ACMHM News

NEW YORK – Jeri McNulty remembers early on in the COVID-19 pandemic the anxiety attacks and stress that came with shifting her reading classes for young students online, and the general isolation she experienced in her personal life in a remote world.

In this exclusive interview, the President of the Association, Deacon Ed Shoener, explains how the Church can become a place of openness where people who live with a mental health disorder or illness are welcomed and loved unconditionally.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10 October. This year's theme is Mental Health in an Unequal World, and aims to draw attention to the inequalities that exist in the treatment and care of people with mental illness.

Called “ag stress,” it refers to pressures felt by farmers or those within the agricultural industry. It can lead to depression, despair and even suicide.

The Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (ACMHM) announces the availability of their next round of seed grants to start or grow mental health ministries in Catholic parishes, dioceses, and deaneries. Preliminary applications are due October 29, 2021, and grant awards will be announced December 31, 2021.

Prayer of Pope Francis on World Mental Health Day: I would like, to remember our brothers and sisters affected by mental disorders and also the victims, often young, of suicide. Let us pray for them and for their families, so that they are not left alone or discriminated against, but welcomed and supported.

Responding to Suicide: A Pastoral Handbook for Catholic Leaders authored by Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and edited by Deacon Ed Shoener and Most Rev. John P. Dolan from Ave Maria Press is the Association of Catholic Publishers’ 2021 “Resource of the Year.”

Faith communities are connecting with families dealing with mental health issues on multiple fronts.

by Clare Ansberry, Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2021

Priests, pastors, rabbis, imams and deacons have witnessed waves of anxiety, depression, fear and grief. People who never sought help before reached out needing more than spiritual support and pastoral care. In response, some churches created mental-health ministries, hired clinical social workers and held town halls staffed by professionals.