“I appreciated everyone’s insight and honest comments. I thought many of the heartfelt conversations revealed a real need for open dialogue. I wonder how much of that would have occurred in a face-to-face meeting.”

—Rev. Bruce Frogge, pastor

One in five people in the United States have or will have mental illness sometime in their life. More than five million people in the United States alone suffer from serious chronic mental illness. Through an interdisciplinary approach integrating spirituality and mental health, this seminar will enable professional care givers from the religious, medical, therapeutic, and social work communities to better recognize and work with the diverse needs of those who suffer from mental illness and the needs of those who are close to them.

Through peer group dialogue around the following three presentations (one per week), seminar participants will be exploring the ramifications of spirituality and mental illness in a unique opportunity to learn from one another as well as from the presented papers.

Presentations (one per week):

• "The Problem of Dualism in Mental Health/Mental Illness: A Need for a Paradigm Shift" by William E. Amos, Ph.D., and Rebecca Valla, M.D.

• "The Strength to be Human: A Theology of Mental Health" by John Swinton, Ph.D.

• "Spirituality in Mental Health Care Practices"
  by John Swinton, Ph.D.

1. Identify their own spiritual/theological perspectives regarding human dignity, values, and mental health.
2. Recognize the dualisms that have developed between mental health and mental illness and articulate an incarnational paradigm for mental health.
3. Develop care giving/ministry approaches that are relational, reflect understanding of the experience of mental illness, and include mental health in a holistic paradigm.
4. Distinguish the difference between explaining the dynamics of mental illness and understanding the human experience of it within the context of persons and families.
   

Registration: