Library
a Part of the MHM Resource Center

The following resources can help faith communities promote mental health and wellness, as well as reduce the risk of suicide among their members and in their greater communities. The Faith Communities Task Force encourages you to become familiar with these resources and use them in any way possible.

Faith communities are a natural setting for suicide prevention. People who are religious tend to have greater moral objections to suicide.

Judaism teaches that how people are born and how they die are in God’s hands. Life belongs to God, not to the individual. It is a gift to be treasured. Taking one’s own life is viewed as a serious violation of one’s responsibility to God and society.

Pathways to Hope is a FREE conference bringing together mental health professionals, social workers, educators, the judicial system, law enforcement, faith community leaders, caregivers, and individuals living with a diagnosis to help improve the mental health care system.

How the church can help people with mental illness by Tricia Brown

A short video with Dr. George Williams, that discusses African American Psychologists in honor of Black History Month

One in four families sitting in the pews has a member dealing with mental illness. Yet our religious communities are often silent when it comes to understanding mental disorders as treatable illnesses.

Grief is hard. It doesn’t magically resolve with time but simply goes underground. We heal only by doing the hard work of healing. The good news is that you don’t have to do this — any of this — alone.

Religious Resources for Healing. Examining the relationship between religion and mental health, offering research-based recommendations for new programs. It details how religious organizations provide mental health services and includes resources for faith communities.

In this article Craig Rennebohm, M.Div. writes about how symptoms of a mental illness can greatly reduce an individual’s capacity to communicate and connect. Stigma can diminish our capacity as family, friends and neighbors to reach out. Yet we have this calling to welcome the stranger, to engage the outcast, and to help each other heal and become whole.

International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF), formerly known as California Bipolar Foundation, was founded in June 2007 in San Diego, California by four parents with children affected by bipolar disorder. Well aware of the trauma that bipolar disorder can cause for those living with the illness and their families, these parents felt compelled to do something constructive to help.

A quarterly resource newsletter that provides resources to erase the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities and create caring congregations for persons living with mental health challenges and their families.

When our body has an overactive stress response, there are tools and treatments that can help us to combat the worry, fear, and panic.

In a beautifully written, compelling, personal, and deeply spiritual narrative of mental health recovery.

Ministry in Times of Crisis

This document is based on the pioneering work done by the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Boulder, Colorado

Creating Community Connections for Mental Health

A Guide for Faith Leaders. The Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership was created to foster dialogue between psychiatrists and faith leaders. This guide is a product of the Partnership.

A step by step guide to putting on a successful conference with conference schedule options

Gender inequality has a profound effect on mental health worldwide. Some of the psychological effects of gender inequality include higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and (PTSD) in women and people of marginalized genders.

A quarterly resource newsletter that provides resources to erase the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities and create caring congregations for persons living with mental health challenges and their families.

Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based, early-intervention course that teaches participants about mental health and substance use challenges.

However, we don’t know what we don’t know. After my breakdown, I began to understand more about depression.

A meditation and prayer companion for Christians who struggle with depression.

A short video with Dr. George Williams, that discusses Parent Child Mental Disorder