Director of Ruah Woods Psychological Services

Dr. Sodergren holds Masters and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Divine Mercy University’s Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS), the only graduate school in existence devoted to integrating the best of psychological science with a Catholic view of the human person. His doctoral dissertation, completed in 2009, was entitled “Attachment and Morality: A Catholic Perspective.” Dr. Sodergren established Ruah Woods Psychological Services in 2011.

His previous clinical work was with the Alpha Omega Clinic in Bethesda, MD and with Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska. Dr. Sodergren is trained in child, adult, marital/family, and group therapies as well as psychological testing, including vocational assessment for candidates to the priesthood or religious life. He is certified in Relationship Enhancement® couples therapy and has received advanced training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. He is an active member of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association and is a frequent speaker for professional and lay audiences on topics involving the integration of psychology and the Catholic faith.

For 13 years, he co-taught a course on psychology and neuroscience as an Adjunct Professor at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, DC.  In 2022, Dr. Sodergren contributed a chapter on the “Psychology of the Sexual Difference” to the book Sexual Identity: The Harmony of Philosophy, Science, and Revelation published by the St. Paul Center.  He previously contributed a chapter on forgiveness in marriage to the book Torn Asunder: Children, the Myth of the Good Divorce, and the Recovery of Origins. In 2023, Dr. Sodergren received the Mother of Good Counsel Clinical Excellence Award from the Catholic Psychotherapy Association.