Let’s Talk About… Mental Health

It is important to state that not all human concerns can be solely addressed by praying more, reading our Bibles more or confessing and repenting more. There are true psychological and biological disorders that need to be attended to by professionals. Consider that some mental disorders necessitate help through medication, therapy and long-term, intensive treatment, similar to treating cancer, a heart condition, or failing eyesight. A few of these disorders include anxiety, depression, PTSD, addictions, personality disorders, OCD, bi-polar, ADD and eating disorders. This is certainly not an exhaustive list though.

As a marriage and family therapist, I believe deeply in the power of relationship. Courageous Girls is rooted in the idea that we are wounded in relationships, and we are also healed in relationship. As a mental health provider and trauma therapist, I have come to understand the neurobiology that makes up who we are as individuals (God was pretty darn creative when He made us!). Though the health of our relationships have a huge impact on the overall health of our emotional, mental, and spiritual beings, “praying more” is not always a complete answer to address the need. 

Please seek help if you are concerned for yourself or your daughter. Shame and fear are the only things that keep us from getting help; not God’s Word. I share this analogy with my clients: 

Would you tell your daughter that she needs to “pray more” if she needed glasses after squinting for a year in the front row of class? It’s not her fault that her eyes are not 20/20, right? The same is true for her biological genes – the genes she was born with.

The hope of Courageous Girls is not to become free of “mental illness,” but rather, to know that whatever comes our way, WE CAN find victory. Victory sometimes looks like accepting new and healthy coping strategies. I still wear contacts and my eyes are only getting worse. I cannot control it, but I am thankful for the eye doctor who helps me see. This same analogy carries over to the mental health field. We are mind and heart doctors who help people find a new way of “seeing.” We may not be able to control the struggles we or our children face, but we can control how we frame each situation life brings us and whether or not we seek help to find peace and healing.

“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13.  Asking for help is courageous. Be courageous!