Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Faith-Based

[slynchpin]

I am investigating starting a CBT group in my (Christian) church, starting with individuals dealing with depression. I have basic resources such as "Mind Over Mood" and "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy".

I am looking for resources that may incorporate a faith approach to CBT. I don't know if any even exist.

I am also looking for advice on how to structure such a program.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

What has one to do with the other?

I don't see CBT as incompatible with any mainstream religious doctrine but I also don't know what you'd gain by trying to merge the two.

How would you see such a program working?

 

[icthus]

Hi slynchpin,

I think David is on point as a start. In the absence of your response to his questions as of this writing, I can only ask whether you have perused (1) Christian Counseling at Meier Clinics for individuals, couples and families to meet all your mental health care. (sorry, I can't seem to get that link to behave) or (2) theminirthclinic.com or, for example, Gary Collins books (e.g., at http://www.christianbook.com ). It is probably safe to assume attempts have been made at Christianity-CBT integration somewhere in those resources.

And are you targeting certain emotion-related problems prevalent at your church (e.g., fear, depression), a certain age group or demographic-slice problems (e.g., single moms or "60 and above"), unemployment, drugs, debt, community trauma ... a limited cluster of issues? You need not answer that here, but narrowing your focus may ease your search a bit.

 

[slynchpin]

Hi slynchpin,

I think David is on point as a start. In the absence of your response to his questions as of this writing, I can only ask whether you have perused (1) Christian Counseling at Meier Clinics for individuals, couples and families to meet all your mental health care. (sorry, I can't seem to get that link to behave) or (2) theminirthclinic.com or, for example, Gary Collins books (e.g., at http://www.christianbook.com ). It is probably safe to assume attempts have been made at Christianity-CBT integration somewhere in those resources.

And are you targeting certain emotion-related problems prevalent at your church (e.g., fear, depression), a certain age group or demographic-slice problems (e.g., single moms or "60 and above"), unemployment, drugs, debt, community trauma ... a limited cluster of issues? You need not answer that here, but narrowing your focus may ease your search a bit.

First of all, thank you for replying to my query with resource suggestions. I am heading to a Christian bookstore today to check out Gary Collins’ books. The Minerth clinic website advertises many self-help workbooks, but none focused on CBT. I checked out the link to the Meier Clinics (the link worked, by the way) and the first thing that struck me from their Christian counseling page was the following:

"Meier Clinics' counselors and doctors know that complete healing can only take place when all aspects of a person's life are addressed. We provide personally designed care to treat the entire person - emotionally, physically, and spiritually."

So, respectfully, I disagree with you and David. I think it is very important to merge treatment of emotional issues with spiritual ones, as well as physical health, because one often affects another, and all contribute to individual wholeness.

I am brand-new to forum use. I had actually composed a detailed reply to David several days ago, and then lost the entire thing when I pressed the wrong button to transmit my reply! If my posting is not appropriate for forum use, please let me know.

I am not a counseling practitioner, but simply a university-educated individual who has battled treatment-resistant major depressive disorder for many years. I have lost the last five years of my life to the battle, having been unable to work and often unable to even to function in my own home. Yet I was never considered "sick enough" to be hospitalized nor, as a result, to qualify for any disability support - not even a disability tax credit! I know the limitations of the Ontario health system to tackle mental health issues, the long wait times and the limited scope of available treatments for those who cannot afford private care. Two years ago, I was fortunate to be accepted into a clinical trial at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I have yet to achieve a sustained remission longer than two months, but I have hope for the future.

Along my journey, I have learned a lot about mental illness and have experienced positive results using CBT, but only after reaching a certain level of stability with drug therapy.

Any mental illness stigma that exists with the general public and in industry is often even more pronounced in the Christian evangelical community. Those in church leadership usually have no practical training in applying tools such as CBT; indeed, many do not want to talk about mental health issues at all, proclaiming, "There must be something wrong with your faith if you are depressed." It's kind of like shooting the wounded.

But I have persevered in sharing my mental health journey with others, and my openness has encouraged many to reveal their own struggles. In my mind, hurting people looking for answers/solutions in a church setting should be able to find them. The church needs to step up to the plate.

My desire now is to prepare a proposal for presentation to my church leadership for a weekly, confidential, faith-based CBT group, initially for those dealing with depression, to be sponsored, with resources provided, by the church. The goal would be to provide this support as an on-going ministry, free of charge.

I envision a curriculum that includes prayer, education about all types of mental illness, biblical “heroes” who experienced depression/anxiety, assessment tools, the need for professional assessment, the range of treatment options, the CBT process, weekly practice using the CBT tools, more prayer, encouragement, and possible a break to take a 15-min walk together. Practical help, where needed, would also be provided outside the weekly group time.

In time, I hope to be well enough to facilitate this group myself.

Any encouragement for my endeavour, cautions, and suggestions for further resources would be appreciated.

 

[icthus]

Hi slynchpin,

Congratulations on your progress (and courage!) to date in a difficult and ongoing battle.

