Does The Need For Psychiatric Care Cancel Our Our Faith In God?
Many people feel shame, fear, confusion, and spiritual distress when facing the need for mental health support. In our modern culture, it is easy to believe you have failed in successfully living out faith in God and His ability to heal what is commonly known as "soul wounds." However...
7/14/20262 min read
Some Bible believers have been deeply shamed when frequent episodes of escalated emotional pain intruded upon and negatively impacted daily living. There are many people who love God, believe His Word, and want to walk by faith — yet still find themselves needing behavioral health care, counseling, crisis support, or recovery help.
My own recovery journey forced me to come to grips with my own beliefs about this issue. My featured image is an upscaled version of what I created during the early days of my deep dive into facing my critically injured emotional state.
After many years of behavioral health care, I have learned that mental health care does not have to stand in opposition to our faith in God. For many, therapy can become part of the healing journey — a place where truth, compassion, safety, wisdom, and God’s grace meets us in the wounded places we have been afraid to face.
This post is written especially for mental health consumers, family members, and faith leaders who want to better understand how shame can keep hurting people from reaching out for help when their emotions are out of control and out of context with present day realities.
With better education, Christian communities can respond with mercy instead of judgment about mental health care for those whose hearts are in desperate need of love, support, and realistic strategies that help facilitate healing and recovery.
The problem is, the denominational structure of "the church" is riddled with religious prejudices that often cause more harm than good when it comes to behavioral health support, and is the reason many people will NOT turn to a faith based recovery provider during mental health crises.
Sadly, the same can be said of social services and private counseling providers. Finding a reputable provider can be a nightmare in itself, so the hope of finding answers for mental health needs can be a challenge that feels bigger than the actual mental health crisis itself.
The options for finding effective behavioral health care is a tremendous challenge, and even more so when it involves the often complex nuances of a person's religious beliefs.
Where I Turned For Help
Prayer, First and Foremost!
Churches
Crisis Stabilization Units, (CSU's)
Psychiatric Hospitals
Faith Based Counseling
Many conversations with individuals who had experienced similar challenges
Internet Research
I discovered Maslow's Hierarchy in the early stages of my journey, and am grateful for the way that knowledge helped me begin to untangle my very chaotic train of thought. I invite you to visit again soon, as I begin to share those details...
Until my next post, those who are on your own emotional healing journey are in my thoughts and prayers,
With much love,
Connie, Clara, and the rest of my Armchair Adventure Team
My goal is to post bi-weekly on Tuesdays... so, my prayer is that I can do so consistently!!!
Where Should We Take Our Wounded Spirits?
My Original Art Project
Behavioral Health Care
How I Looked Into It
