Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

One Such As Me? Pioneering Spiritual Mental Health Support

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Publish Date: August 7, 2024
320 pages, 6 x 9 inches

With this story, Marja decided to shut the door on the pain of the stigma in her past and focus only on how she helped God raise mental health awareness among Christians from the years 2000 and 2014. The book offers a thorough account of the impact her extensive speaking and writings made in Canada and beyond. The reader will be taken behind the scenes, into a heart that knows God’s love and wants to share that love with others. She shows how much God can do through a person who trusts him, despite great challenges. Marja has given spiritual mental health support for 18 years, through Living Room and her many writings.

Healing the Effects of Stigma: In the Name of Jesus

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Publish Date: October 20, 2023
Paperback: 9798210782793
48 pages, 6 x 9 inches

Also available as a free PDF: Download [26 MB]

This booklet includes clear suggestions of how friends, and all who care can, through Jesus, help the sick, the lonely, and disabled—the many in our day who have not been able to live a full and meaningful life because of stigma. Christians who are affected by stigma can—with their friends’ help—learn to start living with the knowledge that they truly do have a God who loves them and values them.

In the Name of Jesus: Spiritual Support for Mental Health Challenges

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Publish Date: August 21, 2023
Paperback: 9798210965820
98 pages, 6 x 9 inches

Medications, coping strategies, and other world remedies cannot heal the ingrained wounds of stigma. The pain of rejection, shunning, exclusion, feelings of shame, and being looked down on, can only be relieved through spiritual means. By following Jesus and how he treated those the world would not have anything to do with, we too can learn how to help those who are being stigmatized today. In the Name of Jesus will help the reader understand what it’s like to live with the pain of stigma. They will see how knowing the love of Jesus and all he can be for us can bring relief and encourage a more confident life.

The Way We Were: Candids of Children

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Publish Date: December 10, 2022
Paperback: 9798211733121
86 pages, 8.0 x 10.0 inches

Photography has been one of Marja’s favorite endeavours. At times she did it on a professional basis. She freelanced for a couple of years for Burnaby Now newspapers, not only doing assignments, but also roaming the community for interesting subjects. At times she was commissioned by parents to photograph their children in their home environment.

Marja’s photos have hung on living room walls and in galleries. They have appeared in newspapers, magazines and books.

“Of all the different kinds of photography I’ve done, none compare to the joy I found in photographing children—young children at their most natural. Maybe it’s because I still feel a bit like a child myself?”

Justice for All

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Publish Date: July 21, 2022
Paperback: 978-1-03-914719-5
Black & White, 156 pages, 6.0 x 9.0 inches

Also available in ebook format on Apple Books or Google Play.

Justice for All, recounts the inspirational achievements of twelve of history’s great leaders who gave their lives to fighting the injustices of their times—people like William Wilberforce, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa. Author Marja Bergen encourages the reader to identify with what helped these leaders do what they did and to foster similar qualities in themselves, along with confidence in a God who tells them that they are of value to their community and their world. With a focus on modern Christians, Justice for All is for readers looking for big changes, both in their lives and society.

Given the breadth of stories told in this book the reader will both be challenged and encouraged to consider their own call to name and face the injustices of their time. Written in an informal style, this book is well-worth reading slowly and reflectively a chapter at a time.

— Ted Goshulak

Justice for All is an educational read that will not only lift you up, but you will also be inspired to be an encouragement to others and to take a deeper look at what God’s purpose might be for your own life. Marja has made the stories of these great men and women relatable to our own lives and challenges.

— Karen Foss

Readers will find a well-crafted, readable account of the lives of some of the most famous groundbreakers in the history of social justice and how they left their mark on the world they lived in as well as on the world yet to come. Justice for All will appeal to readers of all ages, and especially youth, who are seeking guidance and inspiration in their own quest to overcome the challenges life in a complicated, and often unfair, world presents.

— Joyce Gram

We Are Real People: Our Voices

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Publish Date: October 19, 2021
Publisher: Blurb, Softcover: 9781006375873

Also available as a free PDF: Download [34 MB]

If we could see beyond the walls society has put up against those who are thought to be different. If we could only see beyond what they appear to be and look into their hearts, recognizing what they truly are—people not unlike us. How can church congregations best support those with mental illness? It’s by helping such people feel they have equal worth. Walking with them as a brother or sister.

The Living Room Story: Pioneering Mental Health Awareness in the Church

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Release Date: January 18, 2021
Publisher: Blurb, 146 pages, ISBN: 978-1-03-412620-1

Also available as a free PDF: Download [90 MB]

This is the story about the experiences of one individual as she pioneered raising mental health awareness in the church. It’s not often that a person with serious mental health problems gets the chance to make something big happen—like the Living Room faith-based support groups she started in 2006. This was a time when churches were uninformed to a degree few today would believe. It was common for people with mental health symptoms to be blamed for their own emotional pain. They were made to feel ashamed. Living Room groups provided a spiritual home where it was safe to talk freely about mental health challenges.

