Dr. Bart Begalka

I am a quiet, private person. However, there are things I want to share with you in this website and in my book, so you have the right to know where I’m coming from.

I used to be a pastor, both lay and professional. At 32 I became a therapist. I have been a Registered Clinical Counsellor for more than 30 years. I have also spent the past 15+ years as a university faculty member, teaching graduate level counselling psychology. I am in the process of retiring from academics to pursue the next adventure in my life: tending my garden, creating art in my workshop, and to continue my counselling practice on a part-time basis. All this enveloped in a life of solitude, simplicity and meditation.

I went to school a lot. I have a bachelor’s in Biblical Studies, a master’s in Christian Education, and another master’s in Human Learning & Development. My second master’s actually represents four years of doctoral work with research that fell apart due to academic politics. I received a letter of apology from the university and a second master’s degree as a consolation. My research focused on gender differences in the development of religious orientations. In my mid-50’s I did the doctoral thing again, and I have a doctorate in education. My research this time focused on the praxis of critical theory in postsecondary education, with applications to postcolonial relationships.

I started life in an ultra-conservative Lutheran denomination. In my teen years I defected to evangelical churches. At thirty I became an Anglican, where I remained for many years. I then dabbled in Quakerism before becoming a Roman Catholic - a post-postmodern Roman Catholic. That means I find my spiritual nourishment in liberal Catholic theology, the mystics and from the rich aesthetics of the Catholic Church.

 Also of note: somewhere in all that history I experienced a 17 year dark night of the soul. A dark night of the soul is painful, but a good thing. If I knew then what I know now, it wouldn’t have lasted 17 years. I hope through this website that I may spare you some years of grief.