A Preliminary Assessment of Mental Health Needs Faced by Religious Leaders in Eastern Europe

Abstract

Wheaton College unscrupulous profiteers abuse this time of transition for their own benefit. Learning democracy is almost as painful as living under dictatorship. Anarchic m oments cannot be ignored. The old apparatus has been deprived of its power, and the new social forces still lack experience, (p. 1387) Values that were binding and predictable in the past are gone without the establishment of new equivalents. In most countries, there is a lack of objects o f identification. Fear of poverty and unemployment weigh heavily on many people. The "b io lo g ica lly " stronger o ften dom inate the weaker, and

Pastoral Counselor Training in Russia

“…The church may then begin to build the community infrastructure, via strengthening social networks, relieving the pressure on state social service systems in the overall redevelopment and renewal of communities. Pastors themselves see training in this area as a distinct need in their training programs (Ellens, McMinn, Lake, Hardy & Hayden, 2000).…”

“…The "integrationist" (Carter & Narramore, 1979) point of view would allow for and even embrace the responsible use of psychological theory and practice within a conservative Evangelical context (Collins, 1988;Ellens et al, 2000;Shafranske & Malony, 1996). Younger Russian Protestants generally are more open to utilizing social sciences theory and practice (Harris, 1996), which contributes to the positive opportunity to promote pastoral counseling training.…”

“…Some of the major issues pastoral students, pastors, and other church leaders face as they serve in the Russian Protestant church today include: Problems in the Dennis Bowen and D. Russell Bishop 9 economic environment as well as widespread anomie and trauma resulting from the former Soviet system (Lindy & Lifton, 2001); the problems of a church leader trained at a lay-counselor level while maintaining a professional role (Ellens et al, 2000); setting and maintaining personal boundaries while serving in the ministry (Chapman, 1998); and resistance among the theological conservatives over the legitimacy of social sciences and their utilization in the ministries of the church (Harris, 1996). The economic situation in the FSU is familiar to many in the West today.…”

“…Some of the important issues Western teachers encounter in the FSU include the problem of overemphasis of Western values (Richards & Bergin, 1997;Ellens et al, 2000), providing teaching with a perspective that is relevant to the Russian church and to Russian students (Petrov, 2002), issues of language involving oral and written translation (Langdon, 2002), differing views of education (Bohn, 1997;Kim, Park & Park, 2000;Sue, 1997), and the question of a foreigner knowing the cultural norms in another country (Eilers, 1998;Leach, 1997).…”

“…A teacher from a Western nation who travels to Russia to teach in a theological institution is usually aware of the responsibility to teach a theologically sound curriculum, while at the same time not representing issues solely loaded with their own culture's values (Richards & Bergin, 1997;Ellens et al, 2000). This is no simple task.…”