There’s No Good Health Without Mental Health
Rev. Dr. Rose Hardy, MA, CSW
Senior Pastor Restoration Temple Ministries, NYC
There has been an incredible revelation that the post-pandemic Church had to come to grips with, after the scourge of the Coronavirus in 2020. If church members even elected to come back to the Church, “inside the four walls,” things would never be the same.
If religious leaders were to be truly transparent, they would acknowledge that the relevancy of the Church was already declining prior to the pandemic. Christians were leaving the Church in droves. Men and women were embracing their “spirituality” and rejecting religion as they experienced it. The concept of “church hurt” was at an all time high. Respect and admiration for leadership was facing decline as scandals were exposed. Leaders were falling off the pedestals that their members put them on, if not they themselves. Statistics reflected that over 1,000 Pastors left ministry every month! Flawed Leaders and dysfunctional Churches were a causality of their neglect for their own health and wellness.
The Church would need to decide, as it scrambled to meet the needs of her people, what was relevant? What did the church members need? How could we address the anxieties, depression and trauma triggered by isolation, illness and confusion exacerbated by COVID? If the Church leadership themselves were not managing their emotional needs and wellness, how could they possibly mobilize to help their congregations.
Although many Churches will say that they have come a long way in developing Mental Health and Wellness Ministries, respectfully they have a way to go. In my professional life of over 30 years as a licensed mental health clinician, and 25 years in ministry, I still witness the disconnect of religious leaders recognizing the role that psychotherapy and perhaps pharmacology medications can play in raising the wellness of God’s people. In addition, and just as complicit, the reluctance of health care providers who reject the positive and very real influence religious institutions and leaders can have in steering their flock towards health and wellness. It need not be so problematic. The two must function in a partnership that reflects a commitment to SERVNG their mutual people. There is NO good health without mental health.
There are 5 Dimensions of Being Human that all require our intentional managing. Because if you don’t manage illness, your illness will manage you! Our physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and sexual dimensions all impact our wellness. In reality they overlap and intersect with each other.
From my own perspective, as a licensed mental health provider who also Pastor’s an affirming ministry in NYC, I see the impact of the failure of neglecting one’s human dimensional needs. Each of us must be invested in our physical health and wellness. POC and the LGBTQ community will often allow mistrust of healthcare institutions as a reason to avoid standard preventative health strategies. The stigma of mental health disorders is a significant barrier to individuals accessing healthcare that would prevent further decline. Not living in one’s sexual truth (orientation, gender identity), creates a life that can never feel fully free, authentic and abundant. This is what God wants, that one would live their life abundantly.
As a Pastor and Mental Health Clinician, it is my continual prayer and action plan that religious communities would partner with reputable health care providers, to offer awareness and access to services that are intentionally culturally structured to address the very real emotional needs of people. There are models to this strategy including the NJ MHA PEWS Program (Promoting Mental Health and Spirituality). An initiative that bridges the gap between Churches and Healthcare Providers. The result of rejecting this partnership will be our people making choices that are most frequently self-destructive and impact an already marginalized people disproportionately to have maladjusted health.
There is no good health, without mental health!
