Video Interview with Catholic-Link.org
January 20, 2022
Katie: Are you feeling anxious, depressed or know somebody who is? Maybe you're scared of what mental health might be, what that means. Let's talk about how to be proactive in mental wellness today, stay tuned.
{Catholic-Link intro}
Katie: Hey everyone, we're Drew and Katie Taylor and today we're joined by Catherine DiNuzzo and we're super excited about this episode. We're gonna talk a lot about mental wellness and Catherine is a licensed professional counselor, the only person that I would honestly trust with my mental health ah she's been a huge mentor for me and just an inspiration of what is possible. Especially if you've had bad counseling experiences ah has given me great hope that this field is...is so good. So as a Catholic speaker who has traveled around the world speaking on these topics we are just here to pick her brain a little bit about what she has going on.
Catherine: Well, thank you so much Drew and Katie for bringing me here and for you guys joining with us today because I am so excited to talk about mental wellness. I've done counseling now for over 10 years and I've talked all around the county, even in Europe and Asia all on anxiety and mental health and how it affects us and, one thing I started realizing is that there were these things that everybody struggled with. It didn't matter how old you were, young you were, whatever culture you had, they all had the same struggles. And as I was praying about this and being like "okay God whats this next step for me?" it was like, why don't you teach people these tools before there's a problem. Before they need to go to the counseling office. Even if you do end up in counseling its such an amazing experience, but if you have these tools going through the struggles it makes it so much easier so I'm just excited to be sharing with you about mental wellness today.
Katie: I think it's so important of the proactivity. I think that we often get caught in this like I'm in crisis and now I go and seek help. Like I have to hit rock bottom before I do anything in advance. And so what was some of the inspiration that you had in building kind of this wellness behind it? What would you describe that's like?
Catherine: It's really interesting, it started with my 82 year old grandpa. As he was starting to age he was someone who always went to the gym and he always worked out, and as he started to age the doctors would always say he's so physically healthy so when he had the flu he was strong enough to get through it. When he various heart troubles he always had this physical strength behind that he got in the gym. And I thought, man what if we did that with our mental health? When I saw the struggles my clients were having and I thought if we just knew and thought of our mental health like the gym. You know, no one gets mad at you when you go to the gym and say "oh I'm gonna go work out so I don't have a heart attack". But we do that with mental health right? Like, no I don't have a problem yet, it's not bad enough yet. And really I feel God is putting it on my heart to change that narrative, to a mental wellness.
Katie: Yeah
Drew: I was just going to say like, it's like doing an oil change for your car before the engine seizes and, and implodes. Um, there's so many other aspects to our life that we do like just routine maintenance and checkups and you know you build strength, you build those muscles so that when they get taxed they can take the load. But...but when you talk about mental health there's like a stigma behind that.
Katie: Yeah. I think building that habit that makes doing the good easier, making its you know the definition of virtue and so its this like habitual disposition to do the good and so when we have this disposition to do the good for our mental health what a difference that can make when we do have hard times. I you know recently just had a baby and I had a friend ask me like, "why are you not crying everyday?" {Katie laughing} and I was like well, I have had some of these tools you know its been twelve years since my first diagnosis with anxiety and depression and so having that experience and then my own you know in marriage and family counseling has just built in a lot of this awareness that I think the general population does not get the chance until they hit rock bottom to like get these tools. So if we can get them in the beginning and then utilize them what a huge difference that would be.
Catherine: Absolutely. And I see that ah the first one that I think the most important is, is with anxiety. Because anxiety is something that I would say in a room of 100 people 99 1/2 are struggling with, and about 98% of those people think they're the only ones in the room.
Katie: Yes
Catherine: You can absolutely watch it in a talk everyone looking around being like, "it's not me...oh I hope nobody notices" {Katie & Drew laugh} and I'm up on stage going like, "it's you, it's you, it's you, it's you.
Katie: I'm here for a friend {laughing}
Catherine: Right {laughing} And even if sometimes we are there for a friend if we're able to see that like...so where I come from with anxiety is that people don't know they need to get their oil changed, or why.
Drew: Yeah
Catherine: So when it comes to anxiety as soon as it starts to struggle and they start to feel it they start to think "oh my gosh I'm crazy...there's something wrong with me...I'm weak" and sometime even the strongest most intellectual people are the hardest to accept that they might have anxious feelings. And when I can teach them how their brain works and how it actually isn't a bad thing that they have anxiety, they just have to learn how to manage it, and actually that they don't have control, that it's not their weakness um and I can teach them the tools to manage it, it changes their whole life.
Drew: Yep
Catherine: They can go for a second and go wait, God made me good and my body is reacting exactly how God created it and...its just to the wrong stimulus. And...I'm so also thankful that you guys are willing to do a three part series with me.
Katie: Yeah big announcement, big announcement
Catherine: So if you're thinkin, "Catherine I don't agree with you that I'm not in control. Like I should be, that's not me"...come to the next video because I'm telling you you'll be like, "huh that amazing." And that really, that aha moment that I see every time I do a talk, every time I meet with a client was what inspired me to say we need mental wellness in our lives.
Katie: Yeah
Drew: Okay so tell us a little bit real quick about Sacred Heart Mental Wellness and what you guys have going on with that.
Catherine: So Sacred Heart Mental Wellness is a brand new website that is going to give you all the resources you need to start learning tools. There is a webinar that I'll be hosting a 6-week in person, virtually of course, Umm {laughing} on zoom webinar um that will teach you the six main topics I think everyone needs, but there will also be PDF's on how to create a good support system. How to incorporate our faith. Why is the rosary so helpful for fighting anxiety? Why is confession, and catholics who frequent confession known to have the best mental health? What are good boundaries? So often we think we have good health boundaries but we don't, and most don't even understand what boundaries are. So a 6-week course that you can take on zoom, there will also be a video on the Biology of Anxiety which will go in-depth to understanding how my body is reacting to anxiety and how can I treat it. Um, so there will just be lots of different resources that are going to start giving you the tools that you need to really start to have a strong foundation in your mental health that could weather the challenges and the winds that might come.
Katie: Yeah, and we'll put the link in the description below for sure on how to access that and so check that out. And then we are just again, Catherine kinda referenced the announcement there but we are really honored that Catherine is gonna do a multi video series for us to just kinda touch on some of these topics, give you some information directly to our viewers that is so important because those 6 classes that you just talked about...that...that workshop is critical I think for every single person to hear. As you said its like 99% of the room and 98% of us are in denial and the reality is if its not you, you definitely know somebody who it is {laughing}
Catherine: Absolutely
Katie: And so to utilize these in our daily life uh, so if you found value in this conversation please subscribe, like the video and leave a comment with your questions for Catherine and we'll make sure that she is able to answer those as well. We look forward to seeing you in the next video, until then we'll be praying for ya