we are currently in our pilot launch phase. you are viewing a pre-release version of our Info-page.
A 60-Credit Accompaniment Training that Integrates Faith and Science in Every Course
Finally! Certified catholic accompaniment Training
that Integrates Faith and Science in Every Course
Licensed Professionals
Unlicensed Professionals
Teachers
Ministers
Missionaries
Priests
Religious
Deacons
Parish Employees
Formation Faculty
Parents
Young and Old!
Licensed Professionals
Unlicensed Professionals
Teachers
Ministers
Missionaries
Priests
Religious
Deacons
Parish Employees
Formation Faculty
Parents
Young and Old!
you see the suffering, and you want to help
But it seems like the more "mental health" help is offered, the worse the problems get.
Which programs are Catholic? Which programs are helpful? How will you make sure your investment of time and money is worth it?
the problem
Our whole society is moving away from Catholic principles. The secular profession of psychology is actually leading the movement deeper into chaos. You can't help people if you aren't trained in the truth of what people need.
You want to learn how to help people without having to dodge bullets at the same time.
A few programs are trying to work from behind enemy lines in secular training. Catholic mental health degree programs can offer some really good training, but they are still beholden to state and national standards that are becoming increasingly antagonistic to a Catholic worldview.
You want to learn solid psychology grounded in a Catholic context.
Catholics invented the study of science. Faith and science are supposed to go hand-in-hand. At this point though, politics are leading the field of psychology more than science, so there's no way to avoid the devastating anti-Catholicism seeping into the practice.
You can't get thoroughly Catholic training from a state-sanctioned degree program.
Learning how to really help people through a Catholic lens requires studies in psychology AND spirituality AND philosophy - because we are a spirit and a body. If you follow state mandates though, you'd have to get three separate degrees to spend enough time studying a thoroughly Catholic model - there simply isn't enough time when you check all the boxes for secular requirements.
it doesn't have to be that hard
There's another way.
We've jumped through all the hoops, checked all the boxes, and found the "way of the world" wanting. We can't ignore the world, but we don't need to kneel before it.
the backstory
I'm Dr. Greg Bottaro, and I spent 15 years building a group practice with a deeply Catholic way of providing psychotherapy to people who were suffering.
In our previous practice, we expanded to 5 states, I had 6 licenses myself, and we found ways to provide therapy all over the world.
Yet, it still wasn't enough. Something wasn't right. In my heart I knew that we were not giving our patients the best help possible.
I took a mini-sabbatical for a few months to recalibrate myself in prayer and principles. When I stepped back from the "normal grind" I realized that somewhere along my path, I stopped thinking about how Jesus actually changed people's lives in this world.
I received so many credentials and success in the field of psychology that I unconsciously turned it into an idol.
I always knew I was called to this work, but I needed a reminder to follow Jesus again instead of Freud.
just imagine
Being trained in a thoroughly integrated Catholic approach to psychology, and being free to practice that approach without any professional duplicity or fear of repercussion.
You don't need...
A Doctorate in Psychology
I've already jumped through those hoops! There are important theories and practices you should definitely be trained in, but I've put together a curriculum with a fully supervised training practicum that gives you what you need and saves you from what you don't.
Multiple Master Degrees
We study three separate concentrations within one certification. That's because we can handpick each hour spent in our program according to what is true about the person instead of what state mandates dictate. That means a more efficient program where you don't waste time, energy, or money.
To Suffer Through Woke Politics and Moral Relativism
I've mentored many students in secular programs and see the increase in anti-Catholic sentiment and horrifying moral degradation year after year. We not only cut all that nonsense out, but it gives us space and time to breathe deeply the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty found in the tradition of the Church.
Or To Hide Your Catholicism
Catholic therapists practicing today would not be allowed to practice if we were up front and clear about how we practice. We have to stay "under the radar" as one of my faithful Catholic professors taught us. This shouldn't be your only option. You don't have to help people according to an anti-Catholic set of rules.
Catholic excellence
You'll learn how to expertly navigate complex situations with the people you walk with, trained in both the head and heart, understanding how to use your own presence in the relationship as a channel of God's grace.
learn what you can do
So much is possible when you work with God as the real Agent of Change, work on yourself as the channel of His grace, and truly accompany others with the expertise of love.
learn what you can't do
Almost as important is the training in what you are not called to do, and what you are not responsible for. Many new therapists struggle with this kind of boundary the most, so we focus on that.
The leap of faith away from a secularly sanctioned program can be scary at first, but you'll immediately realize you are surrounded by other professionals who have gone ahead and paved the way for you to practice consistently with your faith in a fully integrated Catholic way.
introducing
CPMAP Certification
CPMAP stands for the CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism -
It's for those in ministry, mental-health professions, leadership positions, missionary work, and even family life who regularly confront the suffering of others - Mental Health First Responders.
