The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry: A Practical Guide for Supporting the Church's Mental and Emotional Well-Being
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Biblical and clinical guidance for understanding and responding to common issues
· Quality mental health resource from a biblical worldview
· Equips pastors, church leaders, and church members
· Chapters dedicated to common manifestations of mental and emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide, self-harm, addiction, personality disorders, grief, and more
Poor mental and emotional health are two of the great crises of our times, and yet most pastors and ministry leaders are not adequately trained or equipped to understand and come alongside the hurting. As a result, our efforts to help those who are wrestling with mental or emotional health struggles are at best inadequate and at worst harmful.
Combining the best of clinical research with a biblical worldview, The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry is a practical and accessible resource to help pastors, church leaders, and others who are called on to offer counsel
· identify the symptoms of particular mental and emotional health challenges
· express love and support to those who are hurting
· recommend healthy coping strategies
· discern when to offer help and when to refer someone to a mental health professional
With chapters dedicated to common manifestations of mental and emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide, self-harm, addiction, personality disorders, grief, and more, this will quickly become the go-to resource for ministry leaders who long to offer help to the hurting.
From the Back Cover
Biblical and clinical guidance for understanding and responding to common issues
Poor mental and emotional health are two of the great crises of our times, and yet most pastors and ministry leaders are not adequately trained or equipped to understand and come alongside the hurting. Combining the best clinical research with a biblical worldview, The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry will help you
· identify the symptoms of particular mental and emotional health challenges
· express love and support to those who are hurting
· recommend healthy coping strategies
· discern when to offer help and when to refer someone to a mental health professional
With chapters dedicated to common manifestations of mental and emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide, self-harm, addiction, personality disorders, grief, and more, this will quickly become your go-to resource to offer help to the hurting.
"A timely and vital resource for addressing the issues every community and church faces today."--Chap Clark, PhD, author of Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers and executive director of Institute for Ministry Leadership: Increase Your Influence
"Accessible and practical, The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry meaningfully adds to the necessary conversation we must have about how the church can flourish in its role as a place of hope and healing for all of our wounded souls."--Curt Thompson, MD, psychiatrist and author of The Deepest Place and The Soul of Desire
"This book will be an invaluable resource to all who desire to care for those who suffer and provide solid counsel from a spiritual perspective."--Dr. Jack Graham, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Addresses a comprehensive range of common mental and emotional health challenges.
- Provides practical, accessible tools and biblical wisdom to help leaders care for their congregations.
- Equips ministry leaders to understand when to provide spiritual counsel and encouragement and, crucially, when and how to refer individuals to professional Christian counselors and other mental health experts.
- Introduction: Defining the Need
- What’s Happening Behind the Scenes
- Culture and God’s Design - Dr. Nancy Thomas and Dr. Crystal Brashear
- LGBTQIA+ - Dr. Jeff Cline
- What Is Depression? - Dr. Gregory M. Elliott, Dr. Andrew Wichterman, and Dr. Selin Philip
- What Is Grief? - Dr. Jeff Cline, Dr. Sarah Jarvie, Dr. Jennifer Park, and Dr. Selin Philip
- What Is Anxiety? - Dr. Jennifer Park, Dr. Nancy Thomas, Dr. Selin Philip, and Dr. Mark Mayfield
- What Is Spiritual Bypassing? - Katie Gamby, MA, LPC
- What Is Trauma? - Dr. Jennifer Park, Dr. Mark Knox, and Dr. Frances Dailey (Posthumously)
- What Is Suicide? - Dr. Gregory M. Elliott and Dr. Mark Mayfield
- What Is Non-Suicidal Self-Injury? - Dr. Crystal Brashear
- What Is Bipolar Disorder? - Dr. Mark Mayfield and Dr. Jeffrey White
- What Are Personality Disorders? - Dr. Rebecca Taylor and Dr. Torrie Gilden
- What Is Addiction? - Dr. Andreas Bienert and Dr. Torrie Gilden
- Supporting Children and Adolescents - Dr. Sarah Jarvie, Dr. Andrew Wichterman, and Dr. Rebecca Welsh
- Working with Foster and Adoption Families - Dr. Beth Robinson and Dr. Andrew Wichterman
- Marriages and Families - Dr. Brian Fidler
- Working with High-Performing Families - Dr. Zach Clinton
- Conclusion: Putting It into Practice
- Disordered Eating - Dr. Rebecca Taylor
- Medication Management - Dr. Lon Lyn and Dr. Mercy Connors
- Understanding and Supporting Neurodivergent Individuals in the Church - Jessica Gonzalez, MA, LPC
Part I: Getting Started
Part II: Mental Health Handbook
Part III: Mental Health Handbook for Children and Families
Appendices
Amid an unprecedented and overwhelming mental health crisis across every demographic and age group, pastors and church leaders are desperate for help. Dr. Mark Mayfield offers a timely and vital resource for addressing the issues every community and church faces today. In The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry, Dr. Mayfield brings together a leading team of scholars and therapists who provide the latest insights for ministry leaders committed to caring for people who need hope and healing. This is not simply a book for the 'designated' staff counselor or committee but for every church and ministry leader to be equipped to serve everyone God would lead us to serve and love in his name.
—Chap Clark, PhD, author of Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers and executive director of Institute for Ministry Leadership: Increase Your Influence
Accessible and practical, The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry meaningfully adds to the necessary conversation we must have about how the church can flourish in its role as a place of hope and healing for all of our wounded souls.
—Curt Thompson, MD, psychiatrist and author of The Deepest Place and The Soul of Desire
We are in the midst of a mental health crisis in America and around the world. It is a pandemic and a problem that cries out to the church and its leaders. Yet so many pastors and ministry volunteers are not equipped to meet the needs of their congregations or offer biblical guidance and spiritual support to hurting people. For this reason, I am so glad Dr. Mark Mayfield has written The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry. This book will be an invaluable resource to all who desire to care for those who suffer and provide solid counsel from a spiritual perspective. I highly recommend this very important tool with the prayer that many will find hope and healing in these turbulent days.
—Dr. Jack Graham, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
- Title: The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry: A Practical Guide for Supporting the Church's Mental and Emotional Well-Being
- Author: Mark Mayfield
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2025
- Logos Release Date: 2025
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Church work; Mental health › Religious aspects--Christianity; Pastoral psychology
- ISBNs: 9781493451104, 9781540904782, 1540904784, 1493451103
- Resource ID: LLS:9781493451104
- Resource Type: text.monograph.handbook
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-09-23T23:21:32Z
Dr. Mark Mayfield is a former pastor, award-winning author, speaker, certified master Christian coach, mental health counselor, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Colorado Christian University. He is an assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at Colorado Christian University and also partners with the AACC as the director of practice and ministry development and editor of Marriage & Family: A Christian Journal. Dr. Mayfield is the author of five books, including HELP! My Teen is Self-Injuring: A Crisis Manual for Parents which addresses his own suicide survival story and provides practical tools to help your child who may be struggling; The Path Out of Loneliness: Finding and Fostering Connection to God, Ourselves and One Another; The Path To Wholeness: Managing Emotions; Finding Healing, and Becoming Our Best Selves; Hope and Healing for Loneliness: A Guide to Flourish in Community; and The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry (releasing in September 2025).
Dr. Mayfield lives in Texas with his wife and their three children.