Tim White, Psy.D., field placement director and assistant professor in Saint Mary’s M.S. in Clinical Psychology program, says that faith has always been very important to him.
In fact, called by that lifelong love of God and the Church, Dr. White entered the seminary and began studying to become a Catholic priest. Though he left the seminary, he took a lot from that experience.
“My personality was suited to teaching, preaching, counseling, and helping,” he said. “When I left the seminary, I wanted to do something where I could help people. Experiences helped me realize listening to people and counseling them was one of most meaningful things I could do. I wanted to try to address the deep emptiness and pain people experience mentally and help them find an inner place of healing.”
Dr. White received his Doctor of Clinical Psychology and Master of Science degrees from Divine Mercy University. He also holds a Master of Arts degree (M.A.) in Theology from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Humanities from The Pontifical College Josephinum.
He went on to provide therapy and assessment in community mental health, Catholic K-8 schools, and counseling for seminarians. He provided therapy as a primary therapist at the Saint John Vianney Center, an inpatient psychiatric facility for priests and religious.
When Anthony Isaaco, Psy. D., program director of Saint Mary’s M.S. in Clinical Psych program, reached out to ask him to consider applying to be part of his new program, Dr. White was excited for the opportunity.
“It sounded really interesting to train students to get to know clinical sites all over the country and still have time for private practice on the side,” he said, adding “How often do you get the opportunity to start a master’s program, especially one that is faith integrated?”
Dr. White says what he most loves about his roles are the people. “I’m a people person. I love meeting new people, and helping people obtain a sense of mastery in their areas of expertise,” he said. “When it comes to students, I like building that warm, easy-going relationship that helps them learn and form themselves as human beings — and the same with clients, the same kind of warm, easy-going relationship that leads to healing.”
He said the M.S. in Clinical Psychology program is unique and special for several reasons. “First of all, it’s on the cutting edge of what the American Psychological Association (APA) is trying to do when it comes to psychology programs,” he said. “A lot of states don’t have a lot of legal structure for master’s level clinicians in psychology; it’s mostly geared toward people with doctorates, and so the APA is trying to address the shortage of therapists by opening up more opportunities for training, and I think a master’s program like this is helping to address that, because, 80% of people who that need therapy don’t get therapy. There are not many master’s level psychology programs out there that are addressing that. And then, it’s bringing in the faith integration portion, drawing on the wisdom traditions of our world, which are theology, philosophy, and psychology, and taking all that ancient wisdom and combining it with all the scientific data of the modern age. And that’s a pretty unique thing that we’re doing too.”
Dr. White said the pairing of faith integration with clinical psychology is important because most clients want to talk about their faith backgrounds, but most therapists are uncomfortable talking about faith with their clients. “I think while science has benefits, there are also limits,” he said. “Combining faith with science gives us the details of what human flourishing is and we also need this underlying theory that helps give us a direction.”
He and his wife, Julie, have twins, Felicity and Faustina, and a third daughter due any day.
