In April, I wrote an article on domestic violence, mental health, and the Church in hopes of building some awareness through statistics. Unfortunately, that article did not have any responses about what the Church could do to serve locally in your community. Today, I want to share two resources I have.
The topic of domestic violence and mental health has come to the forefront for me in the last ten years. When I first started doing clinical work in Colorado seven years ago, I was working with domestic violence offenders who regularly struggled with manipulation, justification, a history of their own trauma, addictions to substance misuse, poor supports with family or friends, and a host of other problems. In the last year here in Ohio, I have worked with a domestic violence shelter and program offered by our community mental health center; the center offers trauma and substance misuse treatment and now mindfulness treatment to domestic violence victims.
So as I look at what I do through the lens of my Christian faith, it got me looking at what resources are out there for Christians. Pastors and leaders should make sure to help victims and offenders get into the right clinical services, and continue to engage with them. But honestly, there are not many nationally organized resources, though there may be local options or opportunities that are available to you. I'd love to hear what is available near you.
ChurchCares.com
Lifeway's Ministry Grid to serve the Church is offering ChurchCares.com. It has an online training for pastors and churches, local Christian law enforcement, and more on the Christian response to domestic violence. the training has a series of 12 videos that are thorough and so valuable. Along with the videos is a free book, available as a download or physical copy. I highly encourage you to go check it out, with an intent of making it a mandatory review for all current and new staff.
GRACE Safeguarding Initiative
GRACE’s Safeguarding Initiative is a necessary church-based training and tools to create lasting cultural change around abuse awareness, prevention training, safeguarding, and response. GRACE works with your church to conduct training, create a team within your church, and complete certification to show your church is making abuse prevention a priority for your congregation and community. As this video says, this isn't just about "making your church building safe," but also making the homes of your congregation members and the community safe. Mike Sloan is the director of this program, has some bold things to say for the Church.
We'd love to hear about other abuse prevention resources, either local or national. Share in the comments below.
Jeremy Smith is a clinical mental health counselor in Ohio and founder of www.churchandmentalhealth.com.
