Wholeness in the Midst of Suffering: Integrating and Reimagining Spiritual care in Mental Health
"For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat bread. Through my loud groaning my skin hangs on my bones.
... He (God) will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer."
- Psalm 102:3-5, 17
(Berean Standard Bible)
"Imagine if we treated clinical patients as a whole people first and foremost, and their clinical DSM-related symptoms as secondary ... what many patients need is healthy integration of their 'dark side', not a cordoning off of their strongest potentialities." (1)
As noted in the previous blog, mental suffering often brings "spirituality" to the forefront, prompting deeper questions and doubt. God does not despise this, He turns closer within because the experience can transcend into more meaningful spiritual formation ... transforming - preserving, maintaining (i.e., sanctifying - safety) whole-life.
All this because the Gospel is whole-making, meaning-making ... whole-health, whole-person, whole well-being meaning (lacking nothing, living from fullness).
See/reflect on Spirt, Mind, Body theme
(wholeness, not separate):
1 Cor. 6:19-20
2 Cor. 7:1, 34
1 Thess. 5:23
James 1:4
Integrating, leaning into the spirituality within the struggle.
Notice, even in these scriptures, there is the notion of struggle in our wholeness (mind, body/flesh, spirit). Thus, suffering is not a sign that one is lacking in spirituality but rather that the person is awakening to transcending awareness of God, His love, His guidance—His right-aligning paths and truth that can and will lead to renewed life, resilience, and improving overall mental health (e.g., Psalm 23:3; Psalm 25:12; Is. 30:20-21; John 16:13-15).
Mental health is not just a psychological reworking; it also presents an opportunity to recognize that spirituality can emerge to aid mental health recovery, wellness, and well-being — if we allow it and remain open to it. From all kinds of studies, spirituality accelerates mental health recovery and transformative life renewal.
This spiritual lens is about the belonging love with a benevolent, deeply caring, and present God. This is our “In Christ” union, which is our new constant (position and union), not an earned standing dependent on our belief or faith level (and if the right mood accompanies it). This “in Christ” awareness in mental health is not so much achieving a better version of yourself, your best or highest self, or somehow, “a new you,” but rather the “true you” begins to unfold … more and more awareness of it (peace upon peace, wholeness unfolding).
Imagine if we reinvented discipleship to encompass mental health challenges, instead of merely attempting to avoid them, as feeling inferior and faith-failing because of them. An “In Christ” spirituality that knows how to engage the mental health challenge.
Leading scientists affirm a new whole-person reframing, integrating spirituality that includes dark times, not excluding it.
"Imagine if we were all taught about the depths of joy that are possible. Research shows that clinically depressed and anxious individuals who were given a moral elevation intervention for ten days - observing acts of virtue, generosity, and courage - showed an increased striving to help others, an increased closeness to others, and lower interpersonal conflict and distress symptoms." (2)
"I made a pledge to validate the questions my patients were asking, and to help them do what they were trying to do; not sit in their pain, but build their lives. To navigate doubt and fear, and find a path to resilience and renewal.
... the new research raised ... we are spiritual beings ... spirituality might be a fundamental and necessary part of our human inheritance that contributes to our mental health." (3)
For our resources and groups, we allow the deep questions and doubts, not that we have the answers, but as in the above Psalm, to help them see that's where Jesus is ... where He will take them in those questions (wholeness of life). This is not about replacing mental health pros, but collaborating with them (when needed) to do the deeper therapeutic work and treatment. It’s a “task-sharing” community model.
We reinvented the “support group” model into a discipleship growth experience for mental health. You can, too!
Let us reimagine how we do discipleship ... in the mental health experience.
Joe Padilla | Grace Alliance
(1) Kaufman, S. B. (2020). Transcend: The new science of self-actualization. TarcherPerigee, 229-230
(2) ibid
(3) Miller, L., & Weigand, E. S. (2021). The awakened brain: The new science of spirituality and our quest for an inspired life. Random House, 44-45, 58.
