Bishop Dolan: Education, accompaniment, advocacy ‘key to mental health ministry’ – Pope News

lets find out more about most respected Bishop Dolan: His Education, accompaniment, advocacy ‘key to mental health ministry’. Pope News

BREAKING NEWS: Rocco Palmo is reporting that His Excellency the Most Reverend John Dolan, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, will be appointed Bishop of Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow suceeding Bishop Thomas Olmsted. pic.twitter.com/cRAjU0dmQo

— Perpetual Novena For the Vacant U.S. Dioceses (@NovenaFor) June 9, 2022

Bishop Dolan: An introduction

Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix, Arizona outlines the work his US diocese is doing to minister to people with mental health problems for World Mental Health Day.

In an interview on the eve of World Mental Health Day on October 10 with Vatican News Bishop Dolan said, ‘I have been personally engaged in this ministry.

He insisted to get rid of negative ideas related to with poor mental health, and said that there is no shame in having them but one must try to handle them. It is like a person who has broken an arm.

BREAKING NEWS: it is official! Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Thomas Olmsted as Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix & has named Auxiliary Bishop John Dolan of the Diocese of San Diego as Bishop of Phoenix. Congratulations Bishop Dolan! pic.twitter.com/ImUsWYvdb1

— Perpetual Novena For the Vacant U.S. Dioceses (@NovenaFor) June 10, 2022

Bishop Dolan: His Education

Bishop Dolan adds that a vital dimension of mental health ministry is education – not only for the clergy but also the laity in our pews, who must know what to do if they themselves or someone close to them needs access to mental health services.

Ministers to the mental-health community include educating “those in the pew” about mental illness, and teaching priests, religious brothers and sisters, and deacons about the role of counseling, psychology, psychiatry and neurology in caring for those needing treatment.

That type of education gives clergy the vocabulary to discuss these issues and direct orientation toward help when necessary, the Bishop said.

Bishop Dolan: Accompaniment

Something else very important in the ministry is accompaniment. We are given the advice of one Bishop Dolan who said, “to make a recovery friendly community create conduits for people with lived experience with mental health as well family members.

Accompaniment: “It’s a time when you can come and gather with others, share your struggle on mental health or maybe open up for a spouse who is living this with her husband/ wife to manoeuvre life at home,” he added.

He also insisted on the need of spiritual dimension as a form of mental health. We are not diagnosing or prescribing; we do not treat. We can not do that by law and its outside our range,” leading him to concede. We can provide them only spiritual help and guidance.

Bishop Dolan: Advocacy

Bishop Dolan was particularly struck with the advocacy aspect of advancing mental health services, telling stories of seeking government backing to provide mental health professionals in outpatient settings and mobilize public resources for serving populations in need.

He said, “We try to tell the government that students from psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience do not have enough guidance; everywhere in the world we have a scarcity of mental health counselors and psychologists. We ought to a fight for that.

Bishop Dolan explains that how mental health ministry accurately has affected the lives of all those involved.

“This has been a beautiful response by the nearly thousands who are working under this also mentally ill ministry,” he said.

Pope Francis names Bishop John Dolan, auxiliary in San Diego to Cardinal-designate Robert McElroy, as the next Ordinary of Phoenix (AZ).

The 60-yr-old SD native replace Bishop Thomas Olmsted, 75. pic.twitter.com/PCRNE24cJ6

— Robert Mickens (@robinrome) June 10, 2022

The League of Catholic Mental Health Ministers;

Bishop Dolan mentioned the important seed work of The Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (CMHM), a lay effort which helps to fund the Shepherds program for mental health ministry.

The CMHM is a “lay Association of the Christian Faithful whose members are called to be a healing presence in the lives of people with mental illness.

The book is called Catholic Mental Health Ministry Guidelines for Implementation and it can be downloaded free online, click here, or watch Deacon Ed Shoener talk about the book in his presentation to Pope Francis.