When Divine Mercy University (DMU) started in 1999, they sought to fulfill a need: On the one hand there were competent mental health professionals and on the other there were faithful Catholics, but there weren’t many faithfully Catholic mental health professionals. Now more than 25 years later, DMU President Fr. Charles Sikorsky shares how a Catholic understanding of the human person makes a huge impact in the field of mental health.
The needs of today’s world
Fr. Sikorsky sees the mission of DMU as a response to the particular needs of today’s world. “The Lord has set this up to prepare Christians and Catholics for the tsunami of the mental health crisis that we face in our culture and across the world,” he said. From heightened anxiety to suicide and addictions, he lists a “sad litany of problems that are growing” and are symptoms of a “society that has moved away from God.”
Along with a rejection of faith has come “as a result of that, the breakdown of marriage and family life, which causes all sorts of problems.” The tech revolution, he adds, is only exacerbating these problems, leading to a “crisis of identity and a crisis of connection.”
But, “people are still looking inside themselves with life’s questions. ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where am I going?’, ‘How do I do what I was made for?’”
When DMU enters the mental health field
“For a long time,” Fr. Sikorsky explains, “the Catholic Church was skeptical of psychology -- of the idea that psychology can become a replacement for God, that it can explain everything.” The idea that “God is a creation we make in our mind to help us feel better” was so prevalent, Fr. Sikorsky said, that people dismissed the role of religion in mental health. Yet, starting in the 1980s, there was a growing body of research showing how “faith and the moral life is good for mental health," he explains. At the same time, more and more people saw the good that was coming out of psychology.
DMU was founded in 1999 as a response to mental health practitioners who saw that a Catholic vision of mental health could be helpful to patients, but was not included in the way they had been trained.
Started in Crystal City in Northern Virginia, the University began with continuing education, but quickly added an onsite Master’s program. Today, 90% of students attend DMU virtually, with some onsite requirements for specific programs. Programs include an M.S. in Psychology, a PsyD in Psychology, an M.S. in Counseling, and PhDs in Psychological Sciences and Counselor Education and Supervision. Their Lifelong Learning Institute also offers education in Trauma and Resiliency and Spiritual Direction.
A mission grounded in the reality of the human person
When Fr. Sikorsky came to DMU in 2007, he understood that the full reality of the human person was central to what DMU had to offer. Over the years, their degree offerings have grown and they have moved campuses (currently located in the Dulles area), but their mission has stayed constant.
“DMU has become a vehicle through which we can connect the Catholic world and the broader Christian world to what is good about psychology and counseling,” Fr. Sikorsky says.
And with 1,200 alumni from the different programs working in private practices, dioceses, seminaries, academia, HR and more, DMU is making a substantial impact.
When asked if he saw the need for mental health services changing with the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence, Fr. Sikorsky emphasized the importance of the relationship between a therapist and the client, again focusing on the tangible reality of the human person. “Having a real person who listens to me, who understands me, is such an important need that AI cannot replace.”
Coworkers in the vineyard
“We all know someone who has had some mental health need,” Fr. Sikorsky says. “Twenty-five percent are going to turn to a counselor or a therapist. Who is that going to be?”
Fr. Sikorsky recognizes the great need for more people who can serve as mental health professionals and counselors and believes that there are more Catholics out there who can respond to this call.
“We’re forming a talent pipeline of people who are apostles for the New Evangelization to people who are looking for help. Our graduates work not only with people who are deeply Catholic, but also with people who are looking for answers to life’s biggest questions.”
Not only are people called to serve in this way, but Fr. Sikorsky says that “one of the key indicators for happiness in this life is meaningful work. I would suggest that those who are looking for meaningful work, find that people confide in them and want to serve, check out DMU and see if God is calling them to that sort of life. It’s a great chance to serve people, but also for evangelization, and really to change people’s lives.”
