Bless This Brain Blog

Organizations and Programs to Check Out

  • Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries
    Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries equips the Church to support mental health and wellbeing. Headquartered in Canada, Sanctuary’s resources integrate theological, psychological, and lived experience perspectives. They are developed with the conviction that informed and empathetic conversations about mental health challenges can transform communities of faith.
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
    NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.
  • The Stability Network
    The Stability Network inspires and encourages people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive.
  • Pathways to Promise
    Pathways to Promise founded in 1988, is an interfaith assistance and resource center that provides virtual and in-person support to faith, spiritual and non-spiritual communities.
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation and to improve the lives of individuals living with mental and substance use disorders, and their families.
  • Celebrate Recovery
    A ministry of Saddleback Church founded in 1991. A safe space for people could find freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon and other 12-step Programs available
    AA was developed as a method to help people recover from addiction to alcohol and maintain abstinence. This web guide provides information on AA meetings and how to become a part of one and the benefits of committing to a recovery program near you.

Podcasts We’ve Found Helpful

Collage of podcast logos including 'The Sanctuary Podcast,' 'Being Human with Steve Cuss,' and episodes featuring Kate Bowler and neuroscience discussions.
A collage of book covers related to mental health and personal growth, including 'On Getting Out of Bed' by Alan Noble, 'How to Know a Person', 'Different', 'Struggle Is Real', and 'Darkness Is My Only Companion'.
  • On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble
    For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make―like the daily choice to get out of bed.
  • How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
    Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, David Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection.
  • Darkness is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness by Kathryn Green-McCreight
    Offers the reader everything from poignant and raw glimpses into the mind of a mentally ill person to practical and forthright advice for their friends, family, and clergy.
  • Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
    Kim Redfield Jamison presents proof of the biological foundations of this disease and applies what is known about the illness to the lives and works of some of the world’s greatest artists including Lord Byron, Vincent Van Gogh, and Virginia Woolf.
  • The Struggle Is Real: How to Care for Mental and Relational Health Needs in the Church
    is a comprehensive, 25-chapter ”toolbox” of how to effectively serve hurting people and relationships. This powerful resource will educate, equip, empower, and encourage church leaders and all those who “dare to care” to compassionately and competently come alongside wounded people and offer them real help, healing, and hope.
  • Madness: American Protestant Responses to Mental Illness
    In Madness, Heather H. Vacek traces the history of Protestant reactions to mental illness in America. She reveals how two distinct forces combined to thwart Christian care for the whole person.
  • Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
    Join Sally and Nathan Clarkson as they share their stories from a personal perspective as mother and son. If you are in need of help and hope in your own journey with an outside-the-box child, or if you’re an adult trying to make sense of your differences, you’ll find deep insight, resonance, and encouragement in the pages of this book. Dare to love and nurture the “different” one in your life.