Uniting the Church and mental health
One of the biggest difference between counselors and pastors is the role they play within an individual’s life. Of course, the objectives are different as well. One serves a clinical, evidence-based, structured interaction with an individual.
But how do the different organizations and the roles professionals interacting with individuals change from counseling agency to the Church? How do we need to look at them with the right expectations?
If you don’t know, there is a really good application for mindfulness out there called Headspace. For those who like free, there is more than enough, but it has so much more than that. The idea behind Headspace is to help people to slow down, take a minute from the busyness of life, and reduce stress, improve relationships, as well as improve physical health.
These are a lot of great things for a clinical counselor who wants to help someone find coping skills for themselves (and all therapists should be aware and at least have practiced the techniques) but I think this also has an application for all Christians.
I don’t know if we have said enough how much we love The Grace Alliance. (Their Instagram stories is enough of a reason to follow them) One of the big draws I have had to the site is their Training + Leaders section which is made available to you for free, even if you don’t purchase anything from them. Honestly, it’s the best Christian mental health group training I have ever come across.
Not only do they have the videos free, but the page also includes downloadable leader materials with all the details and training slides to give to your volunteers and team as well as free ongoing support through webinars, videos, access to Grace Group Leader Network.
(This is a sponsored post with no restrains or impact on the review.)
The book Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families is part of the 5 Love Languages that was originally authored by Gary Chapman. This book looks at how parents of children with special needs can incorporate the 5 Love Languages into their parenting model to improve communication between spouses and better love their children.
The original book is a staple for people who want to better communicate with their spouses and has a soft integration of faith within it. From there, Gary has made a whole collection of books including for Children, Teenagers, Men, Women, Singles, and Military Edition.
Grief is a powerful emotion. It disconnects us from reality. It hits us at our very core where we feed the pain of loss and depression at the very heart of who we are. It can impact us out of nowhere in the sudden loss of a friend from a heart attack or a talk at dinner that your parents are divorcing. And you have so little control over grief as it slams into you, wave after wave of overwhelming sadness, frustration, and loneliness.
Yet, we have a community. For those who grieve, we can have hope in our fellow Christians. For those who support and grieve with us well, we will find rest. For us who can be that support, we may be the lighthouse that points people to Jesus as we care and listen to those hurting.
Parenting is hard. It might be the hardest thing you ever have to do. Part of it is keeping that little person alive and raised up to be a good person. But part of it is also that we see our sinful nature reflected in them, our reaction to their not listening, and the need for boundaries which we may never have fully established.
The video below is from Focus on the Family. For those of you who struggle with discipline, maybe because of your own mental health shortcomings or mental illness within the child, I want to encourage you to take some time to watch this four-minute video and I’d love to hear in the comments, how do you create boundaries as a parent or how have you seen boundaries done well with children?
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Mental health stigma is culturally a huge problem. Stigma is when someone views you in a negative way because you have a distinguishing characteristic or personal trait that’s thought to be, or actually is, a disadvantage.
It limits people’s motivation to engage in the treatment, getting the help they need, but also in the activities they are currently involved in, like church. Further, it can actually cause some mental health symptoms to create further harm and isolation.
The way you fight against mental health stigma is educating yourself and others as well as create a culture open to dialogue and not shaming or guilting others who you feel are different.
We’ve decided to do a follow up to our previous mental health devotional we released two months ago. This will be perfect for Christian pastors, leaders, and those looking to build their faith. Even more so, for those who struggle with mental health and want to have God be part of the restoration process.
Just as before, there is a BIG catch here.
We aren’t just going to give it to anyone. We will only be releasing it for free to people who sign up for our newsletter before this Friday. If you want to get access to this, you still have time to sign up here or below.
This is not about being politically correct. This is about treating people wholely, beyond any mental illness, impairment, or delay. We need to recognize that words matter.
Words matter with mental illness. Words matter with developmental disabilities. Words matter with substance misuse.
Empathy is the “ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” For many people, we assume this is the same as sympathy, but it truly isn’t. In church, I see people have sympathy for the homeless, the widowed, the orphaned, the mentally ill, the physically injured, the locked up, the abused, and the addicted.
Sympathy is “we’ll pray for you” and then by the time you walk out the church doors you’ve forgotten that commitment. Empathy is being willing to drive that person home, pray for them when they leave, showing up at the homeless shelter to give them supplies, and sit to authentically listen to them weep over their fears and losses six months or a year after the event has happened.