Welcome to Episode 20 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Adam J. Schneider. This episode focuses on the history and relationship, often rocky, between psychoanalysis and Catholicism. This is Adam’s first appearance on What Matters Most. Adam J. Schneider, PhD, is a psychologist and supervisor in Washington State, USA, where he works for the Department of Corrections and is Adjunct Faculty at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. He has published in Integratus, Psychoanalytische Perspectieven, Psychosis, and the Journal of Medical Humanities. He is the author of the new book Psychoanalysis and Catholicism: From Freud to Francis published by Routledge Press (2026).

Today’s podcast introduce us to Adam’s book on psychoanalysis and Catholicism, but also on the long, fraught history between the Church and modern forays into the unconscious, not just by Freud, but by many sons and daughters of the Church, some of whom, in Adam’s evocative language, were psychoanalytic martyrs for exploring ideas and processes that the Church was not ready to hear. So, let’s listen to Adam Schneider and I discuss why Faith and Reason are necessary for the Church, but also why a focus on the Unconscious, the uncertainty of the unconscious, which responds to the certainty of Faith and Reason, is essential too.

This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.

What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.

A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

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Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.

John W. Martens

Director, Centre for Christian Engagement

Faith, Reason, and the Unconscious: Psychoanalysis and Catholicism: A Conversation with Dr. Adam Schneider