[ad_1]
Catholics struggling with mental illness, and their loved ones who want to help them, will soon have more formal support in the Diocese of Phoenix. Bishop John Dolan has announced the launch of an office dedicated to Catholic mental health services.
Bishop Dolan told CNA Sept. 19, “There are a lot of people who are meeting their loved ones. This is a quiet charity, and obviously everyone needs the help they can get.
The bishop hopes the new office “will let people know they are not alone when it comes to mental health.” He stressed the need to help people talk and communicate about mental illness.
Bishop Dolan assumed office on September 4 at St. As the “Memorial Mass” was prepared for the victims of the Simon and Jude Cathedral suicides, the diocesan newspaper The Catholic Sun He reported.
During the Mass, the bishop led the procession of priests. Together with others in the congregation, they placed carnations in a basket in front of the chapel at the cathedral. Each body represents a person who died by suicide. The diocese asked for the names of those who committed suicide to be remembered during the liturgy and received more than 1,200.
The matter is personal to the new bishop. In a video message on the diocese’s YouTube channel, titled “Sharing My Story: A Life Changed by Suicide,” Bishop Dolan told how his family lost an older brother, sister and wife to suicide.
“Losing someone you love is very, very difficult. It is doubly difficult when we lose a loved one to homicide,” Bishop Dolan said in the video. “I had support from the church, but not ongoing support, real opportunities to continue talking about it. I was so buried that I didn’t want to grow up when I should have.
Bishop Dolan, who was ordained bishop of Phoenix on Aug. 2, co-edited the pastoral handbook, “Responding to Suicide.”
Mental illness is relatively common. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, as of 2020, nearly one in five American adults—about 53 million people—will be living with a mental illness. An estimated 14.2 million American adults – 5.6% of the adult population – suffer from a serious mental illness. Of these, only 65 percent received mental-health treatment in the past year.
A proposed focus of the Office of Catholic Mental Health Ministries includes mental-health education for clergy and laity. The office aims to provide opportunities for Catholics to accompany friends and loved ones struggling with mental illness and find support.
Bishop Dolan said the new office would give priests a “first aid kit” for mental health.
The educational aspect is aimed at helping priests and religious to learn more about mental health and receive basic training “so they don’t jump to conclusions and over-spiritual behavior,” Bishop Dolan said. This educational effort should help teach clergy to “take a broader view of what mental health is” and not “try to solve the problems themselves.”
Education comes through the National Council on Mental Safety. In the year Founded in 1969, the Council is an advocacy and educational group representing more than 3,100 mental-health and substance abuse treatment organizations.
“Basically, they try to teach you what to expect and what to look for,” Bishop Dolan said. “It is strictly clinical in education; it does not focus on spiritual things.” Although spiritual help is certainly helpful in such crises.
The organization’s Mental Health First Aid program has trained more than 2.6 million people in the U.S. to “recognize, understand and respond to mental health symptoms and substance abuse challenges.” The training includes common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and substance abuse challenges, how to communicate with someone in crisis, and how to connect someone with help. It also includes content on trauma, substance use, and self-care.
Psychological science has a role in Catholic thought and practice, Bishop Dolan said.
“We see the science of psychology and psychiatry as a precious gift to humanity. We must not shy away from it,” he told CNA.
The purpose is not to increase the burden on the priests. Instead, they will have a resource to guide those in need. Bishop Dolan aims to provide places in the diocese’s 15 deaneries for people suffering from mental health problems, behavioral problems, trauma or bereavement.
Bishop Dolan said he does not yet know the details of how the diocese’s current seminaries are being prepared.
Speaking about seminaries in general, he says, “counseling can be an aspect of their training,” adding that future priests receive only “small samples” unless they take up the subject at their university or seminary.
2016 document from Decaster for Rev The basic reason He talks about the creation of seminars. He notes that the “useful contribution” of psychology to seminaries in pastoral theology is useful as a future pastoral.
The Catholic Ministry of Mental Health will have an advocacy role. Seeks to improve government policy and increase funding for mental health. Bishop Dolan said this “helps ensure that mental health is at the forefront of all our conversations, especially as we see people on the streets with mental health disorders”.
According to Bishop, there are “many reasons” why some homeless people live on the streets, including trauma, mental illness or substance use disorders. He added that experiencing homelessness causes additional stress and mental problems.
The office, which will open in January 2023, has funding from the Phoenix-based Virginia G. Pepper Charitable Trust. In charge of organizing the new office are Anne Vargas Leveriza, a member of the diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection, and Maria Chavira, diocesan administrator.
Bishop Dolan, the former auxiliary bishop of San Diego, announced Catholic statements such as the 2018 letter from the California bishops on caring for those suffering from mental health.
Catholic dioceses in San Diego, San Francisco and Orange, Calif., said they often work with other diocesan departments to address mental health issues. He cited the work of the Catholic Mental Health Institute at the University of San Diego to train mental health service leaders at the diocesan and parish levels across the United States.
[ad_2]
Source link
