By Bob Allen
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy described the important role that spirituality played in his own recovery from alcohol and substance abuse at an inaugural gathering of a new collaboration among psychiatrists and clergy July 11 in Arlington, Va.
“My life today is built on a spiritual foundation, living in the sunlight of the spirit,” said Kennedy, son of longtime Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. The younger Kennedy co-sponsored the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act while serving as U.S. Representative from Rhode Island between 1995 and 2011.
The Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership, convened by the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Foundation and the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition, is aimed at fostering a dialogue between two fields, accounting for both medical and spiritual dimensions of mental health care.
“We look forward to the good God will do through this partnership to reduce stigma and improve the quality and accessibility of care for individuals and families living with mental illness,” said Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, one of 40 faith and mental health leaders attending the meeting about what the two professions have to offer each other.
Ramsey-Lucas, managing director of resource development at the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, represents American Baptists on the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition of 33 national religious organizations from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh traditions sponsored by the American Association of People With Disabilities. Its mission is to mobilize the religious community to speak out and take action on disability policy issues.
The partnership announced plans to create new resources to train religious leaders about mental health and substance use disorder issues and for psychiatrists about the role of faith and faith communities in mental health recovery.
“Faith and spirituality can be important sources of hope, healing, belonging and wholeness,” Ramsey-Lucas said in a joint statement with other leaders announcing the partnership in March. “The time is right for professionals in the field of psychiatry and for leaders in the faith community to work more collaboratively and to serve people with mental illnesses in new and powerful ways.”
Long-term plans include bringing together faith and psychiatric leaders across the country to:
• Establish an ongoing dialogue between psychiatrists and clergy.
• Survey organizations and resources that are already active at the intersection of mental health and faith.
• Acknowledge and address the stress and mental health needs of clergy.
• Improve mental health education offered in seminaries and pastoral and continuing education programs.
• Explore ways for medical schools and psychiatric residency training programs to address the importance of faith and spirituality communities as a component of mental health recovery.
“The agenda for this partnership is ambitious but reflects the scope of the challenges we face,” said APA president Paul Summergrad. “There is much to be done to reduce stigma, enhance education about, and address the prevalence of mental illness in our society, so working together is imperative.”
The idea for the partnership began when Summergrad and Ramsey-Lucas met last year at the White House National Conference on Mental Health, hosted by the Obama administration to address gun violence and school shootings.
Ramsey-Lucas said data show that roughly a third of clergy advise individuals with bipolar disorder or other severe and persistent mental illnesses that their condition can be addressed through prayer alone.
“We hope this partnership can help to change some of those statistics and attitudes and help people of faith to be more comfortable in seeking help,” Ramsey-Lucas said.
— With reporting by American Baptist News Service and the American Psychiatric Association.