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Category Archives: Mental Health
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for kids with depression…pros and cons
The kids I treat are prone to what one of our therapists refers to as “stinking thinking”…automatic, irrational thoughts pop into their heads in the course of day-to- day living that trigger negative emotions and lead to patterns of self-defeating behavior. These patterns of self-defeating behaviors often reinforce their cognitive misperceptions and lead to a downward spiral resulting in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sometimes, suicidal thoughts or plans. Continue reading
Where do I go for help if I think my kid might be depressed?
It’s been my experience that many churches offer reasonably good short-term counseling and support for adults, but very few will have staff with adequate training or supervision in counseling children or teens. So…where does a parent go to find the right help when they suspect their child needs help for depression? Continue reading
What if Mom is depressed?
But for the sake of this discussion, it appears that in examining depression as a specific disability, regular involvement of either the child or the parent with depression at church not only produces spiritual benefits, but actually helps reduce the risk for the condition itself. Continue reading
Posted in Depression, Families, Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health, Resources, Strategies
Tagged children's ministry, church, Depression, Faith Net, families, Family Ministry, Grace Groups, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health Grace Alliance, mothers, NAMI, youth ministry
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Depression…Challenges in serving kids with an episodic disability
The first people in a church likely to suspect a problem will be the youth pastor or a small group leader when they notice an often abrupt change in the pattern of involvement of a teen suffering from depression. Unlike the other conditions we’ve discussed since launching the blog, in the absence of another mental health condition or a parent with a disability, I’d hypothesize kids with depression wouldn’t be any less likely to start attending church…they’ll have difficulty staying involved with church once symptomatic. Continue reading
Are they really depressed, or do they have something else?
One of the challenges I face as a clinician when a family comes to our practice because they suspect their child is depressed is teasing out all of the other possible explanations for why their child might appear depressed. Continue reading
Posted in ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Hidden Disabilities, Key Ministry, Mental Health
Tagged ADHD, anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, children, children's ministry, Depression, diagnosis, Family Ministry, Inclusion, Key Ministry, learning disabilities, medication, OCD, Stephen Grcevich MD, substance abuse, teens, youth ministry
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Kids and Depression…What Does the Data Say?
Suicidal thinking and behavior is very common among youth with depression. Approximately 60% of teens diagnosed with depression will experience thoughts of suicide…30% have made one or more suicide attempts. Continue reading
What do kids and teens with depression look like?
Today, we’ll help readers develop a mental picture of what they might notice in a child or teen experiencing an episode of Major Depression. Continue reading
Is autism a form of mental illness?
Because of extensive media coverage and public education, the stigma associated with autism has largely disappeared. But the stigma associated with mental illness has largely remained. And that’s especially true in the church. Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Autism, Controversies, Key Ministry, Mental Health
Tagged Autism, church, Inclusion, mental illness, Sandy Hook, stigma
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Stuff that’s too good to ignore…Rhett Smith
Rhett Smith shared a very powerful presentation for Inclusion Fusion 2012 in which he examined how our views on anxiety often exclude those struggling with it from our church communities…along with the ways in which God uses our anxiety for good Continue reading
Posted in Anxiety Disorders, Inclusion, Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health, Resources
Tagged anxiety, church, faith, God, Inclusion, Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry, Rhett Smith
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