Frequently Asked Questions

Healthycatholicministry.com was an idea that our Blessed Mother put into Jim Otremba's heart while in prayer early in the morning years ago on Dec. 8th. The idea was to have an online space for the spiritual, mental, physical and relational health of lay and ordained Catholic ministers. The website contains free assessments and online resources to address a variety of issues that often plague ministers. The first online “Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue,”

“Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue” uses a clinically accepted assessment tool call the “Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) that reveals the people’s level of compassion fatigue. Ministers may then address their fatigue by receiving emails from Jim (for free) for 2 weeks, or buy purchasing the online classes from the comfort of their own home. At the end of classes the person will be asked to take the assessment again. With the Holy Spirit’s blessing, the assessment score will be lower, compassion fatigue will be reduced, and most importantly, a measure of joy and peace in the ministry will be returned to them.

The assessment tool takes five to six minutes to complete. Following that, there are six online classes designed to enhance health and well-being. Each class features a 30-minute PowerPoint by Jim and a corresponding PDF document that can be printed out so the participant may better integrate the information into life. Once you take a class you are encouraged to work on the assignments for that week. Once seven days have gone by, the next class will be available to watch. Classes must be watched in sequence, a person can’t skip ahead. As stated above, people may work at the their own pace.

When you click on “take the assessments” you will need to set up a username and password. It is an easy process and only takes about 50 seconds and ensures that the data you enter in can be recorded so that you can see your progress through the upcoming months.

Jim Otremba has been married to his best friend, Maureen, since 1995, and has been a part-time stay-at-home dad since 1999. Along with Maureen, he is a frequent presenter of retreats and workshops for clergy, couples, deacons and their wives, and lay ministers around the U.S. Jim holds an M.Div from St. John’s University, a Masters degree in Applied Psychology and is finishing his Doctoral degree in Psychology. Jim has been licensed in Minnesota to provide therapy since 1996 and owns and stewards a mental health center in St. Cloud, MN. He received his coaching training in 2001 and has worked as a Catholic coach with ordained and lay leaders since the mid-2000s. He has been a regular guest on national Catholic Radio (Relevant Radio), and along with Maureen has appeared on EWTN. Jim and Maureen are blessed to be the primary authors of Fully Engaged: a Catholic, catechetical, pre-marriage inventory and formation program for engaged couples and mentor couples. Fully Engaged is now used in Mexico, nearly half of all U.S. dioceses, and over 1400 individual parishes nationwide. Fully Engaged teaches engaged couples and mentor couples the truths of the Catholic faith by offering practical, research-backed advice on how to live out the Sacrament of marriage. Learn more at: www.getfullyengaged.com. When he is not creating, teaching, or researching, he loves spending time with his family hiking, kayaking, hanging out, simply enjoying the outdoors, or watching good movies. He and Maureen are parents of seven children in heaven and three young adult children on earth and know the joys and challenges of special needs parenting.

If you want to purchase the Naming and Taming Compassion Fatigue and Negative Stress class alone it costs $19.95. If you want to have your parish sign up for a monthly subscription that is also available at $29.95 per month. With a monthly subscription all the staff of your parish, and their spouses, along with all your volunteers and their spouses, can access the assessments and course any time they want and work on lowering their compassion fatigue and negative stress from the comfort of their homes.