On January 30th and 31st, the ICOC Women's Service Team hosted a worldwide webinar event for women on the topic of Mental Health and Personal Care. 103 women spread across six continents participated live, from the following list of nations:
NORTH AMERICA
Trinidad
Jamaica
Canada
USA
Mexico
AFRICA
Ivory Coast
Nigeria
SOUTH AMERICA
Peru
EUROPE
United Kingdom
Ukraine
AUSTRALIA
Australia
ASIA
Hong Kong
Philippines
India
Pakistan
The special guest speakers were Dr Mary Shapiro Link to her Bio and Dr. Jennifer Konzen Link to her Bio Link to her website. Their professional expertise and spiritual wisdom have long been a blessing to many in their local congregations, to their clients, and to those who have read their published works. We hope that you will freely share these youTube links to the webinar recordings with anyone you know who may benefit from them:
Mental Health and Personal Care with Dr. Mary Shapiro (January 30th, 2020):
Mental Health and Personal Care with Dr. Jennifer Konzen (January 31st, 2020) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCahzAPLvyc
Dr. Shapiro’s presentation focused on five areas of self-care that she called “natural anti-depressants.” She called us to make a wellness plan — to choose just one aspect from this list of five that we know we need to change in our own self-care to focus on throughout the rest of this year. She recommended several books in her talk:
The Brain Diet by Alan Logan
Forgive for Good by Fred Luskin
Finding Your Path to Forgiveness by Linda Brumley (ICOC women’s ministry leader and elder’s wife)
Click Here to Learn How to Get the Book
Here’s an idea for how you might want to use the recording of this webinar as a resource for your ministry or small group: Kristen Balzer, who serves on staff in the Chicago church of Christ, monitored the online chat during the webinar and compiled this list of follow-up questions which could be used individually or in small groups after watching Dr. Shapiro’s presentation:
Follow up questions for a group:
1. What is your attitude toward self-care? How do the scriptures and points that Dr. Shapiro shared affect your perspective on self-care?
2. Of the five areas that Dr. Shapiro spoke about regarding the practice of "preventative care" for your mental health (diet, exercise, sleep, enjoyment, forgiveness), which could use the most work in your life?
3. What is one thing you can improve in your diet?
4. What is a form of exercise that is less intimidating for you?
5. What are some creative ways you can reclaim more hours in your week for rest and sleep?
6. What is one thing you can do each day that you enjoy?
7. Are there any relationships where you're feeling the weight of anger or bitterness? How can you take positive steps towards forgiveness?
In addition, Mary Shapiro shared with us these informative Kidogo videos on some important aspects of mental health concerns, featuring her husband, Clinical Psychologist Dr. Mike Shapiro. Once again, please share freely, with anyone who might benefit! Please be aware that some of these resources may present information or make suggestions which are more culturally accessible in the USA and may not be applicable to all of us around the world in every culture where we may live. We share these videos with the awareness that, while some nuances may be culturally-specific, we have much to learn from these resources while applying wisdom and discernment to our own situations. (Psalm 119:125, Proverbs 10:13, Matthew 10:16)
Should Christians take meds for anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vOBwuTub0U&t=84s
Should Christians stick with Christian counselors?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTa9_9JrowM&t=128s
What matters more: prayer or medication?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUGUMIyDZkU&t=181s
What does the Bible say about "modern" psychology?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ1OklPqkMU&t=18s
In the second half of January’s worldwide webinars, Dr. Jennifer Konzen tailored her presentation to the online audience, focusing on the topics of raising emotionally healthy children, body image, and how to tell when someone needs professional help for mental health concerns. She shared about how we, as Christian women who typically expend a lot of emotional energy caring for others, can be affected by secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout, and explained the differences between these conditions.
Dr. Konzen’s recipe for self-care includes looking at and experiencing beauty in art and nature, and being actively involved in creative and physically-oriented pursuits.
Her observations about raising emotionally healthy children involve the degree to which parents are genuinely open with their children about their own weaknesses, failures, and the parents’ own current struggles with their own sinful nature, as well as maintaining genuine connection with each individual child. She strongly recommends a commitment of spending individual quality time with each child every week, and reminds us that the most important place to start in helping our children do well spiritually — for those of us who are raising children in partnership with a husband — is by focusing on our marriage first.
One of Dr. Konzen’s most poignant remarks deals with the way in which we sometimes handle sexuality in our churches. She notes that we can sometimes be more concerned with the sinful aspects of sexuality and the tendency to use “shaming language” in those cases, than with teaching proper, godly motivation for healthy sexuality.
“We have to make it okay for people,” encourages Konzen, “to talk about depression, anxiety, their OCD, suicidal thoughts, so that they can grow and get help. They’re not less of a disciple because they have to go and get help with their thoughts and feelings.”
You can find many helpful podcasts on other specific topics relating to mental health on Jennifer’s website, www.theartofintimatemarriage.com
The Women’s Service Team has another worldwide women’s webinar scheduled for the end of May. Details will be posted on our Facebook page : womentoday.international.
Meanwhile – we at the Women’s Service Team wish you effective and rejuvenating self-care!
0 Comments