January 2011: Mental Health and Young Adults

Happy new year to all!

We hope that the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany brought much light and life to you and your ministries. As you are probably aware, this new year will be one of much transition in the Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministries at the Episcopal Church Center as we say goodbye to our dear partner and colleague, the Rev. Douglas Fenton, thanking him for 9 years of dedicated service. We ask your prayers, your feedback, and your commitment to moving forward together during this season and assure you that the Episcopal Church Center remains committed to your work ministering to young adults and campus communities and will continue on with two officer positions to support that work. We will keep you posted as things develop in coming weeks and months.

This month's issue of Broadcast focuses on issues of young adult mental health in our ministries. As we know, young adults today are under incredible pressure as they begin to make life decisions in an economic recession and period of major cultural change that is impacting all sectors of society, including higher education. We can see the effects in any number of ways. This month's issue will not train you to be a mental health practitioner, but, we hope, will help you identify problem areas for the young adults you serve and know better the limits of your responsibility and where professional assistance may be in order. We hope you will find the articles helpful, and that they will inspire conversation within your communities about the difficulties young adults may be facing.

In addition to these articles, we invite you to explore the resources available through local universities or health systems for working with young adults. Stanford University has a particularly helpful library of documents including two articles on identifying and dealing with depression and stress.

As always, send us any thoughts, questions or comments and be sure to check out the opportunities for young adults at the bottom of the page. (A limited number of scholarships are available for the Congress on Urban Ministry - contact Jason for more information) We give thanks for the work you do.

Peace,

Douglas and Jason

Coming Home Again: Families of Origin

By Bishop William Gregg

Family Systems Theory (FST) is a reasonably simple framework for healthy living. As the eminent practitioner, Roberta Gilbert has noted, FST is not to be preached; it is to be lived. There are only eight principles. The language is straightforward. Bowen was emphatic that his theory is not about identifying and correcting pathology. FST is descriptive of the way families (and by extension, all groups) work. FST is concerned especially with thinking, defining and managing self, and making appropriate choices. >>>

Relationship Satisfaction

By Lisa Hughes and Mark Trahan

This article is a resource to help you, as a young adult or campus minister, counsel and aid the young adults you minister to in creating and nurturing healthy relationships. We encourage you to share it with your students as appropriate as they discern how to build mutually life-giving relationships. >>>

Mental Health and GLBT Youth

By Bryce Bahler

The recent rash of suicides by gay and lesbian youth has brought a lot of national media coverage to the issues of teen bullying, discrimination, and gay rights. Ostracized and disempowered gay youth silently struggle in society’s shadows contemplating whether life is worth living, while grieving families, friends, and school officials are left scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong. In light of such tragic events, church leaders and believers of all faiths must ask themselves, “What is our role in all of this?” >>>

Opportunities for Young Adults