Mental Health and the Church: A Ministry Handbook For Including Families Impacted By Mental Illness

:The church across North America does a weak job of welcoming and including families of children, teens, and adults with common mental health conditions or trauma. One obstacle is the absence of a widely accepted model for mental health inclusion ministries for kids, teens, adults, and their families.

In Mental Health and the Church, Dr. Stephen Grcevich seeks to put forth a model for a mental health/trauma inclusion ministry of sufficient flexibility to be implemented by churches of all sizes, denominations, and organizational styles. This model is based upon an understanding of seven barriers that families of kids, teens, and adults with common mental health conditions face if they seek to regularly attend a local church: ADHD, anxiety disorders, attachment disorders, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and difficulties with social communication/interaction. The model includes seven broad inclusion strategies for helping persons with common mental health conditions and their families to overcome barriers to active engagement in the full range of ministries offered by the local church.