sight itself, that is, through the eyes of the body. They see and know each other, in fact, with all the peace of the interior gaze, which creates precisely the fullness of the intimacy of persons” (TOB 13.1).

After sin entered the world, all of us are affected by concupiscence, which we previously saw refers to disordered desire. While our first parents, prior to sin, experienced the perennial attraction between the sexes, this interior movement was subordinated to their awareness of the spousal meaning of the body. For us who experience concupiscence in our hearts, the sexual desire we experience is always threatened by selfishness. Pope St. John Paul II spoke of how concupiscence “limits,” “violates,” and in some cases even “completely deforms” our awareness of the spousal meaning of the body (see TOB 31:6ff). As a result,

“The ‘heart’ has become a battlefield between love and concupiscence. The more concupiscence dominates the heart, the less the heart experiences the spousal meaning of the body, and the less sensitive it becomes to the gift of the person” (TOB 32:3).

In this way, sexual desire, which was created good and meant to be integrated into our spousal love, becomes deformed into mere lust, leaving us prone to adulterous acts — both exteriorly and interiorly. We will continue to explore the nature of these interior acts of lust and Christ’s redemption of our sexuality in subsequent reflections.

Continue Reading: Adultery of the Heart – Part 3

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, December 2023 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

Adultery of the Heart – Part 3

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

IThe New Law of the Gospel given to us by Christ calls us to conversion of heart. External conformity to the moral law is not sufficient. God desires the whole person to be transformed such that good moral acts flow naturally from a heart made new by the Holy Spirit.

As discussed in the previous reflection, Pope St. John Paul II saw the human heart, wounded by sin, as a “battlefield between love and concupiscence” (TOB 32:3). Concupiscence (i.e., disordered desire) moves us to see others’ bodies as mere objects for our personal satisfaction. Rather than seeing the body as the outward expression of a person who possesses dignity and freedom and ought never be reduced to a mere object, concupiscence moves us to see the body in terms of what it can do for me. As John Paul II said, “The more concupiscence dominates the heart, the less the heart experiences the spousal meaning of the body, and the less sensitive it becomes to the gift of the person” (TOB 32:3). Instead of seeing one another as gifts to honor and receive in holiness, concupiscence moves us to see one another “as an object to appropriate” (TOB 33:1).

Adultery occurs when “a man and a woman who are not husband and wife form ‘one flesh’” (TOB 37:6). These overt acts are condemned both in the Old and New Law. What about adultery in the heart? Jesus teaches us, “Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). According to Pope St. John Paul II, “the look expresses what is in the heart” (TOB 39:4, italics in original). In other words, the way we look at one another reflects the state of our hearts and, even more, our intentions. What Jesus is calling us to repent of is a kind of “intentional reduction” of the person in the way we think about and behold one another (TOB 40:3).

If, in my heart, other people cease to be persons made in God’s image whose immeasurable dignity I am called to honor and uphold, then the way I look at them will be motivated by selfish, disordered desire (concupiscence). When sexuality is involved, we call this concupiscent desire “lust.” This lustful, concupiscent sexual desire “tramples on the ruins of the spousal meaning of the body… [and] aims directly toward one and only one end as its precise object: to satisfy only the body’s sexual urge” (TOB 40:4, italics in original). Rather than being oriented to an exclusive, permanent gift of self through marriage, this distorted (lustful) sexual desire becomes merely about giving me pleasant feelings. For the person dominated by lust, the body of another becomes “above all an object for the possible satisfaction of his own sexual ‘urge’” (TOB 43:3).

When I tolerate, allow, or to any degree intentionally permit myself to look at others in this reductionistic way as objects to satisfy my lust, then I commit the sin of adultery in the heart. Like all sin, this particular sin wounds myself, others, and the whole Body of Christ. It continues and compounds the effects of The Fall by increasing the disharmony between man and God, within man himself, and between human persons. It offends against our human dignity, the spousal meaning of the body, the sanctity of marriage, and the purity of heart to which all are called.

Understood in this way, we can begin to see that the marital status of the people involved matters very little in regard to adultery in the heart since it pertains to our basic attitude and intentions toward other people — our way of looking at our brothers and sisters. Thus, it should be no surprise that John Paul II taught that this sin can even occur within marriage: “A man can commit such adultery ‘in the heart’ even with his own wife, if he treats her only as an object for the satisfaction of drives” (TOB 43:3). While this aspect of the saintly pope’s teaching shocked some of his original audience, if we allow Christ to continue to purify our hearts, we will receive it with gratitude and increasingly see it as an essential protection and guide to authentic spousal love and sexual desire itself.

