Mental Health Awareness

Entering the conversation about mental health as Catholics

In October 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a National Mental Health Campaign. In their introductory statement, Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Bishop Robert Barron wrote: “By this campaign, we hope to raise greater awareness of this pressing issue, to help remove the sense of stigma or embarrassment for persons who suffer, and to advocate a clear message to all: Everyone who needs help should get help. Jesus teaches: ‘For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be’ (Lk 12:34). You are the treasure of the Church. The Church lives to serve you.”

The USCCB is inviting all people of good will to pray for mental health and wellness during a novena from World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10 to the feast of Saint Luke, patron of health care, on Oct. 18.

Holistic healing, which includes the physical, emotional and spiritual, is essential for mental health. There are many ways Catholics, whether medical professionals, clergy or an average parishioner, can support others in their mental well being and to take care of their own mind, body and soul. (Photo by Dominique Mintz for Order of Malta)

Holistic healing, which includes the physical, emotional and spiritual, is essential for mental health. (Photo by Dominique Mintz for Order of Malta)

While prayer is an essential Catholic witness, so is professional and pastoral support for those affected by mental health issues. The Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy provide guidance to help Catholics understand how to follow Christ and His teachings, including visiting the sick, counseling the doubtful and comforting the sorrowful.

Here is a sampling of local organizations and individuals providing that support.

Medical care with a dose of comfort from the Blessed Mother

A statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, patroness of the sick, rests on a corner table between seats in the waiting room of the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California. She was brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes a few years ago. Now, rosaries are draped from her open arms in silent invitation.

“When a patient comes here and they’re troubled, there’s often a transformation I see with the patient when they come in, and it’s simple, without words. We have our Blessed Mother in the lobby. We almost always have rosaries available, and they are taken. Folks will gravitate toward them and often ask, ‘May I take this?’ If we see a patient that’s troubled, it’s a matter of taking a rosary and slipping it into their hands. Many folks find comfort from that,” said Anne Brussok, the clinic manager.

“The best thing that we do is provide comprehensive, holistic medical care for patients that are adults that are uninsured or underinsured. From there, as we identify additional needs, we are either able to take care of these needs in-house with the resources we have, or there are various resources, mental health resources and therapies, offered at the county level or through our community partners,” she said.

The clinic is currently limited in terms of on-site mental health services. A psychiatrist who volunteered at the clinic recently retired. A licensed clinical social worker whose specialty is behavioral therapy volunteers at the clinic, and a Spanish-speaking social worker will be starting soon to provide a more comprehensive range of services.

Despite these limitations, the clinic provides services such as depression screenings for new patients and patients with diabetes. A depression screening consists of a series of questions on topics like medical history and the current problem that help a medical provider determine whether a patient might need more help.

Mental health services such as therapy or grief counseling are available at the county level and through the clinic’s community partners like John Muir Health and Sutter Health. The clinic helps patients make the initial contact with those partners to help them procure necessary services.

“We also have a physician who is first and foremost a priest. He is here Monday through Friday, and his practice of medicine encompasses always that pastoral care,” Brussok said of Jesuit Father Francisco Javier Diaz Diaz, MD.

Brussok believes the level of kind, Catholic, compassionate care offered at the clinic helps address both the seen and hidden issues of their patients as they treat the whole person.  Yet, “so many could benefit from more,” she said.

If you are a psychiatrist or other mental health professional able to volunteer your services, please visit www.orderofmaltaclinic.com/volunteer.

Using faith to give hope and healing

Maria Gamulo-Owen, NP PMHNP-BC, has been a nurse practitioner at the Order of Malta Clinic since 2011. She recently received her board certification as psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and is ready to begin practicing with the mentorship and guidance of a doctor.

In addition to her work, Gamulo-Owen is actively involved in her parish, St. Charles Borromeo in Livermore. In 2016, she started a health ministry with the approval of then-pastor Father Mark Wiesner. She started out focusing on issues like heart disease awareness but has gradually been introducing mental health awareness into the ministry.

For the past four years, the parish has offered an initiative called You Are Loved. In May and September – Mental Health Awareness and National Suicide Prevention Month respectively – one of the parishioners creates blank cards that are offered after Masses. “It’s a way for people to send cards, let others know they are being thought of,” she said. The parish even mails the finished cards. “It’s an easy, simple way of reaching out to show love and care. A card is like a gift.”

“Because of my training, I’m more aware and knowledgeable about the importance of decreasing shame and stigma. It’s important to show compassion, that they are not alone on the journey,” she said. In April, Gamulo-Owen completed a training through the San Jose Diocese about being a mental health minister.

“It’s important to listen without judgment,” she said. “We can decrease stigma by increasing education about mental health or the diagnosis.” When it comes to cultural barriers, those can be more difficult to tackle. “It has to be done in a segmented, methodical way to ease into that discussion. Ask open-ended questions.” As a provider, she notes that it is her responsibility to be attuned to cultural signals.

Gamulo-Owen also believes that it is key to teach young people about mental health. “Be your unique self. Be comfortable with yourself. Use the faith component to give hope and healing,” she said.

Last year, the youth ministry team at St. Charles Borromeo created a display board about suicide prevention. “The youth are very important in any ministry. I always want to welcome any youth to be present in mental health ministry as much as possible,” she said.

Gamulo-Owen hopes that her health ministry can serve as a model for other parishes.

Just talking isn’t enough

Kiona Medina works at the intersection of faith, creativity and mental health. With a master’s degree in expressive art therapy and 15 years of experience in community mental health, she likes to focus on strengthening systemic support for wellness by bringing in elements of community.

“We forget or neglect the Passion, the pain, what happened on Good Friday and how it connects to our pain,” Medina said. She referred to this as “spiritual bypassing.”

Medina offers sessions which she calls “Heartshops,” both in person and online. “They are Heartshops because they are heart-centered. They focus on the heart, not the work,” she said. “Faith has so many diverse avenues to expression and connection and being with God.”

Her methods incorporate various creative components that have deep symbolic meanings. These include drama therapy, where participants might act out aspects of Scripture and then connect it to their lives, movement accompanied by a drum or building a nest with found objects as a metaphor for self-awareness.

Faith-based sharing comes with testimony. “I add the human element and share how God has helped heal my pain, grief and trauma. That makes it relatable,” Medina said. 

Participants might also paint. She sets up canvases, similar to a typical paint-night event, but has participants rotate and paint on each canvas. “It is a reminder that we journey together, not in isolation,” she said. 

Unlike Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s Seven Stages of Grief, which are sequential, Medina provides seven spaces of grief made using fabric or found objects to create a sensory experience to represent the inner state. For example, despair may be characterized by broken furniture or branches. Participants may pray in those spaces and spend time processing their emotions.

Heartshop participants are sometimes surprised by the experience. They go in not expecting to encounter the reflections and the insights. “People are so used to the ‘front door’ experience of talk therapy that they are not expecting this interactive, creative ‘side door’ experience,” she said.

There are challenges to this side-door approach as well. “Some people are not open to the methods. Two hours is not going to cut through any stigmas. Some people don’t engage. They don’t find these methods useful. It doesn’t land with some people,” she said. “I plant the seed. Whatever sprouts is up to them.”

In addition to offering Heartshops, Media offers training to clinicians to help them incorporate art into their practice. Traditional therapy model continues to be the standard, but just talking is no longer enough. “I’m privileged to tap into these communities that are going to serve entire populations and have a ripple effect. I give them something new to add to the tool kit.”

Contact Kiona Medina at [email protected] for upcoming trainings.

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