Are You Hungry? Our Bread of Life

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Release Date: July 19, 2020
Publisher: Blurb, 24 pages, ISBN: 9781006467332

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Nine reflections to help the reader learn to know Jesus.

Those who believe in Jesus and are strong in their faith, are helped to survive the trials of life that befall them. They might suffer like everyone else, but they trust that God will uphold them.

Highs and Lows in God’s World

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Release Date: June 6, 2017

Publisher: Blurb,  53 pages
Paperback, ISBN: 978-1-36-413330-6

In this richly illustrated book author Marja Bergen shares her response to the living world and to the God who created it. Her hope is that the reader will be as inspired as she is by nature’s beauty and wonder. Marja has been writing meditations for over four years, mostly considering the needs of those dealing with mood disorders. She has been a serious photographer for forty-eight years.

Hope for Our Highs and Lows

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Release Date: March 21, 2017

Publisher: Blurb, 53 pages
Paperback, ISBN: 978-1366229946

Also available as a free PDF: Download [43 MB]

What is it that makes Jesus appealing to so many? Marja, a person living with mental health challenges, decided to find out by trying to put herself into the world in which Jesus lived—to make Him come alive. How might He affect her life? Using devotional writings she tried to show who Jesus was as the man who walked the earth 2000 years ago—human but divine. You will read about what He did, what He said, and the changes He made in the lives He touched. This richly illustrated book focuses mostly on Jesus, His life and ministry. You will have the opportunity to see how it might have been for yourself had you met Jesus face to face. You will learn how, even today, Jesus is there for you.

Highs and Lows for Our Inner Child

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Release Date: March 21, 2017

Publisher: Blurb, 53 pages
Paperback, ISBN: 978-1366231550

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a child again? Couldn’t we be? Just a little bit? But I stopped being a child long ago, you might say. But did you? Did you really? Did your childhood completely leave you when you became an adult? Can you still touch base with the child you once were? This book explores some of the many facets of childhood, many of which we as adults still have within us. What does it mean to be the child of God our Bibles talk about? How can the trusting and humble nature of a child help us stay open to what God can offer us? Although helpful to everyone, this richly illustrated book is primarily written to help readers experiencing emotional problems and mental health issues.

Reflections For Our Highs and Lows

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Release Date: October 15, 2014
Publisher: Word Alive, 72 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4866-0231-5

A gift book for people living with the ups and downs of life. Although begun as writings for people living with mental health issues, the devotionals express truths for everyone, no matter what they experience in life. The 28 devotionals are richly illustrated with colour photographs. Marja Bergen writes with the compassion and understanding that has come from living with bipolar disorder for almost fifty years.

“In this devotional, Marja provides us with wisdom: the wisdom that can only come from journeying in and out of the depths. If you or someone you know is living with a mental health issue, then I commend to you these reflections. The photographs and words provide Christ-breathed tenderness for the fragile moments in life. Thanks be to God.”

– Sharon Smith (PhD Rehabilitation Sciences; MCS Biblical Studies)
Co-founder and Executive Director, Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries

A Firm Place To Stand

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Release Date: July 19, 2008
Trade Paperback, 220 pages, ISBN: 978-1-897373-45-3

For too long, society, including the church, has misunderstood and feared individuals who live with mental health problems. This book dispels the lingering stigma and encourages people to lovingly welcome the sufferers into congregations by understanding them better and supporting them in practical ways.

A Firm Place to Stand is a significant contribution to building understanding about mental illness in the Christian community. Marja Bergen speaks candidly from over forty years of experience. Her story helps Christians learn to empathize and to give support to those who suffer from mood disorders.

Harold G. Koenig, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor of Medicine
Duke University Medical Center

Riding the Roller Coaster

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Wood Lake Books, 1999

Trade Paperback, 154 pages, ISBN: 978-1-897373-45-3

In this, one of the earlier books written by a person with bipolar disorder about life with the disease, Marja Bergen shares practical tips on such things as escaping the blues before they grab you, what to do when you don’t feel like doing anything, and keeping life stable. She gives a very human perspective drawn from her experiences. Her path to recovery is exciting and positive.

This book needs to be read by sufferers of depression and mania, as well as by their family and friends. I also wish that psychiatrists who treat people who suffer from depression or bipolar disorder would hand out a copy of this book along with their prescriptions. If they did, they would be surprised to find out how much more effective the medications would become.

– Peter Griffiths, Rural Roots

© 2024 Marja Bergen

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