After taking some post-blogference time off and generally just having a hard week, I’m going to do a two for one book review to things rolling again.
I just finished Counseling for the Soul in Distress by Richard Roukema. This subtitle tells it all – “What every religious counselor should know about emotional and mental illness.”
Roukema provides help for lay counselors and clergy in a church or ministry situation to know how they can come alongside people with emotional or mental illness or disorders. What’s most helpful is that it helps provide a framework for understanding the full range of what kind of illnesses or disorders are out there and what is necessary for healing or treatment. Often, many illnesses and disorders require professional help so it’s helpful for clergy or lay counselors to know when to refer people to trained professionals and when there is something they can do to come alongside others.
The strength of this resource is the descriptions of the various illnesses or disorders as well as a section in each category that is focused on what the clergy can do (or lay counselors). Roukema himself comes from a Protestant background, but he writes more from the perspective of the mental health professional. However, I appreciate the high level of respect he has for clergy and pastors and his convictions that the mental health professions need to show a higher level of regard and respect for those who are helping people within the local church context.
This reminds me of another book I read a couple years back that is also a good resource in this area. It’s called the The Pastor’s Guide to Psychological Disorders and Treatments. There’s a lot of similarity here to the above resource. It might be slightly more clinical in focus than Roukema, but they are both in the same neighborhood.
I’d highly recommend reading one of the two at the least or at least having one on your shelf as you build your familiarity with what kind of things people are dealing with and what role you can play – even if you’re not super skilled or trained. I’m amazed at how a basic familiarity can be helpful so that I’m not paralyzed when I encounter a situation that is out of my league.
If there’s resources out there that you’ve come across that you see as a must in this general arena of coming alongside people with emotional or mental illness or disorders, feel free to leave a comment with the title and author.
