Reimagining Mental Health

de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture

Available on-demand

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.

The recent symposium, a strategic collaboration between the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life and Divine Mercy University, addressed the urgent need for an interdisciplinary approach to the human psyche. By integrating political philosophy, psychoanalysis, and clinical counseling, the panel articulated a “Catholic Meta-Model of the Person.” This framework moves beyond the desiccated, reductionistic views of modern secular psychology, proposing instead a vision of human flourishing rooted in our ontological status as creatures who are fundamentally dependent, communal, and symbolic.

Political Philosophy and the “Church of the Poor”

Father Justin Brophy initiated the dialogue by situating our current psychological malaise within a broader philosophical “catastrophe.” Invoking Alistair McIntyre, Brophy argued that the contemporary era suffers from a fragmentation of moral language that renders coherent discourse nearly impossible. This rupture threatens the “Church of the poor”—those who rely on cultural institutions to sustain their faith—risking a retreat into a “Church of the elite” composed only of those with the intellectual resources to survive secularization. Brophy warned that the “danger of imagination” lies in rationalism, which he identified as the “odd progeny” of Romanticism. This rationalist impulse attempts to engineer “self-consciously planned” societies that are inorganic and utopian.

The “So What?” Layer: Drawing on novelist Walker Percy, Brophy argued that authentic mental health is not found in frictionless, planned societies, but in learning to be “at home in one’s homelessness.” By rejecting the “fugitive perfection” of rationalist social engineering and embracing the “racial hodgepodge” and “religious confusion” of actual, imperfect communities, the Wayfarer finds a stable ground for the psyche. This acceptance of our pilgrim status remediates the alienation that romanticized ideals only exacerbate.

The Psychological Necessity of Maternal Holding

Dr. Margaret Larcy expanded the conversation into the developmental origins of dependence, utilizing D.W. Winnicott’s “facilitating environment.” She presented the “gymnast bar” metaphor to describe the vertiginous “Unthinkable Anxiety” of a patient facing an abyss—a symptom of early trauma and the subsequent “unconscious fantasy of omnipotence” used to survive a lack of reliable care.

The “So What?” Layer: Larcy evaluated the “paradox of dependence,” asserting that maturity is not the cessation of reliance, but the achieved “continuity of being” that only becomes possible when one feels “safe enough to depend.” She masterfully linked this psychological reality to the Incarnation, noting that the “Chasm” of ontological groundlessness is overcome by “The God Who became flesh.” The Church fulfills a maternal function through the Liturgy, providing the “real arms” that hold the believer within a symbolic ontology, transforming the abyss into a given, trustworthy ground.

Metaphor and Imagination as Clinical Catalysts

Dr. Mark Garric concluded by delineating the role of metaphor in therapeutic change through the framework of “tenor, vehicle, and ground.” He demonstrated how imaginative constructs—from the “puberty fairy” used to disrupt dysfunctional family dynamics to the “game of burnout” that broke a teen’s silence—bypass cognitive resistance and facilitate healing at a “safe distance” from the presenting trauma.

The “So What?” Layer: Garric argued that metaphor is not merely a clinical instrument but a theological necessity for human flourishing. Because God is “known yet unknown,” the human person requires the capacity for imaginative symbolization to grasp the Divine. Imagination, therefore, is the primary cognitive process that allows the person to move beyond temporal constraints toward a relationship with the Infinite.

Connective Tissue: The interdisciplinary narrative is clear: the political failure of rationalist planning results in a psychological groundlessness that can only be remediated by the liturgical and clinical intervention of imaginative symbols. This trajectory moves the person from the isolation of failed autonomy to the security of communal and divine dependence.

Concluding Sentence: Ultimately, the “Catholic Meta-Model of the Person” offers a unified vision where our vulnerability is not a deficit to be cured, but a sacred invitation into the symbolic reality of the Church.

The insights shared by this panel represent a decisive shift away from secular, reductionistic psychology toward a holistic, symbolic ontology. They challenge the modern cult of autonomy, suggesting that healing is found through the remediation of our relationships with community, tradition, and the Divine.

The Paradox of Maturity through Dependence: Psychological flourishing is not the achievement of total independence but the liberation from the “unconscious fantasy of omnipotence.” True maturity is the capacity to rely on a “facilitating environment,” which in turn unlocks the individual’s creative and imaginative potential.
Remediating Alienation via “Imperfect” Community: Mental health is stabilized when we stop seeking “fugitive perfection” in our social structures. By participating in the “Wayfarer’s community”—the racial and religious hodgepodge of actual life—we learn to live with our inherent alienation without being crushed by it.
Liturgy as a Maternal Pattern: The Church serves a vital psychological function by acting as a “mother” who holds her children through the repetition of the Liturgy. This maternal pattern provides a “continuity of existence” that remediates trauma by grounding the self in the “real arms” of a physical, sacramental presence.
Metaphor as an Epistemological Necessity: Imagination and metaphor are essential cognitive tools for navigating a reality that is both “known yet unknown.” By transcending literal reductionism, metaphors bypass the rational mind’s defenses, allowing the person to process complex truths and encounter the Divine.
Acceptance of Ontological Homelessness: The cornerstone of Catholic mental health is the recognition of our status as “homeless pilgrims.” Relinquishing the exhausting effort to “make the ground on which we stand” allows us to rest in the “given ground” of God’s grace, moving from reactive compliance to personal autonomy.

Connective Tissue: These strategic highlights underscore that the “Catholic imagination” is not a flight from reality, but the very faculty required to perceive and inhabit reality in its fullness.

“The natural state of the human person… is one of homeless Pilgrim while on Earth… the key to a reasonable happiness in the present life is the ability to learn to be at home in one’s homelessness.” — Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P.
“Maturity is marked by the recognition of dependence and what’s more, the freedom to depend facilitates the freedom to express oneself creatively and autonomously.” — Dr. Margaret Laracy
“The uniqueness of a good metaphor is that the novelty of the non-literal expression engages our imagination which tends to make the deciphering and the unpacking of the metaphor a creative cognitive process and a more memorable experience.” — Dr. Mark Gerig
“These imperfect communities of imperfect people are the only habitations fit for human beings who are pilgrims as long as they walk on this Earth.” — Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P.
“The claim of Christianity is that this Chasm is overcome by The God Who became flesh and… the church as the continuity of Christ’s presence in the world in time serves the maternal function continuously.” — Dr. Margaret Laracy