Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

An open door for every faith tradition

I know that in working out this Open Door concept that I’m talking to people of all different backgrounds—culturally and spiritually. And I wonder how this man Jesus with his unconditional love would fit in with your background? It would be wonderful if all of us could come to understand who he is and what […]

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Our one and only hope

I’ve been talking a fair amount about my faith, something not everyone feels comfortable with. But I need to tell you that it’s because my life has in huge ways been affected by my belief in God and his Son Jesus. At the age of nineteen I spent nine months in a mental institution suffering […]

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Our strong place

  My soul is quiet and waits for God alone. My hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and the One who saves me. He is my strong place. I will not be shaken. Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a safe place […]

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Mental health stigma in the church

I’m concerned about the situation in the Church in Canada today. Although most think that the amount of stigma towards people with lived experience has been reduced I, as such a person, am feeling the stigma more than ever before. Christians are being equipped to support people with mental health challenges.  Yes, we are being […]

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Spiritual? YES – Religious? NO

LIVING ROOM’S OPEN DOOR I know that in working out this Open Door concept that I’m talking to people of all different backgrounds—culturally and spiritually. And I wonder how this man Jesus with his unconditional love would fit in with your background? It would be wonderful if all of us could come to understand who […]

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Living room: a pioneer in spiritual mental health support

THE BEST WAY TO OVERCOME THE PAIN OF STIGMA The original faith-based mental health support group was founded in 2006 at a time when the Church was in the dark about mental health, many believing that mental illness was a spiritual problem. People with mental health challenges were being shamed out of their churches, left […]

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Faith-based peer groups

LIVING ROOM’S OPEN DOOR – Living Room’s Open Door is a faith-based peer ministry offering group support for individuals who share struggles with mental health challenges. The groups recognize the connection between spirituality and mental well-being and the two are addressed together as part of the meetings. Members of such groups have found great comfort […]

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Who was this man?

CAN WE BE AS RADICAL?  Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the […]

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In the midst of a broken mess

When you see beautiful things growing amid ugliness, not only surviving but thriving, doesn’t it amaze you? Does the picture above make you think of how that truth has at times been the same for you in your life? Do you sometimes feel like that flower growing in the midst of a broken mess, maybe […]

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Responding to hard times

In his book, The Land Between, author Jeff Manion uses the story of the Israelites’ forty-year journey through the Sinai Desert as a metaphor for being in a time of testing, a trial. After generations of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites travel through the wilderness (the land between) toward the Promised Land. They crave the […]

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