Gary Ventimiglia

I have been a psychotherapist/psychoanalyst in private practice for over thirty years now. In that time I have seen many people in consultation. The biggest presenting problem that I have encountered has been the experience of inauthenticity for the person. Most patients just have not felt that they were living a life that was satisfying to themselves. There was a comprising quality in their lives; They have not been able to accomplish nearly what they have wanted to. My focus as a clinician has been to help people understand why this is so. That feelings of depression, complacency, and (or) anxiety are merely symptoms of underlying issues that have derailed the person.

This is no less true for people of faith. Being a minister, and by virtue of my integrated graduate/doctoral level of education, my practice has attracted many Christian people over the years. One of the outcomes of unresolved developmental conflict has been a view of God that is encumbered with their emotional woundedness. This is especially true in regards to experiencing God as a loving Father. The result of this is an enfeebled, ineffectual outworking of their faith.

I wrote, "Free to Run the Race," to address the reality of developmental injury in one's core relationships, that of "parental disregard." My hope is that by addressing its different manifestations and working this through to a new understanding of oneself before the ever wondrous love of God, something different could be born. A new way of living out one's faith would help the person to become more accepting of this love of God, turning it into a sincere love for one's neighbor and for oneself. Therefore one can begin to live a more satisfying life.