What I do and Not Do

I am having a lot of good conversations with people who want to see their families and church grow and prosper. However, a good bit of my time is spent trying to clarify what we are not doing as well as what we are trying to do.

We are not promoting Psychotherapy for Mental Illness. I am not even sure that the term "Mental Illness" is used correctly most of the time. For example, in the TED video I mentioned in an earlier post by Dr. Vikram Patel he uses statistics indicating that 400 million people have a Mental Illness. In my opinion that is a misunderstanding or exaggeration.

I am not suggesting that Dr. Patel is lying. Unfortunately, these are the terms used by much of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology talk about mental, emotional, relational stress and distress. However, those statistics include every person in the world that suffers from a severe sad grief reaction lasting over a couple of weeks. If my wife dies before I do I can guarantee that I will not be over my grief earlier than two weeks However, I am not now and and would NOT then be mentally ill!

The "Disease Model" practiced by some looks at every issue and concern as an illness. I do not follow that model.  Although I was at one time a Licensed Clinical Counselor I do not follow that model. We often see people respond to shock, loss and trauma with deep emotions and ongoing grief. That does not indicate they are mentally ill.

We follow an Asset Based Coaching Model that looks for the strengths and stresses of people before a crisis and tries to help them figure out how to respond to the hard knocks of life.

Some people may have deeply traumatized inner lives that need healing and therapy. This is not more than 2-5% of our population. Their brains may have suffered from a birth defect or childhood trauma and need medical assistance. However, every human needs love, acceptance and encouragement plus skills training on how to live freely in Christ.  We all need to learn how to abide in Christ by renewing our minds and resting in God's love. We all have bad habits and wounded souls and Jesus is the Great Physician.

We approach the world as educators and facilitator of healthy relationships. The best way to facilitate growth is by developing communities of mutual care. We need to teach everyone the skills of renewed thinking and living with each other in grace and peace. In Ephesians 4:11 and following it is called "Equipping God's people to serve each other until the entire community of believers work together like a well trained athlete's body".   

Get the book Healing Release of the Holy Spirit to read a deeper explanation of these ideas.