Compared to the long heritage of the church, the modern psychology and psychiatry movement is a thing of yesterday, though by now it has progressed much even in recent decades--enough in other words that by now Christian colleges have awarded degrees in the arena and Christian professors and practitioners have written papers and books from a Christian perspective. But expertise in psychology--in understanding and treating severe and prolonged depression in particular here--is probably uncommon in the church as in the population at large.

Unfortunately (as you have already related), many will be unable to relate to your experience, having little common ground or thought exercised in such directions, or they may lack sufficient theological acumen (e.g., on suffering and God--theodicy) to address it as wisely as Christ would. Such persons may comment on your experiences in ways that are ... less than helpful. Some pastors and certain educated lay members (as you have found, not all) may may be somewhat better equipped even if their background does not focus on such counseling as you seek. A few will be professionally equipped for just what you need (and on that note, I just googled and discovered Find Christian Counselor by typing in "Christian counselor cbt" to the query box).

Much as I may agree, in other words, that the church ought to play a role in supporting you and those of extraordinary needs, yet the church is largely comprised of people who are themselves facing their own troubles or are simply ill equipped to help you much. Beware of putting angry demands on volunteer labor or giving. Nonetheless, there may be simple and helpful tasks such persons may perform to help you--a friendly "hello," a walk in the park, a meal together, praying together, and the little things that may play a part in managing depression.

Little bits added together may help in their own way. I believe in other words, as you wrote, "it is very important to merge treatment of emotional issues with spiritual ones, as well as physical health, because one often affects another, and all contribute to individual wholeness." I did not take David's questions as rhetorical, so he may agree in principle too.

The fewer better equipped souls may be able to help further. And Christian universities and publishing houses may have further resources (e.g., Resources for Christian Counseling published by Word Books is a 30 volume set, though it may be out of print). Have you tried going to christianbook.com and typing in "depression" into the search box on the site? Or your pastor or lay leader may know of a go-to person in your area, though I suspect you have already asked such questions.

I also agree that prayer and a look at the lives of suffering saints may help--David in the Psalms, Job, Paul--and I think of depression-fighting William Cowper, the hymn-writing compatriot of John Newton in the 18th century. Maybe a biography. I myself have been helped by How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Evil and Suffering (D.A. Carson), and I like the bits I have read by Mark Talbot, a prof at Wheaton College. Though I don't remember if either address depression itself in any depth, I think their writings may help you at least in related areas. Snooping around in Google Scholar for articles may also be of service to you by experimenting with queries (in quotes or without, adding "+" or "-" for example).

Finally, I think your proposal to start a self-help group in church is on target, especially if you have a small core of mutually trusting persons for mutual encouragement and accountability to shoulder the leadership load. God be with you!

 

[gardens]

I like the idea of your group, but I would hope that a trained professional in CBT would be facilitating the group. I have a personal experience with the stigma you talked about within the church. I was told that if people had more faith there would not be the amount of depression you see today. That stung and that stuck.
More Catholic guilt to deal with .

 

[Banned]

Hi slynchpin,

i used to be very involved in my church and even had two parish priests who were psychologists. A starting point may be to find someone in your congregation with professional experience who might be interested in exploring this with you and perhaps donate their time or charge a small fee for the counselling side of this. You may be a key person to coordinate the group. I wish I still had my resource in Ottawa to hook you up with as he was my priest and therapist. Unfortunately he has left the church but he would have been an excellent resource as he has also battled severe depression his whole life.

i would be interested to see what kind of shape this takes in the future.

 

[slynchpin]

I like the idea of your group, but I would hope that a trained professional in CBT would be facilitating the group. I have a personal experience with the stigma you talked about within the church. I was told that if people had more faith there would not be the amount of depression you see today. That stung and that stuck.
More Catholic guilt to deal with .

Yes, I have the Catholic guilt syndrome, too - now I go to a Baptist church instead, but still run into the stigma. I tried to interest a pastoral counselor with ties to my church - I even loaned him my resource books - but he was not interested in learning about CBT and applying it in his practice.

---------- Post Merged at 01:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:11 PM ----------

Hi slynchpin,

i used to be very involved in my church and even had two parish priests who were psychologists. A starting point may be to find someone in your congregation with professional experience who might be interested in exploring this with you and perhaps donate their time or charge a small fee for the counselling side of this. You may be a key person to coordinate the group. I wish I still had my resource in Ottawa to hook you up with as he was my priest and therapist. Unfortunately he has left the church but he would have been an excellent resource as he has also battled severe depression his whole life.

i would be interested to see what kind of shape this takes in the future.

At this point, I have not been able to find someone in my church with professional experience in facilitating CBT.
I have been liaising with our Small Groups Coordinator, who has many contacts in the community, and has promised to widen the search for me. I'll keep posting my progress.

---------- Post Merged at 01:18 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:11 PM ----------

Thanks for the additional ideas & resources. I think these will keep me busy for a while! I'll let you know how I progress.