Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Tag: mental health (page 1 of 3)

Faith promoted at a mental health conference

GROWING Written in my blog, in November 2009: My moods continue to go up and down. And when I feel ok, it’s as though I’m walking a tightrope, trying to maintain my balance so I don’t fall one way or another. Amazing how many symptoms there are to watch out for. And each time one […]

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What can healing do?

What can happen when we – through Jesus – bring healing to people living with mental health challenges? Along with us, they will grow in faith. They will gain hope for a better future. They will be more confident, feeling better about themselves.. They will have the courage to try new things – to grow. […]

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As Jesus healed, so must we

People with mental health challenges live with the following: They are looked down on, They are not understood, Their truths not believed, They are shunned, rejected, excluded, They are made to feel ashamed, Their intellect is often underrated, Their opinions not respected. They are not taken seriously in the way well people are. This should […]

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Keeping the focus on Jesus

MENTAL HEALTH AND SPIRITUALITY SPEECH DELIVERED TO NEW LIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH,  JANUARY 29, 2023: In 1993, I answered God’s call to do all I could to build mental health awareness—a few years later focusing on the Church. I thought that if anyone could show the love of Christ, members of his Church could. They just […]

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Where faith and therapy meet

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE On December 20, I attended a seminar by Joseph Currier on Spiritual and Religious Competencies for Mental Health Care. The seminar was put on by Duke University’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, under the direction of Dr. Harold Koenig, a leading researcher in the field. Much research […]

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Doing what I don’t want to do

January 2018 revised in October 2022   As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot […]

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Narrowing the gap that divides

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IN THE CHURCH After many years of fighting to overcome the stigma of mental illness in the Church, starting with publication of a couple of articles for the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division in 2005 and 2006, I’m coming to see that “well” people will never truly understand what it is […]

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As brothers and sisters

MENTAL HEALTH AND EQUALITY   Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  Romans 8:29   Just before he passed away, Narayan Vaman Tilak (1861-1919). a famous convert to Christianity in India,  wrote the following to a […]

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Others can’t possibly understand

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING LEADS TO LACK OF CARE . . . and I should realize that by now. I’m sorry if I was harsh on those who don’t. Of course you don’t get it and it’s not your fault. It just hurts terribly to know that those of us who live with mental health issues […]

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The importance of our faith to mental health

JESUS WEEPS WITH US He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3   Never have I found myself so misunderstood. Never have I found Christ’s importance to people […]

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