Reimagining Mental Health

Experience the Event

Presented by de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture

This interdisciplinary inquiry explores the Catholic imagination’s role in mental health. Navigating the paradox of dependence where maturity necessitates the safety to rely on another, we transcend secular reductionism. Discover a symbolic ontology grounded in community, liturgy, and the transformative power of faith.

Men and women of faith continue to draw on the wisdom, wonder, and beauty of the evergreen Catholic tradition to inform a particular mode of understanding and engaging with the world around them. Inspired by a sacramental vision of reality, the Catholic arts in particular grapple with the mystery and meaning that permeate the created order, giving shape and expression to the transcendent.

At its 24th annual Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture considered the idea of the Catholic imagination, its enduring and inexhaustible nature, and how it continues to illumine our modern world. With a particular focus on the literary arts, the conference explored unique expressions of the Catholic imagination in more than 150 presentations, performances, and discussions across the disciplines, including philosophy, theology, ethics, law, history, and the natural and social sciences, as well as the creative domains of film, music, theater, and the visual arts.

For 2024’s Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center was pleased to partner with the Biennial Catholic Imagination Conference, which aims to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the richness and variety of contributions by Catholic artists; to explore the critical and theoretical foundations of the Catholic imagination; and to foster community and collaboration among writers and readers who share a knowledge of and respect for the Catholic tradition.

Meet the Speaker: Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P. '06, '20 Ph.D.

Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P. ’06, ’20 Ph.D. is the Senior Vice President of Mission and Ministry at Providence College. As a member of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, Fr. Justin was ordained a priest in 2012. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and an M.Div. and S.T.L. in moral theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. He holds a Ph.D. in political theory from the University of Notre Dame. He has published scholarly articles on Plato, Nietzsche, Alasdair MacIntyre, and the Catholic intellectual tradition. 

Meet the Speaker: Margaret Laracy, Psy.D.

Margaret Laracy, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in the Chicago area. Her prior clinical experience includes work in community-based, hospital, and group practice settings. She completed her PsyD at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (now Divine Mercy University) and psychoanalytic training through the Contemporary Freudian Society. She has taught at the graduate level at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. 

Meet the Speaker: Mark Gerig, Ph.D.

Dr. Mark Gerig, Ph.D. has had a professional career that alternates between full-time clinical practice and graduate education. He is a clinical mental health counselor in Indiana and licensed psychologist in Michigan. Mark first served at Catholic Social Services, Defiance, OH, as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-OH) where he provided individual and family therapy for a wide range of concerns. These included addiction, personality disorder, eating disorder, depression, and anxiety. In addition, he served as coordinator of Parent Skill Training for the five county region of northwest Ohio. He later served as a outpatient therapist and supervisor at the Eastern Upper Peninsula Mental Health Center, Sault Ste. Marie, MI. In this role, he provided individual counseling to persons experiencing moderate to severe and persistent mental illness as well as the provision of supervision to counselors in the Outpatient Department. More recently, he served as the Manager of Crisis Services and facilitated the implementation of the Recovery and Peer Support Programs at Hiawatha Behavioral Health, Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

As an educator, Dr. Gerig has previously served as a Professor of Counseling and Psychology at Summit Christian College (Fort Wayne, IN) and Bethel College (Mishawaka, IN), Sessional Instructor of Psychology at Algoma University (Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada), and Chair of the Division of Counseling at Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion, IN). Mark engaged in part-time clinical practice concurrently with these academic appointments, providing individual counseling and neurofeedback for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  

Meet the Moderator: Beth Hlabse '11, M.S., LMHCA

As program director for the Fiat Program on Faith and Mental Health at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, Beth Hlabse ’11 leads the Institute’s efforts to generate pastoral research, education, and formation opportunities on mental health and the Catholic tradition. A mental health counselor, Beth has provided therapeutic care for adolescents and adults with histories of trauma and adverse child experiences. Her therapeutic approach is integrative, attending to neural-developmental influences and the intersection of spirituality and psychology. Beth obtained her masters in clinical mental health counseling from Divine Mercy University. Prior to transitioning to counseling, Beth worked at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. There, she shepherded the development of and managed several interdisciplinary programs that united theological and social science research. Beth is a Domer, having graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Theology and Peace Studies; she pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in Christian Ethics. Beth and her husband Pete treasure their community in South Bend, IN and delight in visits back to the great outdoors of Beth’s hometown in Wyoming.