Conversation
Stress? Burnout? Depression? Anxiety? Trauma? Abuse? These are words that are not often spoken in the “sister world” but can be very real aspects of religious life and ministry. This Global Sisters Report Witness & Grace Healthcare Forum on Mental Wellness was designed to help break the stigma around mental wellness, inform about new networks of sister counselors, and provide resources for you, your community, and congregation. Learn how taking care of yourself can equip you to better care for others and lead to a more fulfilling religious life.
Read GSR's article about the Health Forum.
Presentation 1: Mental Wellness-Empowering through compassion, presence, and understanding
- Presenter: Sr. Editrudis J. Kajuna OLGC
- Presentation recording
- PowerPoint slides
- Religious Sister Counsellors Network Initiative
- The Counseling Hub
Presentation 2: The Treasure Within-Mental Health and Community Support in Religious Life (India)
- Presenter: Sr. Sally John, SJB
- Presentation recording
- PowerPoint slides
- The Treasure website
- Follow The Treasure sisters channel on What'sApp
Notes:
Resources
Resources recommended by participants:
- St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown, PA
- Bulatao Center near EAPI building in the Ateneo Katipunan compound, Philippines
- St. Luke Institute: counseling, psych assessment and videos
Four locations: Silver Springs, MD, USA; Baltimore, MD, USA; Louisville, KY, USA; Manchester, UK. - Guest House in Lake Orion, MI: for those suffering from addictions
- Abuses in the Religious Life and the Path to Healing by Dysmas De Lassus; Sophia Institute Press, 2023
- Please email Laure with any resources you can recommend in your area.
Global Sisters Report:
- Catholic religious in India revise formation to address sex abuse, suicide cases
- Q&A with Sr. ElmaMary Ekewuba, addressing mental health amid poverty in Nigeria
- Felician Sisters nonprofit provides psychological support for Chicago youth
- Q&A with Sr. Angelina Julom, psychologist and university teacher
- Nuns help victims of landslides in India cope with emotional trauma
- Q&A with Sr. Maryanne Loughry on grief and how COVID-19 has changed the world
- Q&A with Sr. Yvonne Sanyanga, addressing mental health amid Zimbabwe's hardships
- In communal life, support good mental health practices
- A journey of healing and hope from pastoral care to mental health counseling
- Q&A with Sr. Sally John, promoter of mental health among Catholic nuns in India
- Expert: Religious show courage helping others, fear standing up for self
Presenters
- Sr. Dr. Sally John, SJB is a member of the Sisters of St John the Baptist, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Sevagram, India, and founder of The Treasure Network, launched in 2024 as a sister-led mental health network for women religious. Under her coordination, the movement has enlisted nearly 90 Catholic psychiatrists, psychologists, and tech aides in eight months, formed a listening circle for the psycho spiritual well-being of women religious, and achieved other goals. She trained at St. John’s Medical College (MBBS, MD Psychiatry) and spent two decades in clinical care, teaching, and community psychiatry, directing projects that range from child-adolescent outreach to geriatric and palliative-care programs. A life fellow of the Indian Psychiatric Society, she has presented at more than a dozen Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society symposia and has published widely on liaison psychiatry, disability assessment, and digital mental-health challenges.
- Sr. Editrudis (Eddie) J. Kajuna, OLGC is a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of Good Counsel in from Uganda. Born in Bukoba, Tanzania, Sr. Editrudis is a trained mental health counseling psychologist with degrees from Kisubi Brothers University and Uganda Martyrs University. She currently leads the Religious Sister Counsellors Network Initiative, bringing together more than 100 trained religious sisters to provide professional mental health support across six African countries; Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Nigeria under the All-Africa Conference: Sister to Sister. At the heart of the network is the Counseling Hub, a vital resource for religious Congregations and a model for expanding mental health services in remote communities, bringing healing closer to those in need. Driven by the belief that “Pain does not define us rather it refines us,” she brings her experience, compassion, view about life and wisdom, to the vital work of healing and transformation.
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