When Sister Theres Hong Phuoc Tran teaches mental health workshops at Catholic parishes, schools and religious congregations, she uses this Scripture quote \u2014 \u201cYou should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)\u201d \u2014 to illustrate that wellness consists of four components: heart (connection with others, being loved and loving others), soul (intimacy with God, finding purpose in one\u2019s life), mind (feeding the intellect with good thoughts, seeking counsel when uncertain), and strength (living a physically healthy lifestyle).\u00a0<\/p>\n
While a few people have serious emotional and psychological problems that require professional help, most can make use of the \u201cgood tools\u201d outlined in her workshops to enjoy wellness and a happy, fulfilled life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman life has a rhythm, but chaos can enter our lives and bring us problems out of our control,\u201d Sister Theres said. \u201cTo know how to live well, we have to know how God intended us to live. To maintain wellness, we must learn how to trust in God and accept the rhythm of our lives with gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sister Theres was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and immigrated to the United States at age 11. In 2003, she joined the Lovers of the Holy Cross, a predominantly Vietnamese community whose motherhouse is in Los Angeles. As their charism includes social services, she became a licensed marriage and family therapist and began seeing patients pro bono. Today, she resides in Santa Ana, California, and offers mental health workshops in Southern California.<\/p>\n
In addition to the eternal benefits, Sister Theres noted that faith and trust in God offer temporal benefits as well. Researchers, she asserts, have found that people of faith are less likely to harm themselves and others and heal more quickly from emotional and psychological wounds. Good psychological health, she continued, has many other perks as well, including better heart function, lower blood pressure, better sleep, mental clarity, emotional balance and less stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n
But, as one cannot trust someone he does not know, \u201cfor us to trust in God we have to spend time to get to know him, just as we would in a human relationship. Spend time with him and stay in touch with him, and he will reveal himself to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
To live a life of gratitude<\/a>, the religious sister continued, we must \u201caccept the highs and lows of life and unite crosses [to Christ] and be thankful and practice self-giving.\u201d<\/p>\n One benefit of giving to others, she added, is that it \u201cwill push your brain to release \u2018happy hormones\u2019: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. It will give your life meaning and purpose, a sense of accomplishment and a healthy sense of control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Those habituated to giving, she believes, have improved mental and emotional well-being, lower levels of depression, stronger relationships and social connections, better heart health, and increased self-esteem and life satisfaction.<\/p>\n Follow the Great Commandments<\/b><\/p>\n In recommending self-care for the typical person, Sister Theres circles back to the central points found in Mark 12:30:<\/p>\n Sister Theres added that there are various practices Catholics can adopt to improve their mental health and specifically pointed to the tradition of fasting. Fasting benefits us psychologically, she believes, as it involves delayed gratification and requires us to tolerate discomfort. She continued, \u201cIt leads to a clarity of mind and self-control and develops our brains in a positive way. And, if we do it with others, it leads to greater solidarity within our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Suicidal Ideation: Anyone Can Be Affected<\/b><\/p>\n When Sister Theres began seeing clients, she learned that mental health issues can affect anyone: men or women, priests and religious or laypeople, wealthy or poor, one ethnicity or another. She also became concerned about the increase in the suicide rate in the U.S. over the past generation: \u201cMinimizing or eliminating that has become my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing Centers for Disease Control research, Sister Theres noted that one out of three<\/a> high-school girls has seriously considered suicide. In the Asian community, she continued, it is the leading cause of death<\/a> among those ages 15 to 24 in the U.S. She collaborated with two mental health professionals to launch a \u201cFully Alive\u201d program in the Diocese of Orange to provide resources to deter suicide, as well as to teach life skills to help participants \u201cthrive to be the best version of themselves and live healthier and happier.\u201d<\/p>\n In her workshops, Sister Theres discusses signs of suicidal ideation \u2014 ongoing depression or anxiety, loss of interest in engaging in preferred tasks, sleeping and eating problems, thoughts of worthlessness and helplessness \u2014 as well as discussions of how to help others in crisis. When she encounters such a person, she said, \u201cI try to create a safe space for them to feel free to express their thoughts and feelings without judgment, let them feel heard and understood. Then I try to explore with them some protective factors, which include faith in God and others, connections with someone, those who care for them or those for whom they care.\u201d<\/p>\n Other support could include developing a safety plan that outlines self-care habits, grounding techniques, \u00a0and ways to build connections with others, along with other meaningful activities and spiritual practices. Once the person has reached a level of stability, Sister Theres then works to \u201cexplore their goals in life and help them to learn other life skills to maintain their well-being, including effective communication, motivation and goal setting, stress management, healthy boundaries and relationships, and emotion intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Should a person develop mental health issues, he or she should not hesitate to reach out for help and \u201cwork toward holistic wellness by knowing and accepting your gifts, talent and strengths as well as weakness and limitations. Forgive yourself and others for your flaws and accept life\u2019s imperfections.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLearn from mistakes, and unite your crosses with Jesus Christ Crucified,\u201d she counsels.<\/p>\n \u2018Opening Up a Dialogue\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n Often working with members of the Vietnamese community, Sister Theres has observed a stigma against receiving mental health services. \u201cIn Asian culture, you don\u2019t want to expose anything negative about your family,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you are struggling and seek therapy, some perceive this as an embarrassment for your family, as if its members failed you.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cSome also believe that if you seek professional help, you are \u2018crazy.\u2019 But going to therapy does not mean you are crazy, but that you need help with an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Nathan Nguyen, 18, of Garden Grove, California, for example, comes from a family with a history of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and found that he himself struggled with OCD. \u201cI might perceive that my hands are dirty and excessively wash them,\u201d he explained. \u201cI was a perfectionist at school and obsessed about my grades.\u201d<\/p>\n He participated in therapy with Sister Theres and has begun to improve. Even though he experienced anxiety and discomfort early on when attempting to modify his obsessive behaviors, he said: \u201cYou don\u2019t give in; that\u2019s how you improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Carrie de Bever, principal of St. Bruno Catholic School in Whittier, California, invited Sister Theres to offer a one-day workshop to her middle-school students. She wanted to bring the religious sister to the campus because she was concerned about how students were being impacted by harmful elements of the culture, particularly the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen she arrived, I don\u2019t think our students knew what mental health was,\u201d de Bever recalled. \u201cBut as the day progressed, the students really began opening up.\u201d<\/p>\n The students reinforced that it is normal to have fluctuations in emotions and that \u201ceveryone has times when they feel sad or afraid. She offered tools in dealing with strong emotions and reassured students that if they needed to, they could reach out for help,\u201d the principal recounted.<\/p>\n As a result of the workshop, the school now has a part-time therapist available on campus with whom students can speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n De Bever is grateful to Sister Theres for \u201copening up a dialogue\u201d on mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSister is a slight nun with a big heart and a big message,\u201d she said. \u201cShe really captured our students\u2019 attention, and it was a delight to have her on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n LEARN MORE<\/b><\/p>\n\n