Psychology 101

At one point in college, I intended to be a psychology major. In the entry level, 101-course, I recall learning that psychologists dealt with people whose mental interpretation of the world did not match society's, and it created a problem for the individual in society.

In this introductory course, we learned that some people suffered from depression, characterized by a lack of energy, lack of emotion, and a pessimistic way of looking at the world. This impacted how they interacted with society...unable to go to work, enjoy time with friends and family, etc. We also learned that the goal of therapy was to help the people interact with society; deal with their interpretation of the world in a way that allowed them to interact with the world at a level they were comfortable with.

Some years later, in an advanced counseling and psychotherapy class, we leaned that it was possible that the depressed person may have been interpreting the world correctly...the rest of us may just wear "rose-colored glasses." Maybe, our professor advised, the goal was not to put "rose-colored glasses" on the depressed person, but give the depressed person the skills to take the "rose-colored glasses" off of the portions of society they regularly dealt with.

I found the juxaposition between what I learned in the introductory course and the advanced course disturbing. The fundamental rule...helping the individual conform to society to ease that individual's interaction with it...had been changed to suggesting that society change to conform to the individual.

This is different than the Church. The Church's teaching is steadfast: What is right is right; What is wrong is wrong. There is no fluidity in right and wrong. I find comfort in that.

I may not always want to conform my actions to what is right. Yes, I and others sometimes rebel against the rules. There are actions the Church teaches as disordered (as in "against the natural order of things") that bring some temporary pleasure. Sex before marriage creates temporary pleasure, but often leads to eventual heartbreak. Mind-altering drugs provide temporary euphoria, but can lead to physical dependency and an eventual crash. Some rebel against the rules so much they claim the rules don't really exist. We just behave according to our own set of rules; demand everyone treat us as we want to be treated.

There is an objective truth today that society seems to want to believe isn't there. This is a paradox, claiming to want to know the truth, yet completely abandoning the institution that has been dedicated to it for 20 centuries.
As a Catholic, I am privileged to know at least a part of the Truth. As a Catholic, I feel I have a duty to share that knowledge through evangelization.