{"id":15818,"date":"2013-01-24T14:28:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T19:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=15818"},"modified":"2014-09-22T17:19:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T21:19:15","slug":"slt-gives-focus-to-journey-back-from-mental-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/slt-gives-focus-to-journey-back-from-mental-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminary Focuses on ‘Healing Space’ for Mental Illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Bev Miller was institutionalized twice in the 1970s with bipolar disorder, not long after graduating from then-Eastern Mennonite College, a series of factors helped her to get back \u201cin touch with reality,\u201d as she calls it.<\/p>\n

For one, her family owned a business that employed her when no one else likely would. But the proper medications, a supportive network and her church all played integral roles in her comeback, Miller said.<\/p>\n

So for Miller, of Wauseon, Ohio, the return to her alma mater this week made perfect sense.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s one of nearly 300 attending Eastern Mennonite Seminary<\/a>\u2019s School for Leadership Training conference<\/a>, which started Monday and wraps up today. She\u2019s one who understands the importance of relationships to people living with mental illness.<\/p>\n

The conference addresses how the church can be a healing space for mental illness.<\/p>\n

For Miller, the patchwork story told during one Tuesday presentation hit close to home.<\/p>\n

Lonnie Yoder<\/a>, professor of pastoral care at EMS, read the story of one fictional but realistic \u201cCharlie,\u201d who started showing signs of bipolar disorder when he was in high school. Despite his and his family\u2019s best efforts to stay \u201cnormal\u201d during his lifelong battle against the illness, fellow churchgoers, family members and friends began to shy away from him.<\/p>\n

Pam Reese Comer<\/a>, director of counseling services<\/a> at Eastern Mennonite University, said that\u2019s exactly what they shouldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, a mental disorder means something is out of order, but the person at [its] core is not out of order,\u201d she said. \u201cFocus on the whole person and know they are there and need your relationship to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comer added that you don\u2019t have to be a therapist or doctor to help someone with mental illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cStep alongside them, not in front or behind them,\u201d she said. \u201cBy stepping into the mud, the mud changes, their experience changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comer warned against thinking that a mental illness is something to solve or that someone with a mental disorder will get back to his or her former self.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife will not get back to the way it used to be,\u201d she said. \u201cAll involved must get used to a new normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reminded those in the audience that having a mental disorder doesn\u2019t imply a character flaw or mean that the sufferer is being punished. Also, mental illness affects many more people in a community than just those who have it, and every person should be tending to his or her own mental health, she added.<\/p>\n

Holding a mental health-centered conference is a step in the right direction, according to Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a group of people that I know want to be here and want to help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Daily News Record, Jan. 24, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Bev Miller was institutionalized twice in the 1970s with bipolar disorder, not long after graduating from then-Eastern Mennonite College, a series of factors helped her to get back \u201cin ... read more about Seminary Focuses on ‘Healing Space’ for Mental Illness<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":15820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,265],"tags":[10076,10270],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-15818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-seminary","tag-lonnie-yoder","tag-slt"],"yoast_head":"\nSeminary Focuses on 'Healing Space' for Mental Illness - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/slt-gives-focus-to-journey-back-from-mental-illness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seminary Focuses on 'Healing Space' for Mental Illness - 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