Uniting the Church and mental health
Busyness is a mentality that many in the American culture strive for. We see how it can take away from family, cause medical conditions, and lead to burnout. Pastors in America are not immune to this, in
While I’m not against meeting the needs of your community and congregation and never would push for anything less than your best at what you do, I believe that busyness is a lie.
This month is Autism Awareness Month (and May is Mental Health Month if you are scheduling out) so we wanted to help churches figure out how they can participate in their own way. Below are several things you can do, from the very simple posting a social media post to the very involved of implementing a strategy.
The hope is that this first of all shows more alignment from the church with mental health and developmental delays. Beyond this, we hope that conversations start and maybe even revival for people with developmental delays and mental health may begin in your communities.
For those who may struggle with their relationship with their significant other, whether married, engaged, or dating, loving them can sometimes be a bit difficult. The reasons can be many, money, sex, parenting, and hobbies tend to be the highest identified reasons.
But the Gottman Institute, a research-based relationship model, talks about how none of these things are actually causing conflict. In fact, conflict doesn’t have to mean you love your spouse less.
So what is the biggest reason? They say it’s all about how you invest in your relationship and if you are fighting, you haven’t been investing in your relationship.
Vaping is definitely the new fad for nicotine and with this new instrument, there are a lot of unknowns. This can be problematic for counselors and church leaders, especially for one of the most under reported populations, teenagers.
Yes, teenagers are using vaping and using it a lot.
So we wanted to give you ten facts to arm yourself when talking with teenagers, teachers, and parents. Hopefully these are relevant for you and make you all the more wiser.
I’m part of several church Facebook groups, constantly trying to keep in touch with what is happening in ministry. Many of these groups are open, honest, and raw, asking questions about mental health you may not actually ask in front of your senior pastor or elder board. One such question is what goes into creating a church suicide prevention policy.
I get excited by helping people bring mental health into the church, but I also want to encourage mental health professionals to listen up too. This is your opportunity to get your foot into a door of a church and help your community out.
Part of a complete substance abuse treatment program for a community is not only to do direct individual and group counseling as well as psychiatric medication, but preventative services. Sometimes this is presentations for communities at a library or school, but one often neglected area is in the workplace.
Did you know:
Previously, we shared statistics on substance abuse and overdose impacting America and today wanted to couple it with mental health statistics. The following mental health statistics are for adults and you.
Why share these? One of the most beneficial things anyone can do with treatment is to talk about it. First, it brings awareness to people. Secondly, it normalizes the situation by bringing to light how many people struggle with it. Finally, it provides support to those who struggle with mental health because now it is okay to talk about and ask questions for help and understanding.
We will include a couple of stats for pastors, but there is a whole study we covered on the blog about mental health statistics in the church which is pretty alarming. Even more so, there is a more recent study talking about how churches do, or do not, support families and those who struggle with suicidal ideation.
Anxiety at it’s best is something that can help motivate someone, but in reality, we tend to overdo it. When anxiety hits, we find ourselves fixated on things we cannot control. At it’s worse, it becomes a disorder that physically alters the brain chemistry of the individual, directly impacting their life with significant problems, failed relationships, and a barrier for someone with their faith.
In the spectrum of Anxious For Nothing, this book definitely leans on talking about the “we overdo it” side and not the clinical diagnosis spectrum. Within the intersections of church and mental health, this book looks to take a subset of anxiety and see how our faith can impact it for the better.
With February right around the corner, conversations of a romantic date are in the air. Reservations are being made, roses are being purchased, and babysitters are starting to come in short supply. But the conversation of date nights for couples who are married and engaged is bigger than this one day. The concerning question is,
I want to start off this article understanding that there are different seasons for people. Having contracted with the military, I understand it can actually be impossible for people to date at times in their life. Newborns become the most important thing for a moment, big events hit life that can take the immediate focus, and sometimes our own mental health can cause barriers. If dates are not an option, I encourage you to check out our post on improving communication in your marriage. But I want to speak for every
Not dating is a problem.
On April 5, 2019, we will be in Cleveland, OH attending
Inclusion Fusion Live!, a conference hosted by Key Ministry. We will be present at the “Mental Health Inclusion Ministry” and “Starting A Special Needs Ministry” Intensive workshop.
If you are curious about what it is, here is their “Values” video from last year: