Clergy as a frontline mental health service: a UK survey of medical practitioners and clergy

A Pilot Survey of Clergy Regarding Mental Health Care for Children

Collaborations between healthcare and faith-based organizations have emerged in the drive to improve access to care. Little research has examined clergy views on collaborations in the provision of mental healthcare, particularly to children. The current paper reports survey responses of 25 clergy from diverse religious traditions concerning mental health care in children. Subjects queried inclu...

Challenges to sanctuary: the clergy as a resource for mental health care in the community.

The transfer of psychiatric care from the institution to the community has presented community structures including faith-based organisations (FBOs) with an additional burden of care. In recent years there has been an increasing policy interest among government departments, public and non-statutory agencies for the inclusion of FBOs as partners in health and welfare services. However, despite t...

Medical clergy: square pegs in holy holes?

Clergy Formation

Seminary educators must negotiate two often disparate expectations in the formation of an ethical professional identity among their students. The first expectation runs deep in the traditions of professional education. It emphasizes the development of expertise—especially the expertise of critical reflection. This leads seminary educators to focus attention on developing among their students ca...

Posttraumatic stress, mental health professionals, and the clergy: a need for collaboration, training, and research.

This article addresses the need for improved clergy-mental health professional collaboration in the assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Tens of millions of North Americans with personal problems seek the counsel of clergy. There is an absence of research on the function of clergy as helpers with the traumatized and on the psychological dynamics of religious coping ...