Our certification trains you to accompany people burdened in areas of mental and spiritual health through the integration of Catholic philosophy, traditional spirituality, and relevant psychology woven together to understand ...
How We're Made • How We're Wounded • How We're Healed
For the first time ever, the same integrated Psychological training used to prepare our CatholicPsych licensed therapists is available to therapy and non-therapy helpers alike!
Pope Francis called the Church a "field hospital" in the world today. He was calling all of us to accompany others with this mindset. How can we run field hospitals without training the medics?
12-course curriculum
mentorship and practicum included
live and pre-recorded components
Finish in one to two years
Part or Full Time
→ Graduates of our certification
Confidently Engage
with people suffering from the most common difficulties in mental, emotional, and spiritual health using the best techniques to accompany the suffering, help heal unstable family life, and support healthy marriage and parenting (no more hitting brick walls).
understand Gender
from a deeply Catholic perspective, especially how to tactfully engage the current cultural confusion in this area while providing our children the nourishment in the truth they deserve (lead the conversation with confidence instead of just reacting to it).
Accompany others
in the spiritual life in a way that is supportive of mental health, and support the mental health of others in a way that is consistent with their spiritual life (navigate the complexities that make a certain recommendation helpful for one person but detrimental to another).
→ You'll also be able to
Navigate relationships
as the fundamental reality permeating everything about our human experience, as the basis for any good psychology, and how to use relationships with clients to help them grow closer to their ultimate relationship with God.
Understand boundaries
and prudently operate within them to authentically accompany others without inappropriately (or inadvertently) crossing lines (no more burnout or compromised ministry).
Gauge the thresholds
at which referrals need to be made to add additional resources and support, i.e. medical or additional spiritual needs (no more wondering if a referral is needed).
Training for truly integrated accompaniment
from a catholic perspective
When you have the blueprint for how the human person is built, and really understand what is wrong when people are wounded, helping them becomes easy, and a true joy- even when it means accompanying them in their suffering.
see for yourself
Here's what some of our students said about the program after the first quarter.
Spots are extremely limited and fill up fast when they open
People are starting to notice.
Word spreads fast, and since our program provides such personal individualized attention, we can only accept 10 students in each cohort.
The current price for the program is $13,500 per quarter. This will go up in the future.
Two important notes about pricing:
1) Your first quarterly payment is due immediately upon acceptance to reserve your seat in the program - no matter how long it is until your actual start date. The second payment is due before you begin the second quarter, then the third before the third quarter, and the fourth before the fourth quarter.
2) This program is different from any other Masters program you may have heard of or participated in. We walk very intentionally and intensely with each student. This program goes deep! You'll be challenged many times throughout our program, but you'll also receive the support necessary to grow through those challenges. If, however, you decide during the first quarter to not continue, you will not be responsible for paying for the rest of the program.
October 2022 Cohort - Filled
January 2023 Cohort - Filled
April 2023 Cohort - Filled
July 2023 Cohort - Filled
October 2023 Cohort - Filled
January 2024 Cohort - Filled
April 2024 Cohort - Filled
July 2023 Cohort - Filled
October 2024 Cohort - Filled
January 2025 - 5 spots open
Pilot Phase Pledge
Our whole mission and model at the CatholicPsych Institute is based on integrity. This means integrity of body and spirit, faith and reason, science and religion, as well as intention and execution.
We are keeping our pilot cohorts small so that we can walk closely and personally with each student to make sure you have the absolute best experience possible. We ask for your commitment to the program, and we commit our focus and resources to you.
included
When you sign up, you'll get an abundant program designed for your success.
1
36 Credits of Expert Level Curriculum
Our program is built around one question- what does a student need to truly accompany others? We've integrated Psychology, Spirituality, and Philosophy into every course and distill the very highest level of expertise in all three specialties into 12 accessible courses.
2
8 Credits of Top-Tier Mentorship-Supervision
From the day your cohort starts, you'll begin developing a working relationship with one of our CatholicPsych Training Directors-a resource that costs $2500 PER MONTH for anyone else to access. We provide students with the very best of the best.
3
6 Credits of Supervised Practicum
After your first quarter of book learning, lectures, and establishing a relationship with your supervisor, you'll begin work with a client we provide you in quarter 2. We walk with you step by step as you begin to put your learning into practice.
4
6 Credits of Capstone Expert Executive Coaching
While other programs may not be as concerned about their students after they graduate, we invest in your future as a requirement of graduating. Dr. Greg will personally coach you in how to professionally or ministerially use your training after completion.
5
Real-Time and Recorded Material
We use a hybrid of prerecorded lectures, daily accompaniment with your Supervisor, weekly small groups, and live office-hours with Dr. Greg and others to give our students the best possible experience using technology plus real human engagement.
