Help and a prayer
By DAVID FITZGERALD - dfitzgerald@nwherald.com
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| Raven Wood Grove's Patrick Donlea uses a paper tube as he reads an auditory hallucination script into the ear of the Rev. Duk Kwon of First United Methodist Church of Woodstock. The pair were participating in an exercise during a workshop hosted by the McHenry County Health Board. The program is to help clergy and others deal with members of the community who might need the help of a mental health professional. (H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@nwherald.com) |
CRYSTAL LAKE – Caleb Schauer is the first to admit that he is not a psychologist: He is the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Union.
But he and others in his position find themselves dealing with people who might need professional help “on a fairly frequent basis,” he said.
Rob Ogle is a bishop with Woodstock Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When you have a title such as his before your name, Ogle said, people tend to open up and share things they might not with other people.
This week, a group of local clergy came together for a two-day workshop focusing on “mental health first aid.”
“It’s like CPR for a heart attack victim,” said Tammy Stroud, a recovery and engagement specialist with the McHenry County Mental Health Board. “It’s about learning the basic skills until professional help can be found.”
The first person someone might go to about their symptoms is someone they know personally, and not a doctor or therapist, said Wendy Neuman, a program monitor and training assistant with the MCMHB.
“Clergy are oftentimes the first contact,” she said.
That’s why the McHenry County Mental Health Board reached out to clergy for the event last week.
The goal also is for clergy members to take what they learn back to their congregations as part of national Mental Health Awareness Week, Oct. 3-10.
Ogle said that from speaking with some of the other clergy there, he realized that they were all in the same boat.
“We have a lot of common ground,” he said. “We may not have common tenets, but we’re all in similar situations.”
In addition to serving their congregations, many of the clergy there were involved with programs that minister to the homeless and other sectors of the population that tend to have a higher incidence of mental health issues than the general public.
The program included lessons on how to deal with people whose illnesses make them irrational or difficult to communicate with, how to identify certain mental illnesses, and how to get people the help that they need.
During one exercise, the participants were asked to carry on a conversation with the person to their left, while the person to their right whispered discouraging statements into their ear to simulate schizophrenia.
“You can really see the impact that has on social behavior, their family life and their work,” Neuman said. “It helps us understand what that must be like.”
Gere Wissell attended the program because of her work with the Woodstock Bible Church. Wissell said the church’s mission was to help those who were lost and hurting develop a relationship with Jesus.
“We don’t choose how they are lost or hurting,” she said.
Ogle said the lessons would help him better serve those in his church who were dealing with mental health issues.
He said visual cues usually let people know someone was ill, whether it be a wheelchair, a cast or bandage, or a bald head from cancer treatment.
“This gives me an awareness of the challenges and the burdens they face alone,” he said. “It’s important that everyone feels comfort.”
Ogle said it was important for people to know that you could be doing all of the “right” things, but because of a chemical imbalance, you might need help.
“You can pray and read the scriptures, but you may still need temporal health care,” he said.
Mental Illness Awareness Week Events
Monday through Friday: Depression Screenings from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, 4100 Veterans Parkway, McHenry.
Wednesday: “No Kidding, Me Too” documentary, 7 p.m. at the Woodstock Theater. Pre-release showing of a new documentary film about mental illness produced by Joey Pantoliano.
Friday: Panel of expert speakers on mental health care system change, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Family Service and Community Mental Health Center.
