4 New Resouces for Including Spirituality in Treatment of Mental Illness

If you are looking for resources/study guides for clergy and communities of faith, Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries has written four, in response to the many questions and requests for information that she has received from persons who want to include spirituality as an important part of the treatment and recovery process.

She shares. . .

Surveys show that over forty percent of Americans seeking help with mental health issues turn first to ministers, priests and rabbis. This is twice as many as those who went first to a psychiatrist, psychologist or family physician. Unfortunately, the response of clergy and congregations falls significantly short of what parishioners expect of their faith leaders.

Individuals struggling with mental illness are significantly less likely to receive the same level of pastoral care as persons in the hospital with physical illnesses, persons who are dying or those who have long-term illnesses. Mental illness has been called the “no casserole disease.”

This resource is designed to be used with clergy, members of congregations, family members and anyone desiring to learn more about mental illness and how to respond with compassion and care. It can be used as a small group study or leaders can adapt it to use in an extended class or seminar. Faith leaders can use this guide to quickly find information on a specific topic when the need arrives.

The four sections included in this resource/study guide include:

1. Understanding Mental Illness
2. The Unique Role of Faith Communities
3. Creating Caring Congregations
4. Help for Faith Leaders

This is a FREE resource that can be downloaded on the Mental Health Ministries website as a PDF document. Click here to download this new resource.

Reprinted with permission by Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries