Models for Cooperation at the Mental Health and Faith Interface
Panelists -
John Peteet, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Alan Fung, University of Toronto
Thomas Okamoto, private practice
Many individuals with emotional struggles turn first to clergy, but psychiatric conditions are often poorly understood and stigmatized by faith communities. Conversely, many individuals bring to their mental health providers existential and spiritual concerns related to hope, identity, meaning, and morality. Recognizing the historic tensions between mental health and faith communities, in 2014 the leadership of the American Psychiatric Association and the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition convened a broadly representative Steering Committee for an unprecedented Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership (http://www.psychiatry.org/faith). Its principal aims were to establish an ongoing dialogue between psychiatrists and clergy leaders of faith communities, and to identify or develop resources which can equip mental health and faith communities to deal better with their shared concerns. To date, the Partnership has sponsored subsequent presentations at two national meetings, and developed two downloadable resource documents, “Mental Health: A Guide for Faith Leaders”, and “Quick Reference on Mental Health for Faith Leaders.” (a companion to the Guide). The process has served to enhance awareness of existing models for cooperation between mental health and faith communities.
Presenters in this workshop will describe the activities of the Partnership and of two specific projects, as a basis for discussion. The first is the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Conference on Mental Health for Faith Leaders, which was inaugurated in May2015 during the APA annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This conference was conceived based on the recommended future directions from the inaugural Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership Steering Committee Meeting in July2014 - in terms of innovative models for enhancing the mental health and faith community partnership. The main objectives for the conference were to equip local clergy members/faith leaders with the knowledge and skills i) to provide care to those with mental health issues; ii) for faith leaders to attend to their own mental health and well-being. This conference had built upon several similar conferences previously held in Toronto aimed at promoting interprofessional collaborations between mental health and spiritual care professionals, as well as in educating spiritual care professionals about mental health. A grassroots organization, Working Group for the Promotion of Mental Health in Faith Communities, had been formed in Toronto in 2013 and has been taking the lead in organizing several of these conferences, among other endeavors. In this workshop, the aforementioned conferences as well as the Working Group will be further discussed.
The second is a two year old annual conference entitled “The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church,” led by Pastor Rick Warren. It was promoted initially through a partnership of Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, California, the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Orange County and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, California. The initial one-day event was designed to support and encourage individuals living with mental illness, educate family members and equip church leaders to give effective and compassionate care to those faced with the challenges of mental illness. Some of the challenges that will be further addressed include: educating mental health providers on the spiritual concerns of the church; concepts of spiritual growth, spiritual formation and the exploring of spiritual meaning in the suffering of mental illness; the integration of the spiritual dimension into the treatment and healing of mental illness; the scaling of church participation according to resources; specific spiritual beliefs of the church and their alignment or conflict with the medical model of mental illness and brain disease; the influence of church leadership dynamics and unconscious psychodynamics underlying church relationships and their effects on mental health care delivery; and difficulties integrating the general church congregation with the mentally ill congregants.
John Peteet, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Alan Fung, University of Toronto
Thomas Okamoto, private practice
Many individuals with emotional struggles turn first to clergy, but psychiatric conditions are often poorly understood and stigmatized by faith communities. Conversely, many individuals bring to their mental health providers existential and spiritual concerns related to hope, identity, meaning, and morality. Recognizing the historic tensions between mental health and faith communities, in 2014 the leadership of the American Psychiatric Association and the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition convened a broadly representative Steering Committee for an unprecedented Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership (http://www.psychiatry.org/faith). Its principal aims were to establish an ongoing dialogue between psychiatrists and clergy leaders of faith communities, and to identify or develop resources which can equip mental health and faith communities to deal better with their shared concerns. To date, the Partnership has sponsored subsequent presentations at two national meetings, and developed two downloadable resource documents, “Mental Health: A Guide for Faith Leaders”, and “Quick Reference on Mental Health for Faith Leaders.” (a companion to the Guide). The process has served to enhance awareness of existing models for cooperation between mental health and faith communities.
Presenters in this workshop will describe the activities of the Partnership and of two specific projects, as a basis for discussion. The first is the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Conference on Mental Health for Faith Leaders, which was inaugurated in May2015 during the APA annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This conference was conceived based on the recommended future directions from the inaugural Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership Steering Committee Meeting in July2014 - in terms of innovative models for enhancing the mental health and faith community partnership. The main objectives for the conference were to equip local clergy members/faith leaders with the knowledge and skills i) to provide care to those with mental health issues; ii) for faith leaders to attend to their own mental health and well-being. This conference had built upon several similar conferences previously held in Toronto aimed at promoting interprofessional collaborations between mental health and spiritual care professionals, as well as in educating spiritual care professionals about mental health. A grassroots organization, Working Group for the Promotion of Mental Health in Faith Communities, had been formed in Toronto in 2013 and has been taking the lead in organizing several of these conferences, among other endeavors. In this workshop, the aforementioned conferences as well as the Working Group will be further discussed.
The second is a two year old annual conference entitled “The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church,” led by Pastor Rick Warren. It was promoted initially through a partnership of Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, California, the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Orange County and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, California. The initial one-day event was designed to support and encourage individuals living with mental illness, educate family members and equip church leaders to give effective and compassionate care to those faced with the challenges of mental illness. Some of the challenges that will be further addressed include: educating mental health providers on the spiritual concerns of the church; concepts of spiritual growth, spiritual formation and the exploring of spiritual meaning in the suffering of mental illness; the integration of the spiritual dimension into the treatment and healing of mental illness; the scaling of church participation according to resources; specific spiritual beliefs of the church and their alignment or conflict with the medical model of mental illness and brain disease; the influence of church leadership dynamics and unconscious psychodynamics underlying church relationships and their effects on mental health care delivery; and difficulties integrating the general church congregation with the mentally ill congregants.