Same-Sex “Marriage” and the Catholic Psychologist

by Marsh Fightlin

The State of Minnesota recently passed a law abolishing the commonly accepted definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, and replaced it with a definition that requires only two adults, including two adults of the same sex. The law goes into effect August 1. Consequently, from that date forward, the State will recognize three types of marriage: male-female, male-male and female-female. All three will be considered “marriage”, and any effort to distinguish between them based on the commonly accepted definition (male-female) will be branded “discrimination”.

I have been doing marriage counseling for almost forty years, more than twenty five of which were as a licensed psychologist in the State of Minnesota, where I presently practice. What will be the legal implications of this sea change definition for my practice?

In saner times, it would have been considered obvious that same-sex “marriage” is an oxymoron, something akin to the square circle. Treating such unions as marriages would have been seen as a game of let’s pretend. Psychologists, considering themselves to be professionals who do not adjust their practice to the whims of the culture, would maintain the commonly accepted definition, a definition that is older than the profession of psychology itself. They would distinguish between “natural marriage” and the novel legal construct of same-sex “marriage”. They would refuse to act in therapy sessions as though the latter were the same as the former. Such a pretense would be incongruent with their true convictions and hence a distortion of the dynamic of therapy. They would therefore refuse as a matter of professional ethics to do marital therapy with same-sex unions.

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Marsh Fightlin is a husband, a father, a father-in-law and a grandfather. These relationships are at the center of his life and he enjoys them immensely. For the rest, his interests are shaped by his academic background: He is a licensed psychologist and has a licentiate in theology. He is a staff psychologist at a mental health clinic and operates a telephone consult service (www.catholicpsychconsult.com). His approach to his work is mostly shaped by Thomistic psychology, a dash of Freud, and a large dose of common sense. His theological interests are "catholic" and he's especially interested in Scripture study, The Summa of Aquinas, and the writings of JPII and BXVI. He is also an incurable film-watcher. With help from Act One of Hollywood, he has written a screenplay and his dream is to have it produced. He enjoys good food, particularly Italian and the Jewish deli kind. Two of his grandchildren are teenage boys. He regularly discusses issues ranging from deep mysteries of the Faith to the back stories to the latest super-hero flicks with them. He says he has a lot to learn.