Note: This article is part of a series of reflections on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.”

Continue Reading: The Body and Purity of Heart

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, September 2021 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

The Body and Purity of Heart

June 19, 2023/in Introduction to Theology of the Body /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus reaffirmed the sixth commandment and brought it to fulfillment by teaching that one must not only refrain from overt acts of adultery but also the interior act of adultery in the heart. As we saw last month, this adultery in the heart consists of looking at another in a reduced way, seeing his/her body merely as an object by which I might satisfy my sexual urge. When I allow myself to look at and think about others in this way, I fail to regard them as persons made in God’s image and possessing inestimable dignity. I also lose sight of the spousal meaning of the body, which signifies that through the body and sexuality a man and a woman can make a total gift of self, forming a communion of persons in the context of lifelong marriage.

According to Pope St. John Paul II, adultery in the heart can even occur within marriage. Taking the example of a man looking lustfully at a woman, “Even if he were to look in this way at the woman who is his wife, he would commit the same adultery ‘in the heart’” (TOB 43:2).

This surprising teaching may lead some to conclude that the Catholic Church has a dim view of the body and sexuality, perhaps seeing them as “bad” or “sinful.” This could not be further from the truth. Rather than seeing in Christ’s teaching on adultery in the heart “a ‘condemnation’ or accusation of the body,” Pope St. John Paul II saw an “affirmation of the body as an element that, together with the spirit, determines man’s ontological subjectivity and participates in his dignity as a person” (TOB 45:1). In other words, the body is integral to who we are as human persons, and it shares in the dignity we have as sons and daughters of God. The body reveals the person. When we see a living human body, we see a person made in God’s image, and what we do to the body, we do to the person.

For this reason, the Church also lifts up the value of sexual intimacy, seeing it as deeply personal and dignified. Through conjugal relations, man and woman engage in a total gift of self which has the capacity to effect an indissoluble sacramental bond. Far from seeing them as “bad” or “evil,” John Paul II taught that the body and sex “remain ‘a value not sufficiently appreciated” (TOB 45.3).

Nonetheless, we all experience tensions, struggles, and temptations to lust. These do not come from the body per se but from the fallen human nature we inherit. Due to original sin, all of us experience concupiscence (i.e., disordered desire), which pulls us in various ways to selfish ends, thereby falling short of God’s law. Indeed, out of our wounded hearts come all manner of sinful thoughts and urges (cf. Matt 15:19). For this reason, Jesus Christ came to redeem us and give us new life. The whole human person is called to participate in this redemption, including the body and sexuality. However, it is the heart, most of all, that Christ desires to possess and transform. This inner renewal is the foundation of all Catholic sexual ethics:

“The Christian ethos is characterized by a transformation of the human person’s consciousness and attitudes… such as to express and realize the value of the body and of sex according to the Creator’s original plan” (TOB 45.3).

Christ’s commandment on adultery in the heart is a call to us for inner transformation. As Pope St. John Paul II taught, “One fulfills the commandment by ‘purity of heart’” (TOB 43:5). Let us, then, continue to ponder the meaning of purity of heart and the redemption of our bodies and sexuality.

Continue Reading: Original What??? John Paul II on “Original Experiences”

Dr. Sodergren’s Introduction to Theology of the Body: A Collection of Articles from the Catholic Telegraph

Written by, Dr. Andrew Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D.,
Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

(Article originally published in The Catholic Telegraph, July 2021 Issue, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

Dr. Andrew Sodergren Honored at 2023 CPA Conference

June 12, 2023/in News /by Dr. Emily Dowdell

Dr. Andrew Sodergren was honored at the Catholic Psychotherapy Association’s 2023 Annual Conference with the Mother of Good Counsel Clinical Excellence Award.

Prayer to Our Mother of Good Counsel

Composed by Sandra McKay, founding President of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association. She drew upon writings attributed to Pope Saint Pius XII, who was devoted to Our Mother of Good Counsel.

Our dear and sweet Mother whose counsel is ever-wise and knowing, we consecrate ourselves to you, Our Mother of Good Counsel. Grant your intercession throughout the days of our world with people in need.

Place in our hearts and on our lips the words of healing that Your Son would have us know and say. Grant us the gifts of Healing and Wisdom that our work might always serve God and His desire for holy and healthy people, marriages, families, and communities.Oh Holy Mother Mary, we pray that you will intercede for us that we may teach and live the holiness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the Sacrament of Matrimony, or our vocation in this life, and that we may always have a full and complete respect for the dignity of each human being and that we may love and teach loveas we have been taught by Jesus Himself, you and all the saints. Amen.

