Disturbed by Mind and Spirit: Mental health and healing in parish ministry
Gavin Knight and Joanna Knight
THIS is a remarkable and courageous book, the fruit of a husband-and-wife team of parish priest and clinical psychologist, whose combined skills informed their work in a west-London parish.
Their predecessor had been murdered in office, and Gavin and Joanna Knight accepted the challenge of following on, coming to live in the vicarage, and bringing their professional knowledge and personal experiences to bear in a parish whose disparate people were still in varying stages of shock, grief, and distress.
Gavin Knight believed that a eucharistic ministry would assist the necessary healing process at St Andrew’s, Fulham Fields; so he summarises for readers the four phases of the eucharist: the Preparation-Gathering, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Sacrament, and the Dismissal.
The resulting framework facilitates the narration of subsequent events, as well as identifying the psychological tools to understand them, namely: assessment, formulation, intervention, and evaluation.
Gavin and Joanna Knight were young in professional terms, she at the start of her career as a clinical psychologist and he in his first incumbency. The result is thus all the more remarkable.
Professionally, both writers were, of course, aware of the importance of mental health in parochial ministry, but this was made more apposite by their ability to use their own personal experiences. For Gavin it had been depression and, for Joanna, painful, debilitating feelings of rejection and self-doubt which beset her during the process of selection for training.
The authors’ essential aim is to explore how mental-health issues in parish ministry “can be addressed through the dual perspectives of theology and clinical psychology”. They also use the liturgical and psycholo-gical frameworks evidenced through-out the structure of the eucharist to “deepen their awareness of and response to mental health”. They hope the book will interest and help all who work or worship in such a setting through “a deepened understanding of our shared . . . brokenness and healing”.
The text is clearly structured. Each of the six parts has a brief introduction, and is followed by two chapters, first the theological view, then the psychological perspective. Each ends with a discussion, “Integrating Mind and Spirit”, followed by a few questions for further discussion or reflection, and completed by a short prayer.
It is their willingness to be open and honest about their own reactions to what they found and what followed at St Andrew’s, Fulham Fields, that gives this book its integrity. Despite the clarity of its structure, the extra “layer” of eucharistic analysis can sometimes feel confusing. For those unaccustomed to theological reflection, this could be too difficult. The Knights’ presence among the congregation was a generous response to their need. This book is a similarly brave and helpful contribution, which will raise the profile of mental-health awareness.
The Government launched its New Horizon strategy to foster a broader approach to mental illness and its treatment. One in six suffers depression at any one time, but only a quarter receives treatment. There is overwhelming evidence that the level of social injustice affecting particular regions, e.g. the north-east of England, can plunge whole communities into depression. While the Government can do something about poverty, the quality of human relationships is also crucial to popular resilience to inadequate conditions.
The Government’s call for a broader approach to improving mental health for all ages is long overdue, and this New Horizon strategy is welcome. It makes the Knights’ contribution especially welcome and timely.
The Revd Jenny Francis is Assistant Curate of St Edward’s, Stow-on-the-Wold, and is a psychotherapist.
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