SPIRITUAL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT –

“ONE SUCH AS ME” tells how I pioneered spiritual mental health support, starting in 2000, speaking and writing extensively for those of the Christian faith. At that time, I introduced them to how their faith can help them overcome mental health problems. The book tells how faith-based peer support groups called Living Room were formed  starting in 2006 to help victims of mental health struggles find strength and healing through their faith.

At one time it became a movement.

And yet, for many years, the entire history was lost.

Living Room was built on the foundation of Christ’s unconditional love for all people—especially those who are rejected by the world—those who are stigmatized, made to feel unworthy of acceptance and dignity equal to “more normal” individuals.

The message of love it passed along can only be as deeply felt by people who suffer from stigma, persecution, and the many other forms of rejection. The millions of displaced people in the world today are a prime example of those to whom Living Room’s message could speak volumes.

People who have not suffered that way could not be as deeply touched by the message.

And so, the unconditional love of Jesus is the KEY message for people with mental health conditions. This includes numerous people around the world. It’s a simple message, but it has the power to give courage, strength, and hope to people who greatly need it.

Those who have not experienced such rejection cannot possibly understand the message in the same way. Christ’s love is most deeply felt by those who know what it is to have the world turn its back on them.

That’s why peer support is so important. Peer support is the most effective form of support because it offers understanding by those who share the same kind of rejection. Living Room groups offer such support, with Jesus Christ central to their teachings.

I’ve spent a lot of time travelling the world via LinkedIn over the past year. And wherever I’ve gone I’ve seen two kinds of people offering mental health support: – those who know what it is and those who only talk about it.

From my perspective, it appears that the two seldom recognize each other’s true values. It would be good if ways were found for the two to work together, leveraging each other’s strengths.

But is that even possible?

In the meantime, establishing Living Room groups is important. I believe that Living Room should become a movement—free-standing, in the way Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is free-standing.

Please read the book—a story that gathers together all the experiences and accomplishments of a person who herself suffered from a mental health condition. She knows the love of Jesus and wants to pass that knowledge on to others who suffer similarly. Readers who live with mental health challenges will find healing and encouragement in the LIVING ROOM message.

Copies are available online from Amazon.

PDF’S FOR “ONE SUCH AS ME,” as well as some of my other books are now freely available from  https://marjabergen.com/books