Helping you and the whole church family understand, nurture and support those with mental-health conditions.
Many people are struggling with mental-health conditions, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and life in our image-conscious culture. Statistics tell us that, worldwide, one in six of us will have experienced a mental-health struggle in the past week, and serious depression is the second-leading cause of disability (Mental Health Foundation).
That means there are brothers and sisters in our church families battling with thoughts, feelings, impulses, and even voices that distract, drag down, and nudge them towards despair. But when it comes to helping, it can be tricky to know where to begin, especially if we have very little knowledge of mental illnesses and are afraid of making things worse by saying and doing the wrong things.
This wise, compassionate, and practical book is written by Steve Midgley, who worked in psychiatry and then as a pastor and is now Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK, and Helen Thorne, Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. It will help readers understand and respond with biblical wisdom to people who are struggling with their mental health.
While acknowledging the importance of liaising responsibly with medics and counsellors, this book focuses on equipping readers to play their part in making churches places where those who struggle with mental-health conditions are welcomed, understood, nurtured, and supported: a foretaste of the new creation.
This is a useful book for anyone who cares for others pastorally: pastors, elders, small-group leaders, and congregation members.
Introduction
PART 1: Understanding Mental-Health Struggles
1. Life in the Local Church
2. What’s in a Diagnosis?
3. Medication
4. Talking Therapies
5. Towards a Biblical Understanding of Mental Illness
PART 2: Responding to Mental-Health Struggles
6. The Call to Raise Awareness
7. The Call to Relate
8. The Call to Root
9. The Call to Refine
10. The Call to Resource
PART 3: Common Mental-Health Struggles
11. Depression
12. Anxiety
13. Psychosis
14. Addictions
Contributors | Steve Midgley, Helen Thorne–Allenson, William Merryn-Hill |
---|---|
ISBN | 9781646897865 |
Format | Audiobook |
First published | March 2023 |
Language | English |
Publisher | The Good Book Company |