USD Magazine Fall 2026

FAITH IN ACTION

People come to ministers and therapists looking for answers, but oftentimes the questions are different.

to patients about mental health and spirituality and how the two might intersect. Concepcion says that option makes mental health care more accessible to people who want religion to be a part of their therapy experience. At USD, where spirituality is a core part of the campus’s identity, that provides students with a new on-ramp to engage with their mental health. “In the last five to six years, we’ve seen more students coming to counseling asking questions about their place in the world and their connection to their spirituality and faith,” Burden said. “This offers students another invitation — another way — to interact with all of the wellness services and opportunities that we have, that also honors their identity as a person of faith.” Burden and Concepcion say there are only a handful of universities developing this kind of counseling. It’s a natural fit at USD, where cross-campus collaboration is encouraged and where there’s a strong emphasis on holistic education and health. Having ministry so engrained with the campus culture made it easy to connect and find trained professionals like Concepcion to launch a clinical pastoral counseling program. Concepcion is passionate about the project and her work. She can talk about the evolution of counseling theory and how it’s led to this moment, how spirituality is being recognized as a key aspect of mental health. Ultimately, though, what it comes down to is helping students. To her, that’s all that matters. “I view it as a different way of listening. At the end of the day, students don’t care about your role. Sometimes they just care that there’s someone who’s listening to them and supporting them,” said Concepcion. “I want to create spaces where people can feel supported to be the most healthy and authentic versions of themselves. In order to do that, we need to make sure they feel seen.” — Steven Covella

Spirituality and mental health. Until relatively recently, these areas were viewed as separate. Clinical counselors, while highly trained, weren’t equipped to talk about religion. Similarly, ministers are spiritual guides who consult on questions of faith and people’s relationship to God, but they’re not trained therapists. Out of respect for their own limitations, and the sensitivities involved, both fields decided to stay in their lane. That, though, could leave people who are in search of help lost, their needs siloed. Someone’s spirituality can be a core component of their mental health and any emotional struggles they’re experiencing. The University of San Diego is at the forefront of a new movement that seeks to provide a more holistic approach. “There’s a distinctiveness of each of these disciplines, but they’re not mutually exclusive. Oftentimes they overlap when you ask questions about meaning and God,” said Christian Santa Maria, director of University Ministry. “So, if we, as a university, are interested in forming a whole person, then understanding both the spiritual and mental aspects are important to help students heal and thrive.” Marian Concepcion came to USD in the fall of 2024 with a unique skillset. With master’s degrees in theology and social work, she has the training to discuss matters of religion and mental health in a professional setting. It’s called clinical pastoral counseling — an emerging, specialized form of therapy where counselors have their traditional training paired with a degree in theology. Coming up in the mental health care field, Concepcion started to notice a gap while serving as a social work intern at a hospital where she worked closely with refugees and migrants, and religion often came up in their discussions. But the social workers — trained counselors — often weren’t equipped to handle those discussions. Out of a desire to learn to serve clients more holistically, Concepcion

switched graduate programs and expanded her toolbox with a dual degree that incorporated religion. “It’s not that people in the mental health field don’t want to address religion and spirituality if it comes up. It’s that a lot of times our training doesn’t really provide that,” Concepcion said. “And if we want to serve our patients and really see their health and wellness holistically, we can’t ignore the spiritual aspect of their health.” At USD, where she’d work in both University Ministry as well as Student Wellness, to develop programming that intentionally integrates faith and mental health, Concepcion found the ideal environment to apply all her knowledge. Santa Maria had already had conversations with Chistopher Burden, PsyD, assistant vice president of wellness, about a clinical pastoral counseling program at Boston College, where Concepcion was coming from. Her arrival at USD helped them put it into practice. “It was fortuitous that Marian came to campus as a professional that was on track to be a clinical service worker. It coincided with the launch of the Palomar Health Student Wellness Center and all of these dimensions of wellness at USD,” Burden said. USD is coming off its Year of Wellness, and has committed to programming that not only expands mental health resources available to students but simply gets conversations started. The goal is to destigmatize those discussions, get students with a foot in the door. Even if they don’t want counseling now, once they know who they can talk to and what resources are available, it’s easier to reach out once they’re ready. Clinical pastoral counseling offers another avenue in that regard. When students connect with a therapist, they can check a box saying that they want to include religion in those discussions. Then they’re connected with someone like Concepcion, who’s trained to talk

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