6
Part-Time or Full-Time Options
Each quarter of material can be completed in either 3 or 6 months, leaving students to decide how quickly they can finish between 1 and 2 years. Students are also able to decide their pace for each individual quarter as they go along making for a flexible schedule.
7
Practicum-Capstone Bonus
For students pursuing a professional practice of Mentorship upon completion, we
send your practicum clients with you to begin your own professional caseload!
This is unheard of in any other mental health training program.
8
Accountability, Support, and Direction
We are fully invested in our students. Our program is meant to accompany you on the next step of your life's journey and help you become more of who God created you to be, so that you can return the favor and help others do the same.
CPMAP Certification
Accompaniment Training that Integrates Psychology with the Catholic Faith
• 36 Graduate Credits of Course Content (Worth $30,000)
• Personal Mentorship-Supervision up to 24 months (Worth $60,000)
• Supervised Practicum (Worth $10,000)
• Business and Ministry Capstone Coaching (Worth $20,000)
• Spiritual Direction Integration Training (Worth $3000)
• Lifetime Access to Content and Resources (for association members) (Worth $12,000)
• Client Caseload To Take With You Upon Completion (Worth $30,000+)
TOTAL VALUE = OVER $165,000
Your Price = $13,500 per quarter
from the students
This is what they say...
Fr. Sam Kachuba - Priest and Parish Pastor
“I was first interested in the CPMAP Certification because there's so many kids in my parish dealing with anxiety. So I started seeing that I was pretty ill-equipped to handle and to counsel and to offer support to their parents, to them. I figured this would be a good opportunity to learn more about how to handle anxiety and how to help people through it. What surprised me is that it’s not just anxiety that it’s helping me to figure out and helping me to deal with for people. It’s helping me to accompany people in discernment, in spiritual direction, in marriage preparation… I’m starting to see all kinds of other applications for this.”
Heather Makowicz - Author, Spiritual Director, and Therapist
Bridget Barnic -Physician Assistant
MaryEllen McCarthy - Certified Mentor
You'll be equipped to confidently accompany others in their pain, regardless of the burden.
When you have the blueprint for how the human person is built, and really understand what is wrong when people are wounded, helping them becomes easy, and a true joy- even when it means accompanying them in their suffering.
see for yourself
Here's more from our students!
Here's Student Fr. Louis Merosne discussing his experience in the CPMAP with Dr. Greg.
This one has more info and great to learn about student mentorship, how well it integrates personal transformation with the work of helping others, and a few surprises!
Spots are extremely limited and fill up fast when they open
People are starting to notice.
Word spreads fast, and since our program provides such personal individualized attention, we can only accept 10 students in each cohort.
The current price for the program is $13,500 per quarter. This will go up in the future.
Two important notes about pricing:
1) Your first quarterly payment is due immediately upon acceptance to reserve your seat in the program - no matter how long it is until your actual start date. The second payment is due before you begin the second quarter, then the third before the third quarter, and the fourth before the fourth quarter.
2) This program is different from any other Masters program you may have heard of or participated in. We walk very intentionally and intensely with each student. This program goes deep! You'll be challenged many times throughout our program, but you'll also receive the support necessary to grow through those challenges. If, however, you decide during the first quarter to not continue, you will not be responsible for paying for the rest of the program.
October 2022 Cohort - Filled
January 2023 Cohort - Filled
April 2023 Cohort - Filled
July 2023 Cohort - Filled
October 2023 Cohort - Filled
January 2024 Cohort - Filled
April 2024 Cohort - Filled
July 2023 Cohort - Filled
October 2024 Cohort - Filled
January 2025 Cohort - 5 spots open
students ask
These are the questions we frequently hear from students before they sign up. Please read through them before reaching out with questions as most of them are answered here.
Yes! There are no other Masters or Doctoral programs in existence that provide a thoroughly Catholic approach to accompanying people. Our program is grounded on the Philosophical Anthropology of St. John Paul 2. We use his thinking to give direction to anything we explore within psychology. Can you imagine leading marriage prep without teaching about the Theology of the Body? Neither should psychology be taught without JP's philosophy as the core model and foundation. He went far beyond sexuality in his philosophy of the human person, and we use everything he taught to ground this program of accompaniment.
We don't teach any psychology that isn't immediately integrated with Catholic philosophy and spirituality, and we don't teach any spirituality or philosophy that isn't immediately integrated with relevant psychology. There are no other programs like that.
Once you pay the first quarter deposit, you have a seat reserved for our next available cohort. If you need to postpone your start date to a subsequent cohort, you may do so. Depending on where you are on the waitlist, we also offer earlier spots to those who have reserved when people postpone or we add capacity. The next available cohort is a general sense of when you can start but there is some variability depending on need and availability. If you are interested, now is the time to save your spot.
