The Catholic Coaching Podcast

Have you ever walked away from a heated argument filled with regret, wishing you had handled things differently? Or maybe you’re someone who avoids conflict entirely, hoping it will just magically disappear?

Welcome back to The Catholic Coaching Podcast! In this episode, Matt and Erin kick off an intensive series on healthy, holy conflict resolution. They introduce a powerful 4-part framework called PACE:

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Have you ever felt like your fitness goals are walking a tightrope between vanity on one side and neglecting your health on the other?

In this episode of The Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt sits down with Chase Crouse, co-founder of HiPurO Fit, to uncover a Theology of the Body-inspired approach to fitness and nutrition. Moving past secular fitness culture's obsession with endless "optimization" and look-at-me aesthetics, Ch...

Why are 85% to 90% of Catholic kids walking away from the Church as adults—and what are the rare 15% of successful families doing differently? 

In this episode of The Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt sits down with Catholic psychologist, author, and EWTN radio host Dr. Greg Popcak to look at the groundbreaking research surrounding the "Liturgy of Domestic Church Life." 

If you've ever felt like your par...

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a loop—doing the exact things you want to stop doing, and failing to start the habits you actually want to build?

In this final episode of our Discernment Series on the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin dive into the practical neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and Catholic theology (hello, St. Thomas Aquinas!) behind how to actually change and redirect your desires.

How do you know if a desire is really from God?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their discernment series by diving into one of the most important spiritual questions: how to discern your desires.

After exploring the idea that desires themselves are not bad, this episode walks through practical ways to evaluate where your desires are coming from, what emotional tone is fueling t...

Can you actually change your desires?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their discernment series by exploring the role of desire in the spiritual life.

Many Catholics feel suspicious of desire, as if wanting something automatically means it is selfish, disordered, or opposed to God’s will. But desire itself is not the enemy. Unexplored desire is often what keeps us stuck.

How do you know if something you receive in prayer is actually from God?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their discernment series by walking through how to test spiritual promptings, private revelations, interior movements, and words received in prayer.

Building on the previous episode about prayer language, they explain how to bring what you receive back into dialogue with God...

Have you ever felt like God speaks to everyone… except you?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, we break down how to actually hear God’s voice in prayer — in a way that’s simple, practical, and grounded in Catholic teaching.

This is Part 1 of our series on discernment:
👉 First, you need to learn how to hear God
👉 Then, you can learn how to discern His voice

We intr...

Are you stuck in the “miserable maybes”?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, we continue our discernment series by making St. Ignatius of Loyola’s discernment process practical for real life decisions.

Whether you’re discerning:
•a career change
•your college major
•a relationship
•vocation
•a big next step in life
this episode will help you move from confusion t...

If you’ve ever asked, “What is God’s will for my life?” or “How do I discern God’s voice from my own?” this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin begin a new series on Catholic discernment and walk through the foundations of how discernment actually works. Using the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola, they explain the three modes of discern...

What do you do when you realize you’re being manipulated?

In this episode of The Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their conversation on psychological operations (PSYOPs) by answering the next big question:

How do you get out of one?

If fear, outrage, urgency, or confusion are being used to shape your thoughts, emotions, and behavior, you are not powerless. As Catholics, we are called to r...

How Your Thoughts Are Being Controlled (And What to Do About It)

Are you really thinking for yourself?

In this episode of The Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin dive into a powerful and often overlooked topic: psychological operations (PSYOPs) and how they influence your thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

As Catholics, we are called to renew our minds and live in truth. But in a world filled with messaging...

How to Find Peace at the Foot of the Cross | Ignatian Discernment

Feeling "better" doesn't always mean you've found God's will. Often, the enemy mimics peace to stop our spiritual growth, leading us toward "relief" (the removal of pressure) rather than true "Peace" (the tranquility of order).

In today's episode, we dive deep into the Ignatian tools for discernment. Whether you are facing a career change, a relationshi...

What’s the difference between God’s peace and emotional relief?

In this episode of The Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin talk about one of the most important discernment mistakes people make: confusing relief with peace.

Relief can feel good in the moment. It can feel like pressure is gone, tension has lifted, or discomfort has stopped. But that does not always mean a decision is from God.

Pe...

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt & Erin sit down with Lisa Brenninkmeyer, founder of Walking With Purpose, one of the most influential Catholic women’s Bible studies in the world.

Lisa shares the origin story of Walking With Purpose (started during nap time as a small group of moms!) and the principles that helped it grow through grassroots evangelization—without losing the heart of the ...

Why You Keep Self-Sabotaging (More Thinking Errors Explained)

Self-sabotage doesn’t just show up in habits — it shows up in how we think.

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their series on self-sabotage by unpacking more cognitive distortions — the thinking errors that quietly distort reality and keep old belief systems in place.

These distortions feel tru...

Why You Keep Self-Sabotaging (And How to Stop)

Have you ever had a goal you wanted to pursue… but something in you kept pulling the brakes?

That’s self-sabotage—and in this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin explain what’s happening beneath the surface: cognitive distortions (thinking errors… aka lies) that quietly keep your belief system stuck in place.

They...

How to Create New Beliefs (The Belief Ladder Explained)

Why doesn’t positive thinking work?

In this episode of the Catholic Coaching Podcast, Matt and Erin continue their series on beliefs by teaching The Belief Ladder—a gentle, structured way to create new beliefs without forcing yourself to believe something you don’t yet believe.

Last episode, we talked about how to challenge and break old ...

Ever notice this? You start walking toward something you know God is calling you to… and suddenly your mind floods with “I can’t,” “I’m not capable,” “I’ll fail,” “I’m an imposter.”

That’s not random—it’s often a belief system at work.

In this episode, Matt and Erin begin a brand-new series on The Power of Beliefs—an...