More Than Qualified: Women in Leadership through the Lens of Catholic Psychology

This course explores one of the most common — and least discussed — obstacles to women's leadership: the belief that one's particular expertise is the wrong kind. Drawing on a candid interview with Dr. Tammy Tenaglia, Ph.D., psychologist and board member of multiple Catholic organizations, the lesson addresses impostor syndrome through the lens of Catholic psychology and the Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person (CCMMP). Dr. Tenaglia speaks from real experience: joining a board of corporate executives with no business degree, chairing a grants committee because her psychological training was exactly what the board needed, and learning to advocate for herself not as a woman in a particular category, but as a human being with inalienable dignity. She covers daily self-reflection as a leadership practice, servant leadership as a Catholic value, and detachment from outcomes as a spiritual discipline that makes sustained leadership possible. This lesson is appropriate for Catholic professional women at any stage of leadership development, graduate counseling students forming their professional identity, and licensed counselors.