Mental health has long played a role in missions. For the past 25 years, research has detailed the relationship between missionaries and mental health. The research shows that missionaries undergo unique stressors that impact their spouses and families. These unique stressors increase the need for mental health services. This article explores the lessons learned through research on missionaries, the increase in the types of services provided for missionaries, and the increased need to continue to explore and provide such services. Despite the growth and development of the member care field, there continue to be gaps in the services provided to missionaries, specgcally in the timely provision of necessary resources and services.he role of mental health and well-being has always been critical to the effectiveness of Christian missions. One early example of a missionary who T experienced difficulties with mental illness is chronicled by Beck (1993), who recorded the lessons learned from the unfortunate experiences of William Carey's first wife, Dorothy Plackett. While on the mission field, Ms. Plackett seems to have suffered from jealous delusions. Since her time, several other missionary family members' psychological difficulties have also been reported and documented. These studies led to the development of member care services designed to meet the mental health needs of missionary families. An overview of current mental health services for missionaries shows an increase in crisis intervention, treatment consultations, counseling for Joanne Schwandt, Psy.D., is an "M.K.," who was born and raised in Kenya. In an effort to integrate mental health and missions, she has served in both East Africa and Asia. She is currently working in Kenya, providing member care to missionaries throughout East Africa and helping the Kenyan church support those effected by post-election violence in January 2008.Glendon Moriarty, Psy.D., with a team of several psychologists and doctoral students, founded Missionary Outreach Support Services (MOSS) and created a practicum experience specializing in mental health and missions. He is also the author of Pastoral Care of Depression and co-editor of the God Image Hundboak for Spiritual Counseling and Psychotherapy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.