About Dr. Lisa Petronis
Dr. Lisa Petronis is a licensed psychologist, marriage & family therapist, Catholic performance coach, and lifelong athlete whose work is shaped by prayer, study, and disciplined practice. For nearly 30 years she has walked with adults and couples through seasons of anxiety, grief, marital strain, and spiritual hardship—helping them steady the interior life and live with renewed purpose.
Her story starts on the field and in the gym. As a kid, she once hit a softball so cleanly it knocked the cover off; later, on the basketball court, teammates nicknamed her “Barkley” for fearless rebounding against taller opponents. Today in the boxing gym, they call her “The Blueprint”—a nod to the steady habits and moral clarity she brings to training. Sports taught her that resilience is forged long before the moment of pressure; clinical work and coaching confirmed that the same is true of the soul.
Lisa’s clinical formation is rigorous: a PhD in Clinical Psychology and two master’s degrees, with focused study in depth psychology and phenomenology. That phenomenological lens—attentive to lived experience, meaning, and freedom—shows up in session as careful presence and clear words that honor the whole person. Her doctoral research focused on trauma and resilience among the Lost Boys of Sudan; the project did not remain on paper. She co-founded the California Sudanese Lost Boys & Girls Foundation and helped build a primary school in South Sudan—convinced that authentic psychology and Christian compassion belong together.
Mission has always been part of her vocation. In Kingston, Jamaica, she served alongside Catholic ministries accompanying families and youth—learning again that the Gospel speaks most powerfully when prayer meets concrete action. Closer to home, Lisa has ministered in San Diego’s youth detention facilities, bringing Scripture, intercessory prayer, and steady presence to teenagers carrying real sorrow and real hope. These experiences deepened her commitment to form the next generation in virtue and to strengthen the adults who guide them.
“Faith for Lisa is not something abstract but a way of life lived concretely in joyful service.”
Lisa’s faith is not an accessory to her practice; it is the frame. Rooted in Catholic Tradition—the Catechism, the Magisterium, and the sacramental life—she lives a Benedictine rhythm of prayer and work, with a steady commitment to silence and adoration. Scripture anchors her day; the Fathers and Doctors of the Church shape her thought. She finds companions in literature, too: the moral clarity and costly freedom in Dostoevsky, and the steadfast hope of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, where small, courageous acts carry a grace far larger than themselves.
This integration animates everything she offers. In her clinical practice, Lisa provides integrative, trauma-informed therapy that unites evidence-based methods with a coherent Catholic anthropology. Through Halleluya Living®, her coaching framework, she helps high-capacity Catholics break cycles of burnout and build resilient habits—ordered toward sanctity, not just success. With Warrior of the Kingdom™, she and her husband form youth in virtue through prayer, fellowship, and embodied discipline—translating the lessons of the court, the ring, and the chapel into habits that can carry weight under pressure.
Beyond the clinic and programs, Lisa serves the Church and the wider community as a teacher and commentator. She has taught at Catholic institutions and at the University of Phoenix, and she is frequently invited as a Catholic mental-health voice on media outlets such as ABC/10 News, KOGO/Catholic Radio, Shalom World TV, The Jennifer Fulwiler Show and Radio Maria Ireland.
In recent years, Lisa’s work has widened to include advocacy for foster youth and the families who serve them—an effort born of her conviction that healing requires communities capable of stability, prayer, and practical love. Whether sitting with a client via telehealth, coaching a cohort, mentoring leaders, or cheering on young athletes, she aims at the same goal: to help people become who God created them to be—formed in fire, founded on the Rock.
She loves the costly freedom in Dostoevsky and the steadfast hope in Tolkien—stories that teach courage, mercy, and the long obedience of love.
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Start Your Healing Journey
Whether you’re just beginning to seek help or ready to go deeper, Dr. Petronis offers a steady, confidential space for careful listening, clear next steps, and skills that carry into daily life. Rooted in Catholic Tradition and clinical rigor, her work helps cultivate resilient habits of mind, body, and spirit.