Emmaus Walkers: �A Catholic Guide to accompaniment �with persons who suffer �from Mental Health Challenges�

Br. Fred Cabras, OFM Capuchin, MDiv, MSW, LCSW

Who am I?

Roman Catholic Priest

Director of Social Services for Capuchin Soup Kitchen

NCPD Board member

CMI Board Liaison

CPA Member

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

The Journey to Emmaus: Luke 24:13-35

How to Walkers

Education

• Educate yourself about mental illness
• Behavioral health
• Symptoms of both
• Referrals

Presence

• Be present to where the person is
• Offer a empathic ear
• Make sure that you provide a safe place to talk

Stigma-Free

• Non-judgement free zone
• Don’t assume symptoms

Education

Lets start at the beginning!

Pastoral Response to Persons with Mental Illness

Mental Health First Aid

Catholic Churches� Stance

Saint John Paul II�

• “Christ took all human suffering on himself; even mental illness . . . whoever suffers from mental illness “always” bears God’s image and likeness in himself…. mental illness does not create insurmountable distances.”

NCPD

We are called to listen, advocate, believe, include, and most importantly, to pray

Suicide

• The Catholic Church NO LONGER supports the belief that if one completes suicide than they immediately go to Hell.

All humans are created in the image and Likeness of God ( Genesis 1:27)��“I was sick and you visited me”(Matt 25:36��Access to basic healthcare is the responsibility of everyone and an essential element of the common good�(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 166)���

Catholic Social Teaching

Presence

To accompany we must first acknowledge

To acknowledge we must first see

To see we need to walk with eyes wide open

​

-Inspired by Gustavo Gutierrez 

Presence

• All about creating a space for the person to talk about concerns and express their story
• Meeting the person where they are
• Empathetically listening

How to be Present

Empathy

Compassionate listening

• Different that sympathy
• Feeling a persons struggle but not internalizing it
• Sharing in the pain of the other
• Other focused

• Listening with both heart and ear
• Not creating answers while person is talking
• Judgement free zone
• Allowing the person to process or discuss without much interruption.

Stigma Free

Stigma??

Making a person feel bad or blaming them for their circumstances

Many cultures have a stigma of mental health, that it is a problem a person can overcome on their own or with God’s help.

Therapist are seen as not a source of support but a priest or member of the church.

Negative effects of Stigma

• Reluctance to seek help or treatment
• Lack of understanding by family, friends, co-workers or others
• Fewer opportunities for work, school or social activities or trouble finding housing
• Bullying, physical violence or harassment
• Health insurance that doesn't adequately cover your mental illness treatment
• The belief that you'll never succeed at certain challenges or that you can't improve your situation

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477

How to fight Stigma

• Get treatment.
• Don't let stigma create self-doubt and shame.
• Don't isolate yourself.
• Don't equate yourself with your illness.
• Join a support group.
• Speak out against stigma.

How to create a stigma free zone

• Start by understanding that mental illness is not because of a persons choice.
• Understand that life with mental illness has many challenges
• Don’t assume that all persons with mental illness are the same

• Make sure that you let the person know that you will not judge them for having a mental illness
• Making sure that you welcome all persons, regardless of their mental illness.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477

Questions???