Collaborating in Care: Ministry and Mental Health

If you are a faith leader, you and your house of worship are an important contact point for Veterans in your community. Sometimes clergy members aren’t aware of the veterans in their congregation or how they might help a veteran and their family following deployment. Clergy may recognize veterans who are struggling in their return to civilian life, but not know how to support them. The National Chaplain Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA-Clergy Partnership for Rural Veterans, and Portland Veterans Health Administration Chaplain Services invite clergy of all religions to attend a free interactive training.

Objectives include:

• Identifying potential conflicts between civilian and military cultures.
• Identifying actions community clergy can take to assist military personnel and their families with a healthy adjustment to a civilian culture.
• Types of common military events that can cause adjustment problems for military personnel and the psychiatric and psychological responses that often follow.
• Identifying the relationship between spirituality and “meaning making.”
• The importance of Personal Narratives and Past, Present and Future Stories.
• Identifying pastoral responses and resources for clergy and their congregations.

The same training will also be held in Salem on August 29, from 8:30 am to 4 pm, at the Salem Health Hospital, 890 Oak St. SE.

Seating is limited, so please register ASAP. Reserve your seat for the training in Portland or Salem by contacting Chaplain Rachel Mikaelsen at (503) 220-8262, ext. 57028, or [email protected].