The Surprising Truth About the Spiritual Life (Hint: It’s Messy) In this episode, Dr. Greg offers a glimpse into why the path to holiness is not linear,  how our psychological and spiritual lives impact one another, the importance of self-awareness, and why decreasing our defense mechanisms is key to becoming who God calls us to be.   Discussed in the episode:  How can we strive for spiritual perfection while maintaining a sense of mental health?  Why the path to holiness is not linear or “cookie-cutter” but actually quite messy; How specific personality patterns and defense mechanisms can hinder us from becoming who God created us to be; An exploration of the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the life of St. Therese of Lisieux; The importance of understanding our identity as a way to facilitate our own and others growth in holiness; Why integrating the different dimensions of our personality is crucial to growing in our spiritual and emotional lives; The importance of adaptability in becoming a psychologically and spiritually healthy person.   Resources mentioned or relevant: Past Being Human Episodes on integration, holiness, and Internal Family Systems theory/parts work:  Episode #34: A New Theory! With a Catholic Lens;  Episode #35: Why Do I Feel Like I Have Conflicting Parts? w/ Dr. Peter Malinoski Episode #41: What is Integration Anyway? w/ Fr. Louis Merosne Episode #43: The Psychology of Holiness: Stories of Fr. Benedict, w/ Dr. Bryan Violette (Mentor Series) Episode #98: Are You Gaslighting Yourself? The Context of Holiness: Psychological and Spiritual Reflections on the Life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by Marc Foley;  Introduction to Internal Family Systems by Richard Schwartz;  Need help? Schedule a free consultation call with someone on our team to discuss how we can support you; Learn about IDDM (Mentorship), our new model of accompaniment; Join the waitlist to be notified about our next Open House to learn more about the new CPMAP certification! Sign up for Being Human, our weekly newsletter, to stay up to date on the exciting developments at CatholicPsych; Visit our website to read the CatholicPsych blog, shop in the CatholicPsych bookshop, or discover other resources we have available;  Download The Integrated App for access to free audio exercises, the Catholic Mindfulness Virtual Retreat, courses, prayer resources, and more;  Become a member of the Integrated Life Community to get access to every course Dr. Greg has created, plus the opportunity to participate in Integrated LIVE’s - weekly, Mentor hosted Q&As covering topics like boundaries, communication, trauma, forgiveness, and more! Contact us! Have a topic or a question you would like Dr. Greg to address on the podcast? Want to give some feedback about this episode? Email us at beinghuman@catholicpsych.com - we would love to hear from you!   Rate, review, and subscribe Please help us in our mission to integrate the Faith with Psychology by hitting subscribe and also sharing this podcast with your friends. Please consider rating or leaving a review of our show. It helps us reach other Catholics just like you who want to become more integrated, whole, and happy human beings. For Apple podcasts, click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate 5 stars, and choose “write a review.” Then type your sincere thoughts about the show! If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any episodes. Subscribe to the podcast now!