Yes! Ironically, the work of accompaniment from a Catholic perspective is so much at odds with a secular model of psychotherapy that we are able to create a modality of care that is entirely different. The bad news is that the secular institutions don't allow for a truly Catholic approach, but the good news is that it's still possible to "wear both hats." During certification, the Capstone project can teach you how to set up a separate legal entity if that's part of your plan. We've spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars with our legal team to make sure we operate within legal and ethical boundaries, and we'll share that knowledge with you.
Yes. We've designed our curriculum to teach you the basic necessities that you would learn in any other masters level program for mental health. We've removed the superfluous (or even contradictory) material you'd find in other programs that follow state mandates, and added in more Truth and Beauty from a Catholic tradition of faith and philosophy. This way you get the best of both worlds.
At the same time, we recognize the most important part of training to help others is the personal dynamic of supervision and practicum experience. We'll walk with you every step of the way to make sure you are trained, confident, and comfortable to help others.
Great question! (Not enough students ask this.) If you want to use this certification as part of your professional vocation, you are definitely in the right place. The biggest hurdle to helping people in a truly Catholic way is the dependency on secular institutions for employment and insurance reimbursement. We've ended that problem and will teach you how as well.
In fact, one of the requirements of our Certification is a Capstone Project, in which you will build a business model for exactly how you are going to bring this training to the world, and earn an income in doing so. This is unheard of in any other mental health program. Even in a doctoral program, you'd be lucky to have a 2 hour evening presentation on how to set up a business. We make it a requirement for graduation and will walk with you to get you set up.We can't guarantee you'll make money with our certification, but we can guarantee you'll know how to.
Our certification can be completed in as little as one year and up to two years.
Our 12 courses are taken 3-at-a-time in 4 levels. Full-time students will complete each level in 3 months. If you begin in January, you can potentially begin Level 2 in April, Level 3 in July, and Level 4 in October to finish 12 courses in one year.
However, our Part-time option allows you to take twice as long to finish any of the four levels. Instead of completing each level of 3 courses in 3 months, you can take 6 months to complete the 3 courses of each level. If you remain part-time for all 4 levels, the program will take 2 years to complete.
(Note: the courses are released 3 at a time, concurrently. They are meant to be taken together, whether it takes you 3 or 6 months to complete them).
In order to progress to the next level, all 3 courses of the current level need to be completed. If the final requirements have not been successfully passed by the end of the quarter, the level can simply be continued into the following quarter. In this way it is self-paced while also following a structured schedule.
Students can join the next entrance cohort with an open spot. We begin new cohorts every three months, the first day of January, April, July, and October.
Each cohort is limited to 10 students, and spots fill up quickly. We are currently booked ahead 3 quarters.
The waitlist is arranged first-come, first-serve, based on when your payment is received. You'll be notified about your position on the waitlist and your projected start date at the time of payment.
This is an important question. We are intentionally staying out of any institutional approval process that has been compromised by secular principles. It is our belief (which is becoming increasingly clear to most people) that the idea of some sort of consistent and objective ethical jurisdiction for mental health is an illusion. It's time for a revolution in mental health, and a new standard for Catholic Mental Health. We are on the leading edge of creating that standard, and so we are part of the revolution that will bring these desperately needed changes.
We are in the process of working with other Catholic institutions of higher learning, professional organizations, and our own initiatives to develop standardized ethical principles and oversight. This is only the beginning.
No- please see the above answer.
Grounded and directed by a Catholic worldview, we've created a training program that actually prepares you to help people in the best way possible. Our training is not only academic/intellectual, since we are not just brains. Students must be formed in head AND heart, through academic learning AND experience.
Our 60 credit certification includes 36 credits of academic curriculum, and the remaining 24 credits are fulfilled by personal accompaniment and experience that you receive before you are able to offer it to anyone else.
Practically this means that we have four components to our program. 1) Curriculum, 2) Personal Mentorship and Supervision, 3) Practicum in which you work with clients under supervision, and 4) Capstone, where you discern and develop a business or ministry plan for how you will use this training in your own vocation.
After 10 years of working in the "mission field," I've learned what students actually need to do the same. You don't need a doctorate in psychology to help people, but it is helpful to have someone who has gotten a doctorate - who knows what you need and what you don't.
We're excited to announce the new CatholicPsych Partner Program! Selected graduates will be invited to join our team as "Partner Mentors." Partner Mentors develop their own individual mentorship practice, but under the umbrella of CatholicPsych. We help you develop marketing strategy, we provide all of your infrastructure and business assets (think websites, billing platforms, and social media outreach), but you still operate independently. We also provide world-class and priceless weekly supervision and training as long as you remain a partner.
*CatholicPsych Partner Mentors are not W2 Employees, but Independent Contractors ultimately responsible for their own income.
Join us in our mission of healing.
The world, our culture, the Church, your people... need you.
CATHOLICPSYCH.COM - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - TERMS & CONDITIONS