Joey Pontarelli

My world shattered the day my parents separated and later divorced. 

It brought tons of pain and problems into my life. I felt miserable and alone. 

In the months and years that followed, I dealt with:

• Emotional problems like anxiety, depression, loneliness, & anger 

• Bad habits like porn

• Relationship struggles like swearing I’d never get married, fearing love & intimacy, & struggling to build healthy relationships

Hearing @jasonevert speak helped me ditch porn and live a pure life. Getting new friends (Catholic friends) helped me learn my faith, pray, build virtue, and seek God’s plan for my life. 

It helped a ton but I still felt broken and needed to heal. But how? 

Practical resources on healing for a young person from a broken family were non-existent. Through much effort, time, and trial and error, I found healing through good content, mentors/spiritual directors, therapy, friendships, the lives of the Saints, and, by far, God’s grace via my prayer life. 

Today, my life is much better. 

In addition to quitting porn, big or constant emotional problems are no longer present. Slowly, I overcame my fear of love, and now I’ve been married for 7 years to my wife. We have 3 kids (1 in Heaven, 2 on earth). I LOVE being a dad. Marriage has been challenging yet beautiful. It’s certainly made me a better man and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Now, I mentor teens and young adults from divorced and broken families through Restored @restoredhelp. Our content helps them heal and build virtue, so they don’t end up repeating that cycle. We produce videos, a podcast, a book, speaking engagements, courses, and more. To date, we’ve helped hundreds of thousands worldwide. We’ve been endorsed by @jasonevert and Dr. Bob Schuchts @jpiihealingcenter.

It’s beautiful to see God continue to use my brokenness to help people like me. It reminds me of what St. Augustine said: “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it astounded me.”