We live in a broken world, beset with overwhelming problems: disease, pain, death, sorrow, sin and mental illness--clinical depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, and panic attacks. Our culture assumes people diagnosed with mental illness are stuck, doomed to struggle for the rest of their lives against a problem without ever experiencing real and lasting change. As Christians we know better. The world is broken, but God has invaded that world with the power, light, and hope of his Son Jesus Christ. Whether you're tormented with panic attacks or thinking of committing suicide, Jesus can help.

Is it possible to develop such a thing as a biblical theology of mental health? How might we develop a helpful and pastoral use of scripture to explore questions of mental health within a Christian framework? This timely and important book integrates the highest levels of biblical scholarship with theological and pastoral concerns to consider how we use scripture when dealing with mental health issues.

How do Christians in the twenty-first century understand psychological disorders? What does Scripture have to teach us about these conditions? Marcia Webb examines attitudes about psychological disorder in the church today, and compares them to the scriptural testimony. She offers theological and psychological insights to help contemporary Christians integrate biblical perspectives with current scientific knowledge about mental illness.

Mental illness is often misunderstood; Christians with mental illness even more so. Various myths and erroneous mindsets often hinder the Gospel Community from being effective in supporting those with mental illness. This book speaks to and sheds light on mental illness in three ways. Following a theological overview from Leow Wen Pin, it first presents stories from Christians who have mental illness. Their honest accounts provide a glimpse into the realities of their suffering, the words that have helped them (and the ones that haven’t), and the glimmer of hope that they find in Christ. Second, it offers testimonies from those who are caregivers of loved ones with mental illness. Their words give insight into the realities of their journey, the real questions they have for God, and, mostly, the heart that they have for those they are caring for. Third, it provides perspectives from pastors who have either struggled with mental illness or who are actively providing life-giving communities in their churches for those who do. Their practical and loving advice offers stepping stones that can guide the Gospel community into becoming a safe place for those with mental illness. This nuanced book is a necessary read for anyone who wants to catch God’s heart for the mentally ill.

Everything that’s taught in seminary . . . all in one place! Maybe you’re involved in ministry but you never had the chance to go to seminary. Maybe it was many years ago and you need a refresher. Or maybe you just graduated and you don’t want to forget it all. If any of these descriptions fits you, One Volume Seminary is the resource you need. This book is written by former and current faculty of Moody Bible Institute and Moody Theological Seminary. Editors Michael Boyle, Laurie Norris, and Kerwin Rodriguez combine their years of pastoral wisdom, one-on-one counseling, high-level scholarship, and savvy street-smarts from the church’s frontlines to offer you a one-stop-shop for ministry training. One Volume Seminary provides sixty essays with practical advice for every aspect of church life—always grounded in the Word of God—under six main headings: Doctrinal Basics General Ministry to the Local Church Special Situations in Ministry Ministry to the World Proclaiming the Word in Worship and Preaching Practical Church Skills From baptizing a convert to balancing a budget . . . from preaching the Word to premarital counseling . . . from soteriology to spiritual warfare . . . from the Trinity to the teenager . . . this book covers it all. Though a seminary education is irreplaceable, One Volume Seminary is the next best thing to give you the training and equipping you need to succeed in ministry.

Mental health social workers work within multidisciplinary teams, often based in health settings. The variety of services they work within are shaped by mental health policy that is increasingly being influenced by research evidence of ′what works′. This fully-revised second edition has a new chapter on systematic reviews and greater coverage of the impact of the 2007 amendment to Mental Health Act 1983 on mental health practitioners and services.

Circuit Riders for Mental Health explores for the first time the transformation of popular understandings of mental health, the reform of scandal-ridden hospitals and institutions, the emergence of community mental health services, and the extension of mental health services to minority populations around the state of Texas. Author William S. Bush focuses especially on the years between 1940 and 1980 to demonstrate the dramatic, though sometimes halting and conflicted, progress made in Texas to provide mental health services to its people over the second half of the twentieth century. At the story’s center is the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, a private-public philanthropic organization housed at the University of Texas. For the first three decades of its existence, the Hogg Foundation was the state’s leading source of public information, policy reform, and professional education in mental health. Its staff and allies throughout the state described themselves as “circuit riders” as they traveled around Texas to introduce urban and rural audiences to the concept of mental health, provide consultation for all manner of social services, and sometimes intervene in thorny issues surrounding race, ethnicity, gender, class, region, and social and cultural change.