In the U.S. the first week of October is Mental Illness Awareness Week, established in 1990 due to the increase of mental illness.  Tuesday of that week is the National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Awareness Recovery and Understanding. 

So I ask: 

How much do you understand about mental illness? 

How much is physiological? (i.e., chemical imbalance)

How much is psychological?   (i.e., faulty belief system)

How much is emotional?  (i.e., reaction to trauma, loss, abuse, etc.)

How much is sociological?  (i.e., conditioning, environmental)

How much is spiritual?  (i.e., result of a hardened heart, sin, or spiritual warfare)

I’m not sure that we can always know the answers to those questions which supports the need to minister to the whole person.  God made us with a body, mind, will, emotions, and a spirit and He made us a relational being.  All these areas weave together and can affect each other.

If you don’t fully understand mental health issues and don’t know how to come along side of people with mental illness, just treat them as whole people:

Physiological:  Encourage them to get regular physical check-ups, to eat well, exercise, and get enough sleep.

Psychological:  Help them work through faulty beliefs.

Emotional:  Comfort, support, and encourage.

Sociological:  Point the person to the power of God to break cycles.

Spiritual:  Pray for them.  Engage in a discipleship process.  Share God’s Word with them.

Just as you might not fully understand a person’s physical health issues, so you might not  be able to get a good grip on mental health issues.  That doesn’t mean you avoid them.  You still love them, accept them, and come along side as you are able.  You treat them as whole people made in the image of God and loved by Him.   You view them with value as you would any other human being.

When I worked as DCE of a church, I developed many of the activities for our Wednesday evening children’s classes.  I remember doing a session on Psalm 139:14.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

They made outlines of themselves on a long roll of butcher paper cut to their size.  Then they drew hair, facial features, clothes, etc. to make it look like themselves.  They used these outlines in a variety of ways to drive home the truth and ultimately got to hang them on the wall as a reminder.  They only scratched the surface, however, of the truth of Psalm 139:14.

Here is a video excerpt of a message by Louie Giglio for us adults to get a little deeper into just how wonderfully we are made.  Be sure to watch, and not just listen, to the end.  If you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, can watch this video and not go away praising the Lord, I’m not sure what will convince you of how wonderfully and fearfully you are made.

What a wonderful illustration of how we are wonderfully made that also demonstrates spiritual realities of how God is able to hold us together even in the darkest of circumstances!  What does it stir up within you? … comfort?  hope? encouragement? … don’t forget praise!

As children and teenagers head back to school, as well as young people to college, they have increased opportunity for outreach, to share Jesus Christ with their friends, to be a witness in word and deed.

Perhaps they can get involved in some sort of on-going campus ministry to have the support of other believers in their schools. 

A popular one day event is See You at the Pole.

Simply Youth Ministry has a download you can order that will help kids examine their motivations for getting involved in See You at the Pole.

It isn’t easy for kids to take a stand.  Are we, as a Church, helping them by praying for them consistently and training them to take a stand?

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has developed a curriculum for teens called Dare to Be a Daniel that I wanted to make sure you are aware of.

Are we providing them with tools that will help them share the Gospel?

A unique outreach tool for kids is the Memory Cross cards.  Their creative design intrigues kids as the Gospel message is presented to them.  Click on the image to the right for more information.

Also, do kids have adult role models?  Do they see parents and other adults in their lives sharing Jesus with their neighbors and unsaved family members?  Do they hear reports of God’s activity in the workplace?

Do we, as adults, see our neighborhood and the workplace as our mission field?  If not, why should they listen to us when we encourage them to see school as their mission field?

Over the years I have received numerous e-mails asking the same question:  What must I do to become a Christian counselor?  I thought it would be well to provide my response for others who might have the same question.

As in any pursuit, here are two very important steps:

1. Bathe it in prayer.  What is God’s desire for you? – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).
2. As you are praying, learn as much as you can about it.  Sometimes the more you know, the more that passion grows.  But, sometimes the opposite happens.

You also need to determine where you want to go with it, how you want to use it.  Do you want to become a professional counselor or do you want to do lay or peer counseling, perhaps as a ministry in your church?

This should become clearer as you invest prayer into it and gain a greater understanding of counseling.

The answer to that question will point you toward your next steps:

If lay counseling, a certificate program could be sufficient.  A good starting point could be the site of the AACC, the American  Association of Christian Counselors.   They have some courses that could be of great benefit to you.

If professional counseling, you will undoubtedly need to have a degree, probably even a Master’s Degree, to get licensed in your state.  Each state varies in their requirements and procedures so you should check with your state government with questions you have about state requirements.  It could be helpful to network with a Christian counselor or two in your area to learn from them what procedures they followed.

As an example:  Pennsylvania requires you have both a  bachelor’s and master’s degree to get licensed.  The Master’s degree must be 60 credits. You also have to do 3600 hours of supervised counseling and take and pass the National Counselor’s Exam. — Where you are located could be different.

If you do not get licensed, then you should be careful in calling yourself a counselor as with that can come liabilities.   People who are professional counselors usually purchase liability insurance.  Those who live in the United States can  get some ideas on that at the American Professional Agency.   

 Some use the term “Biblical Life Coach.”

Some put it under the umbrella of discipleship.

At minimum, you should refer to your counseling as “lay counseling”  and not just “counseling” so as to denote that you are not doing this as a professional.

Here are some additional helps on the MinTools.com site:

Counseling Ministry Training – This is primarily for lay counseling, not professional counseling.

Counseling Ministry Resources - Most of these links will take you to other sites.

If you are a counselor and have further suggestions to add, feel free to leave a comment.