A Blog For Catholic Marriage & Formation

What Is Mentorship? Understanding CatholicPsych's IDDM Model

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 11/17/2025

This is the heart of mentorship, the work of sitting with someone in the quiet places of their interior world so they do not have to navigate it alone. I am grateful to accompany people on this journey toward clarity, peace, and deeper freedom. So many people ask me: “What exactly is mentorship? How is it different from therapy or coaching? And what makes the CatholicPsych model so unique?” These questions come up every week, and for good reason. Mentorship is a newer, deeper, more integrated model of support that most people have never experienced before.

Week 8 of 8 – God’s Plan for Marriage: The Foundation of Gift: A Marriage Built to Last

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 11/02/2025

Love is never something ready-made; it is always a task which they are set.” — St. John Paul II, Love and Responsibility Over the past eight weeks, we’ve explored God’s plan for marriage—one theme at a time. From sacrament and vocation to friendship, prayer, and rightly ordered priorities, each week revealed a piece of the masterpiece God designed for love. This final reflection brings it all together: marriage as a living icon of Christ’s love, sustained by grace and built through daily acts of perseverance and faith.

Setting Priorities in Marriage

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 10/26/2025

When love is out of order, life feels out of balance. Marriage works best when we follow God’s design: a sacred order of love that keeps everything in harmony — God first, spouse second, children third, others after that. This week, Dr. Gerard and I explore why keeping your priorities straight isn’t just good theology, it’s good psychology.

Marriage as an Apprenticeship

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 10/19/2025

What if marriage isn’t a destination, but the workshop where love is forged? In this week’s conversation with Dr. Gerard McNicholas, we explore Marriage as an Apprenticeship: Learning to Love for Life. Couples do not enter marriage as experts in love. They become learners for a lifetime. This reflection from the CatholicPsych Marriage Prep Program, Gift: A Marriage Built to Last, created in collaboration with @Dr. Greg Bottaro, invites us to see every challenge as a lesson in love and every repair as a step toward holiness.

Prayer in Marriage – The Grace That Sustains Love

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 10/14/2025

About the Series Conversations with Dr. Gerard McNicholas is an eight-week dialogue exploring the integration of Catholic theology and modern psychology. Together, we invite couples and individuals to see marriage not only as a vocation of love but as a path of healing, virtue, and holiness. Each reflection draws from our work in the CatholicPsych Marriage Prep Program, Gift: A Marriage Built to Last. New Blog Post Description

Friendship in Marriage – The School of Virtue

Kristin Beck Chmiel

Published on: 10/06/2025

A reflection on how friendship forms the true foundation of marriage — where love matures, virtue grows, and holiness takes root.