Dr. Sodergren was featured as a plenary speaker at this year’s conference, In the Beginning…Treatment and Healing of Human Sexuality.

Dr. Sodergren’s presentation provided a sound theological and psychological understanding of the sexual difference (male and female) and a thorough review of the literature on psychotherapeutic approaches to working with gender dysphoria. The first part laid the foundation by reviewing Catholic teaching on sexual difference with special emphasis on the work of Pope St. John Paul II. Next, was an extensive review of the scientific literature on sex differences. Dr. Sodergren detailed a developmental approach to understanding male and female that incorporated key findings from biological, psychological, and neuroscientific studies. The second reviewed the extent of professional literature on psychotherapeutic responses to gender dysphoria. Clinical observations, theory, and case studies were reviewed spanning psychodynamic, behavioral, and integrative approaches. The testimony of and research on detransitioners was also be reviewed.

RWPS Expands Northward

July 5, 2021/in News /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

You spoke, and we listened. For 10 years, Ruah Woods Psychological Services has served the greater Cincinnati-area, providing high quality psychological services deeply informed by our Catholic faith. Almost from the start, calls have come in from individuals and families residing in the northern parts of our archdiocese such as Sidney, Dayton, Springfield, and so on, seeking our services or a referral to similar providers in those areas. After listening to their needs and experiencing firsthand the difficulty of finding Catholic faith-informed mental healthcare, RWPS discerned a call to expand its practice to two locations so as to serve not only the Cincinnati-area but also the greater Dayton-area and the northern parts of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Beginning in July 2021, RWPS is partnering with the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal to open a satellite office on their campus located just northwest of Dayton. According to director Ron Mills, “The mission of the Transfiguration Center is to help people encounter the living God through the beauty of nature, the peace of prayer and the richness of the Catholic spiritual tradition.”

As Mills explained, “Our staff and board recognize a need in the local community and society in general for sound mental health services with an appreciation for an individual’s sense of faith. We believe this can serve the development of the whole person from not only a spiritual aspect but also from a mental health perspective, which is necessary, complementary and extremely important.”

The initiative to partner with RWPS was especially spurred by Fr. Eric Bowman, pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration in West Milton, who regularly encounters the need for faithfully Catholic mental health providers in his priestly ministry. “We were inspired to partner with Ruah Woods because of the great need in our surrounding area for a strong Catholic counseling service and the successful program at Ruah Woods,” he affirmed.

RWPS is excited to collaborate with the Transfiguration Center to meet these needs. Our newest provider, Alex Wallace, will be championing this project. He is a licensed clinical counselor and ardent Catholic. When asked what inspired him to join the RWPS team, Wallace shared, “I have long desired to be a resource for the Church and I greatly value what has been accomplished by Ruah Woods in that regard. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I discerned that it would be more effective to bring my talents, education, training, and passion alongside those who are already doing the work I feel called to do.”

Based at the Transfiguration Center, Wallace will serve the mental health needs of the greater Dayton area full-time. “I am extremely excited about this opportunity to bring counseling services to the area so that I can help people on their journey while upholding what is true, good, and beautiful,” Wallace said.

According to Fr. Bowman, “The Transfiguration Center is a wonderful place for Catholic faith informed mental health services for several reasons. The first is location. The Transfiguration center is located just 35 minutes from downtown Dayton, 40 minutes from Springfield, 30 minutes from Sidney. The second reason is the grounds of our facility.” As Mills explained, the Center is situated “on 173 acres of beautiful Ohio countryside” replete with “beautiful gardens, a goldfish pond, a reflection pond, and miles of walking trails near the scenic Stillwater River.” “There is an immediate sense of peace… That has always been one of the things people frequently comment about, so it is a wonderful refuge for anyone seeking a calm and quiet atmosphere to unplug and get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life,” he added.

Everyone at RWPS is overjoyed to announce this collaboration and the opening of the Dayton-area satellite office led by Mr. Wallace. Now with two locations, RWPS is poised to serve the needs of the entire Archdiocese, from Cincinnati to Dayton and beyond. Please join with the staff and board of RWPS and of the Transfiguration Center in welcoming Mr. Wallace, spreading the word, and praying for all involved as we endeavor to empower men and women to more fully embrace and live out their vocation to love according to God’s plan.

For more information or to make an appointment at either of location, call 513-407-8878.

Meet Alex Wallace, M.A., LPCC

June 24, 2021/in News /by Dr. Andrew Sodergren

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