The following organizations bring the perspective of faith to the experience of mental illness. They include sources of information and models of ministry.

American Association of Pastoral Counselors. The mission of the AAPC is to bring healing, hope, and wholeness to individuals, families, and communities by expanding and equipping spiritually grounded and psychologically informed care, counseling, and psychotherapy. Find a pastoral counselor

Avia Pastoral Care. Spirituality of Mental Health Ministry. Small groups reflect on how experiences of faith are shaped by the experience of mental illness, contemplating questions such as, “How do my faith and my struggles for mental wellness inform each other? Where can God be found directly in this experience, not simply despite it?” Avia founder Terry McKinney, a minister at First Church Cambridge, has a vision for sharing the model with other communities.

Caring Communities Program of the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society. "How to become a Caring Congregation." Caring Communities covenant to foster understanding of mental illness and ministry with those living with mental illness and their families. They  commit to engage in ongoing welcome, support and advocacy.

Comfort My People. 82-page study guide on serious mental illness prepared by the Presbyterian Church USA Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, with recommendations for congregational action. "The Land of Exile" explores the difficulties and injustices endured by people with serious mental illness. "God's Call to Comfort" focuses on appropriate ways congregations can minister with and to people with a serious mental illness. Free download. Hard copy is $4 from Presbyterian Marketplace.

FaithNet NAMI is a partnership of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the Faithnet grassroots network.  FaithNet NAMI recognizes the importance of spirituality in the recovery process. Interfaith Network of Boulder County is a local FaithNet affiliate offering additional resources.

Heartfelt Counseling Ministries (Grand Rapids) provides counseling along with education and training for people interested in learning how to work with people with mental illness.

HopeandHealing.org is a ministry of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The Church Health Center seeks to reclaim the Church’s biblical commitment to care for our bodies and spirits. See their page listing Mental Health Resources.

Lutheran Network for Mental Illness/Brain Disorders. A cooperative effort of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Offers Annual Candle Lighting service liturgy and quarterly newsletter.

Mental Health Chaplaincy offers outreach in Seattle to homeless persons with mental illness, companionship training for those supporting persons with persistent mental illness, and workshops around the country to assist others developing mental illness ministries. Chaplain Craig Rennebohm draws on his decades of experience in street ministry to persons with mental illness. His book, Souls in the Hands of a Tender God, offers stories of people with mental illness living on the street and models of care that lead toward recovery and well-being. Companionship Manual and other training resources.

Mental Health Ministries
A ministry of the United Methodist Church, dedicated to educating church leaders to decrease the stigma associated with mental illnesses in faith communities. Resources for faith communities to assist inclusion and support of persons with mental illnesses and their families into the life of the community.  Mental Illness and Families of Faith: How Congregations Can Respond, a free 54-page resource/study guide for clergy and communities of faith.

Mental Health Ministry Resources from the Congregational Resource Guide is a listing of resources for faith communities, pastoral caregivers, and the general public.

National Catholic Partnership on Disability-- Mental Illness Initiative . The goal of the initiative is to help participants in becoming better able to embrace people with mental illness and their families in a parish setting and to become familiar with the unique role that a parish community has in the process of recovery.

Pathways to Promise: Ministry and Mental Illness
An interfaith technical assistance and resource center which offers liturgical and educational materials, program models, and networking information to promote a caring ministry with people with mental illness and their families. New!:

• Resources developed for the national summit on mental health caring ministries: Companions on the Road to Recovery from Mental Illness: Pathways for the 21st Century, including
• Mental Health Ministry Toolkit for Congregations

Plymouth Healing Communities
By offering a home and companionship to individuals who are recovering from an acute episode of mental illness, Plymouth Healing Communities breaks the cycle of hospitalization and homelessness and provides a positive alternative to shelters and the street.

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Secular sources of information on mental illness

American Psychological Association Professional site with a vast collection of information resources in psychology.

Bienvenido is a prevention program that seeks to increase access to mental health services among Latino immigrants and improve their mental health and quality of life. An initiative of the Northeastern Center in northeastern Indiana, Bienvenido seeks to reduce reliance on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs for individuals at risk for abuse and dependence due to stresses associated with immigrant traumas and ongoing marginalized community social status through a strengths-based educational curriculum. The program is influencing mental health care for Latinos throughout Indiana and beyond. Recent initiatives include a partnership with Hispanic Mennonites. 

Compeer  Compeer Inc. is an international, non-profit organization that helps adults and children overcome the devastating effects of mental illness, such as loneliness, isolation and low self-esteem – through the power of friendship. Volunteer-based programs  serve as a complement to therapy and provide supportive friendships for people in mental-health care, helping them on their recovery journey.

Internet Mental Health
A free encyclopedia of mental health information created by a Canadian psychiatrist, Dr. Phillip Long. The website is dedicated to sharing knowledge of mental disorders so they can be treated.  Has a wealth of general information.

Mental Help.net
This site features a wealth of information for both casual readers and researchers.

Mental Health America
Mental Health America (formerly National Mental Health Association) is the oldest and largest nonprofit organization in the U. S. addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. With more than 340 affiliates nationwide, MHA works to improve the mental health of all Americans, especially the 54 million people with mental disorders, through advocacy, education, research and service. Materials for National Mental Health Month.

National Alliance on Mental Illness--NAMI   is the nation’s leading advocacy group with affiliate groups in most major cities in all 50 states.  This site is a key source of information on mental illness.  

National Association for Children of Alcoholics

Mental Health and Mental Illness: A Vision for Community. Click here for resources on mental illness that Paul Leichty and Christine Guth developed for a workshop by this title.

Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in Mental Illness, a documentary by Mennonite Media.  The video is an intimate, inside look at what it is like to live with a mental illness and how individuals and their families find their way through a tangle of  medical, governmental, societal and spiritual issues.

Ten persons with mental illness from all across the U.S. tell their stories, plus many experts and advocates in the field add helpful perspectives, including: former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter; former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher; Dr. William Anthony of Boston University, founder of the modern rehabilitation movement; and Dr. Joyce Burland, founder of the Family to Family program for National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The program focuses on people’s experiences with stigma, recovery and rehabilitation, parity in insurance programs, and how faith communities can do a better job responding to those with mental illness. The program was produced by Mennonite Media in cooperation with the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission and the Communications Commission of National Council of Churches.

For more information visit www.ShadowVoices.com

Copies of Shadow Voices are also available for sale or on loan from the .