Mental Health Working Team
MENTAL HEALTH WORKING TEAM
Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 October 2012 12:39
Mental Health Working Team
The Mental Health Working Team first met in February 2010. It is accountable to the Faith and Justice Board. Its membership is made up of Board members but also from other churches. It includes the lead mental health chaplains for the RDaSH and SHSC NHS Foundation Trusts.
It has the following objectives.
- To identify ways in which the capacity of churches to support and value people with mental health difficulties can be increased.
- To build relationships between healthcare trusts and faith communities.
- To engage with the anti-stigma agenda as it relates to mental health issues.
- To review the work periodically and to report back to the Diocese of Sheffield Faith and Justice Board in accordance with its Constitution and Terms of Reference.
- To contribute to the churches’ understanding of what distress and mental ill health is and of ways in which mental health and wellbeing can be improved with a particular emphasis on spirituality.
- To identify and draw on best practice.
- To work within the Diocese of Sheffield and with ecumenical, other faith, and secular partners towards the furtherance of these aims.
If you are interested in finding our more or possibly becoming involved, please contact in the first instance
Revd Julian Raffay
Chaplain Team Leader
Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Department
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Longley Centre
Norwood Grange Drive
Sheffield
S5 7JT
Email:
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Tel: 0114 22 61675
Web: www.shsc.nhs.uk or the chaplaincy website www.shsc.nhs.uk/our-services/chap-spiritual-care
WHERE IS FAITH IN MENTAL HEALTH?
Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 13:01
WHERE IS FAITH IN MENTAL HEALTH by PREMIER MIND AND SOUL
Conference report by Mrs Dorothy Cook, a member of the Mental Health Working Team
This was the title of an interesting day conference I attended in October 2010 and I want to give you a brief outline of the main speeches.
The first one was by Kate Middleton - no, not the one who is getting married to Prince William! This Kate is a psychologist who works in a church in Hertfordshire and her passion is about applying psychology to real life, enabling people to reach their full potential. She asked us if we aspired to be like Spok in Startrek, who is famous for not having emotions and then went on to explain how allowing our emotions to be seen is essential for a stable, fulfilled life. She compared a life with bottled up emotions to the time when a cat has to be put into a cage for a trip to the vet - what a lot of hissing, scratching and screeching when s/he is let out. She confirmed that it is OK to be angry, sad or glad and very important to share with someone instead of keeping such things bottled up.
I personally find 'self-harm' a difficult thing to understand, but Jonathan Clark, a social worker and Christian minister led a session where he helped us to explore the causes (a build-up of tension) and effects (pain releases 'endorphins', the feel-good hormone) which then becomes addictive. He also told us that statistics show the vast majority of self-harmers do not wish to end their lives and would dearly love to find a better way to ease their tension, but fear condemnation if they own up to it.
Other topics included; Things to do in a Pastoral Crisis, Spirituality and Mental Health, Christian Counselling, Eating Disorders, Integrating Faith and Mental Healthcare and Dementia.
The final speaker was Greta Randle who spoke about The Challenge of Forgiveness and in her talk she gave us the reasons why we must forgive those who do us wrong. She has written at least one book on the subject and I think that as Christians, we are all aware of the importance of this. Gradually as Greta spoke, we became aware she had suffered much in her life and wanted to pass on to us the freedom that being able to forgive has given to her personally.
Visit website, www.mindandsoul.info
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